Product: Topper Returns (UK PAL Region 0)
Rating: 5.0
A Comic Gem
When bombshell Joan Blondell accompanies friend Carole Landis to her spooky family home and is murdered for her pains, she returns as a ghost bent upon the solution of her own murder--and enlists Roland Young (as Cosmo Topper) as an unlikely aide. The result is a wildly funny film that offers great performances from some of the finest screwball character actors of the period.Based on characters originally seen in the earlier TOPPER starring Cary Grant and Roland Young, TOPPER RETURNS is a broad take-off on the stereotypes of "old dark house" mysteries popular in the 1930s and 1940s--most particularly the classic CAT AND THE CANARY and THE BAT, which were noted for their black-costumed criminals and creepy mansions complete with secret passages, but also referencing Hitchcock's REBECCA. Blondell gives a typically lively performance as a ghost with attitude, and Young is perfectly cast as the mild-mannered banker she blackmails into assisting her. Carole Landis is also attractively cast as the heiress targeted for murder.But the real stars of TOPPER RETURNS are the supporting cast, most particularly Billie Burke, Patsy Kelly, and Eddie "Rochester" Anderson. Burke gives her sublime flair for the ridiculously absurd full reign in the role of Cosmo Topper's ditsy wife, and few could match Patsy Kelly's combination of drop-dead humor and double-take. But the real scene-stealer is Eddie Anderson, best known as Jack Benny's radio and television sidekick "Rochester." Although the actual script plays to racial stereotypes of the day, Anderson completely transcends its less savory aspects with a performance that is nothing short of comic genius, and it makes one wish the era in which he worked had afforded him broader opportunity.The entire family should enjoy TOPPER RETURNS, which plays at director Hal Roach's typically fast pace with nary a lag, and the special effects are fun to watch. The film is an overlooked comic gem and deserves a place in any collection.