Menu
Home
People
Places
Arts
History
Plants & Animals
Science
Life & Culture
Technology
Reference.org
Topper Returns
open-in-new
<p><i>Topper Returns</i> is a 1941 American <a href="/facts/Supernatural_film/A9KHLj9I">supernatural</a> <a href="/facts/Comedy_film/uKRYTRP3">comedy</a> <a href="/facts/Thriller_film/RLj4941a">thriller film</a> directed by <a href="/facts/Roy_Del_Ruth/0dRapYJ9">Roy Del Ruth</a> and starring <a href="/facts/Joan_Blondell/Hx7uPrjL">Joan Blondell</a>, <a href="/facts/Roland_Young/7vv9pczs">Roland Young</a>, <a href="/facts/Carole_Landis/AXfRFenI">Carole Landis</a> and <a href="/facts/Billie_Burke/wTLdRcBU">Billie Burke</a>. The third and final installment in the initial series of <a href="/facts/Supernatural_fiction/A9KHLj9I">supernatural</a> comedy films inspired by the novels of <a href="/facts/Thorne_Smith/IGTCLhzC">Thorne Smith</a>, it succeeds <i><a href="/facts/Topper_(film)/51roNndz">Topper</a></i> (1937) and <i><a href="/facts/Topper_Takes_a_Trip/xJF59KND">Topper Takes a Trip</a></i> (1938). </p><p>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 <a href="/facts/Carole_Landis/AXfRFenI">Carole Landis</a>. Most of the action takes place in a spooky mansion filled with eccentric characters, trapdoors and secret passages. </p><p>The film was nominated for the <a href="/facts/Academy_Awards/CwTxYuNQ">Academy Awards</a> for <a href="/facts/Academy_Award_for_Best_Visual_Effects/GgtNDdtQ">Best Special Effects</a> (<a href="/facts/Roy_Seawright/Sj4kwpge">Roy Seawright</a> and <a href="/facts/Elmer_Raguse/dNmq6jVT">Elmer Raguse</a>) and <a href="/facts/Academy_Award_for_Best_Sound_Mixing/ySIwlHs1">Best Sound Recording</a> (<a href="/facts/Elmer_Raguse/dNmq6jVT">Elmer Raguse</a>). A TV series, <i><a href="/facts/Topper_(TV_series)/v3RE2seJ">Topper</a></i>, premiered in 1953 and ran for two seasons. A <a href="/facts/Television_pilot/V50qBUek">pilot</a> called <i>Topper Returns</i> (1973) was later made for a proposed TV series. There was also a <a href="/facts/Television_film/gsGGUltR">made-for-TV</a> remake, <i>Topper</i>, in 1979. </p><p>In 1969, <i>Topper Returns</i> entered the <a href="/facts/List_of_films_in_the_public_domain_in_the_United_States/qhyJWSvs">public domain in the United States</a> because the claimants did not renew its <a href="/facts/Copyright_registration/HuH6Ekgy">copyright registration</a> in the 28th year after publication. </p>