The defence The Arthouse Gremlin
“Its refusal to behave is the point.”
The strange choices create the kind of friction that follows you out of the theatre and into the argument.
Back to trending 
Topper Returns
Comedy · Fantasy · Mystery · 1941
Topper is once again tormented by a fun-loving spirit. This time, it's Gail Richards, accidentally murdered while vacationing at the home of her wealthy friend, Ann Carrington, the intended victim. With Topper's help, Gail sets out to find her killer with the expected zany results.
Movie details
Topper Returns
“Topper's having girl trouble again!”
1941 Comedy · Fantasy · Mystery 1h 28m
Critical arithmetic
One number, for now.
Scores change. Arguments endure.
TMDB
6.5 / 10
Community rating
Topper is once again tormented by a fun-loving spirit. This time, it's Gail Richards, accidentally murdered while vacationing at the home of her wealthy friend, Ann Carrington, the intended victim. With Topper's help, Gail sets out to find her killer with the expected zany results.
CriticWise case file
What this film says about your taste.
Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.
The archetype split
Who fights over Topper Returns?
For the defence
The Arthouse Gremlin
“The stranger, the better.”
Read their case For the prosecution
The Popcorn Loyalist
“Big screen, big feelings, no apologies.”
Read their objectionThe split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.
Taste neighbourhood
Nearby on the taste map.
TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.
Scooby-Doo! The Mystery Begins
Mystery · 2009
Unjustly accused of staging a spooky practical joke complete with ghosts, Daphne, Velma, Fred and Shaggy are suspended from Coolsville High. To clear their names, they team up to solve the supernatural mystery…and head straight into nonstop laughs and adventure.
Scooby-Doo! Curse of the Lake Monster
Mystery · 2010
Scooby-Doo and the gang are on the case when a mysterious lake monster starts scaring the guests at a summer resort in Erie Point, where Fred, Daphne, Velma and Shaggy have taken on seasonal jobs to pay for a barn they accidentally burned down. But in addition to sneaking suspicions, there's some romance in the air.
Timmy Failure: Mistakes Were Made
Family · 2020
An 11-year old boy believes that he is the best detective in town and runs the agency Total Failures with his best friend, an imaginary 1,200 pound polar bear.
The Cheap Detective
Comedy · 1978
A spoof of the entire 1940s detective genre. San Francisco private detective, Lou Pekinpaugh is accused of murdering his partner at the instigation of his mistress—his partner's wife.
Scooby-Doo! and the Witch's Ghost
Comedy · 1999
Scooby-Doo and the Mystery Gang visit Oakhaven, Massachusetts to seek strange goings on involving a famous horror novelist and his ancestor who is rumored to have been a witch.
The Thursday Murder Club
Comedy · 2025
A group of senior sleuths passionate about solving cold cases get plunged into a real-life murder mystery in this comic crime caper.
Foul Play
Comedy · 1978
A shy San Francisco librarian and a bumbling cop fall in love as they solve a crime involving albinos, dwarves, and the Catholic Church.
High Anxiety
Comedy · 1977
A psychiatrist with intense acrophobia (fear of heights) goes to work for a mental institution run by doctors who appear to be crazier than their patients, and have secrets that they are willing to commit murder to keep.
A Shot in the Dark
Comedy · 1964
Inspector Jacques Clouseau, smitten with the accused maid Maria Gambrelli, unwittingly turns a straightforward murder investigation into a comedic series of mishaps, testing the patience of his irritable boss Charles Dreyfus as casualties mount.
Scooby-Doo! and the Curse of the 13th Ghost
Comedy · 2019
Mystery Inc. withdraws from solving crimes after botching a case. When Vincent Van Ghoul contacts the gang about an unfinished investigation from Daphne, Shaggy and Scooby's past, the gang springs into action to finish the job that involves catching the 13th Ghost that escaped from the Chest of Demons and is still at large.
Where it lives
Watch in your region.
Cinema release signals and current streaming, rental, and purchase options for your region.
Streaming availability data supplied by JustWatch.
Names above the title
The people responsible.
Cast & crew
Directed by
Roy Del Ruth
Written by
Jonathan Latimer · Gordon Douglas
Joan Blondell
Gail Richards
Roland Young
Cosmo Topper
Carole Landis
Ann Carrington
Billie Burke
Mrs. Clara Topper
Dennis O'Keefe
Bob
Patsy Kelly
Emily, the Maid
H.B. Warner
Mr. Carrington
Court is in session
Put Topper Returns on trial.
Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.
The prosecution The Popcorn Loyalist
“Oddness is not depth.”
A film can break every rule and still leave nothing behind but the memory of how hard it tried to be singular.