Back Topper Returns Welsh Topper 2 – Das Gespensterschloß German La mujer fantasma Spanish Henki hulluttelee Finnish Le Retour de Topper French Una bionda in paradiso Italian Niewidzialny detektyw Polish Topper Returns Portuguese Topper Returns Serbo-Croatian En förbryllande natt Swedish
| Topper Returns | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Roy Del Ruth |
| Written by | Jonathan Latimer Gordon Douglas Paul Gerard Smith (additional dialogue) |
| Based on | Characters created by Thorne Smith |
| Produced by | Hal Roach |
| Starring | Joan Blondell Roland Young Carole Landis Billie Burke |
| Cinematography | Norbert Brodine |
| Edited by | James Newcom |
| Music by | Werner R. Heymann |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | United Artists |
Release date |
|
Running time | 88 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $500,000[1] |
| Box office | $500,931[2] |
Topper Returns is a 1941 American supernatural comedy thriller film directed by Roy Del Ruth and starring Joan Blondell, Roland Young, Carole Landis and Billie Burke.[3] The third and final installment in the initial series of supernatural comedy films inspired by the novels of Thorne Smith, it succeeds Topper (1937) and Topper Takes a Trip (1938).
As in the prior films, Young plays Cosmo Topper, a mousy banker who gets into trouble because of his ability to see and speak with ghosts, and Burke plays his wife, who is constantly befuddled by his strange antics. The plot revolves around a murder mystery. Blondell portrays a slain woman who seeks the reluctant Topper and enlists his help in identifying her killer and saving her friend, played by Carole Landis. Most of the action takes place in a spooky mansion filled with eccentric characters, trapdoors and secret passages.
The film was nominated for the Academy Awards for Best Special Effects (Roy Seawright and Elmer Raguse) and Best Sound Recording (Elmer Raguse).[4] A TV series, Topper, premiered in 1953 and ran for two seasons.[5] A pilot called Topper Returns (1973)[6] was later made for a proposed TV series. There was also a made-for-TV remake, Topper, in 1979.[7]
In 1969, Topper Returns entered the public domain in the United States because the claimants did not renew its copyright registration in the 28th year after publication.[8]
- ^ "UA Meeting". Variety. 20 November 1940. p. 20.
- ^ Ward, Richard Lewis (2005). A history of the Hal Roach Studios. Southern Illinois University Press. p. 213. ISBN 978-0-8093-2637-2. - figures are producer's share from US/Canada
- ^ Fetrow p.533
- ^ "The 14th Academy Awards (1942) Nominees and Winners". oscars.org. Retrieved 2011-08-13.
- ^ Topper (1953 TV series) at IMDB
- ^ Topper Returns (1973 pilot for proposed TV series) at IMDB
- ^ Topper (1979 TV Movie) at IMDB
- ^ Pierce, David (June 2007). "Forgotten Faces: Why Some of Our Cinema Heritage Is Part of the Public Domain". Film History: An International Journal. 19 (2): 125–43. doi:10.2979/FIL.2007.19.2.125. ISSN 0892-2160. JSTOR 25165419. OCLC 15122313. S2CID 191633078.