Ann Carrington (Landis) stands to inherent a fortune on her 21st birthday and is invited to her home where she is to meet her father for the very first time. Ann brings her best friend Gail Richards (Blondell) to stay with her in the home. The girls end up changing bedrooms to sleep in and Gail is murdered, the murderer intended on killing Ann instead for the inheritance: money and home. The ghost of Gail ends up enlisting the help of Cosmo Topper (Young) in order to find out who killed her and why. A reluctant Topper helps to cracks the murder case.Fun story! Large old mansion, plenty of secret passageways, a phantom killer on the loose, a ghost, bungling police and a cast of zany characters pull off a film enjoyable for the whole family to watch.8/10

I have to say that I never thought of murder mysteries as fun to watch. In this case, this all-star cast featuring Billie Burke, Roland Young, and Carole Landis are great in this comedic twist about murder, mayhem, and secrets at the Carrington home in the country. When two young beautiful women need a lift to Carrington place, they are picked up by Topper and his driver played by the wonderful Eddie Anderson. The Carrington home is spooky and creepy like any haunted mansion. Anyway, a mistaken identity ends up when Gail is killed instead of Ann Carrington, the heiress to the estate. Gail's ghost comes to Topper to get help in solving her murder and helping her friend, Ann, from meeting the same fate. Despite the seriousness of murder, this film is quite comically funny at times when slapstick humor is introduced. I love Billie Burke as Topper's jealous wife. It's a great cast and it's a lot of fun to watch too!

This gem of an old movie is every bit worth watching.Even without the unsurpassed Cary Grant and his unique charms, this follow-up has more comedy per frame than the original "Topper" film. Whereas the earlier benefits from Grant and his suave charisma, this sequel excels because it gets everyone and everything working just right for its comic tempo.I think the main reason behind that is simple enough to grasp. The main character of the film and the series is "Topper", not the Cary Grant character. But as it happens, the character and the actor playing that main character took its time "developing", and in this movie it reached its zenith. Cary Grant character however needed no further development, being happily dead. The same can be understood in another way: Young/Ghost took his time beating Grant/Ghost off: he was overshadowed, not just literally, by the younger, more charming and superior acting presence that Grant was.Whereas to some, Young's acting in "Returns" might look like a mere bleak copy of Grant's acting in "Topper", I do not buy that for a mo. disagree.

I must I admit that the other two installments are very funny screwball comedies, but this one tops them all.The mainstays of Roland Young and Billie Burke are back as the tentative couple who are always one-part bumbler and the other-part clueless. Their scenes are always funny as Young tries so hard not to let on to his clueless wife what is really going on! But the star who carries this one is none other than that bombshell comedienne herself, JOAN BLONDELL. Just when you think she is only going to be a sidekick, she turns into THE kick. Her comic flair and range serve her well. As do the talents of the Donald MacBride as the Police Captain. (It's amazing how many defenders of the law he actually played during his long career - which by the way goes all the way back to the silents.) [1914]. The other star in his own right is Eddie "Rochester" Anderson. He shines numerous times in this outing as the Topper driver. Every comedy needs a great last scene or last line. And this time, it belongs to Rochester. Many people do not know that he became a wealthy man and lived in the "Hills" alongside many of the film star greats of the time. No mean feat for a "man of color" in those days. What a great talent he was! All in all, so many others also bring this ensemble work to work...notably the always underused Patsy Kelley, whose frumpish comedic gifts rounded out this wonderfully funny movie.Sit back and enjoy this ghostly screwball gem!