scooby_doo | Jan. 2nd, 2010

Hey, Friends of Scooby...

I was messing around over at archive.org, which has all sorts of free movies, when I came accross the 1941 B-movie "Topper Returns". It's one of a series of "Topper" films in which the title character, a mild-mannered old guy, solves mysteries. Well, to make a long story short, this one features an old dark haunted house that basically has a ton of recognizable stuff from Scooby Doo. For example:

- an old creepy Victorian mansion with...
- secret passages
- revolving bookcases
- trap doors
- real live (dead) ghosts!
- a creepy butler
- eccentric weirdos who live there

and the cast of characters:

- bumbling old guy who somehow solves mysteries (Topper)
- two attractive young women always getting into trouble
- aforementioned creepy butler
- incompetent police detective
- stereotyped Black limo driver (definitely racist-- bad enough to make the movie unplayable in modern times)
- played by Eddie "Rochester" Anderson, this character steals a lot of scenes despite the limitations of the role

If you can acknowledge the biases of the era, this movie is fascinating. It's also totally free and downloadable here:

Topper Returns (1941)

OK, I'm off to get some Scooby Snacks!