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Bulldog Drummond's Revenge

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"You certainly have a way of stumbling into things that don't concern you." -- Colonel Neilsen to Bulldog Drummond


H.C. 'Snapper' McNeile's Bulldog Drummond found prominence with Ronald Colman's turn in the role of the restless Brit always finding adventure just before he could tie the knot with his long-time love, Phyllis Clavering. Surely the most fun is derived from the "B" series starring John Howard as Bulldog, however. I am not in the camp who find Howard's portrayal of Bulldog boring. The Phi Beta Kappa graduate first came to prominence as Colman's younger brother in Capra's Lost Horizon. Howard proved himself to be the genuine article in real life, receiving the US Navy Cross during WWII for his gallant efforts to save his comrades aboard his sinking minesweeper. Shy and modest offscreen, he had panache as Bulldog, and fit perfectly into the role in the "B" series. Regulars E.E. Clive asTenny and Reginald Denny as Algy complemented him well and made for an enjoyable trio. Louise Campbell does well as Hughe's long-suffering girlfriend in a role Heather Angel would eventually make her own. John Barrymore lends a touch of class as Colonel Neilsen in the series and is particularly fine in this entry, showing flashes of style even after he was relegated to lesser vehicles.

Bulldog Drummond's Revenge starts off nicely with a bit of fun. After rescuing the rings from a sewer grate, Hugh and Tenny are nearly on their way to Switzerland with pal Algy and Phyllis when Drummond overhears Neilsen talking about a new explosive being secretly transported by plane. Hugh can't help himself, of course, and following the plane from the ground, he and Algy recover a suitcase full of the new material that was stolen in midair and dropped by parachute. A hand found in the plane's wreckage which already has rigor mortis offers a clue to what has happened, but before Hugh can contact the Colonel, someone hits the lights back home and the suitcase is stolen in the uproar. Hugh gets in his licks, however, and when Algy spots the man with the wounds onboard the train Hugh and Phyllis are taking to Dover, he stays too long and leaves his sweet chatterbox, Gwen (Nydia Westman), standing at the station.

Bulldog tries to make Phyllis happy with promises audiences know he won't be able to keep, since adventure has a way of finding our hero wherever he roams. The suitcase is onboard with a killer disguised as a woman, and our Bulldog will need the Colonel's help once on the Dover Ferry to make sure the suitcase stays in the right hands. Phyllis finds she likes all the fun after all, even after a wild finish which leaves both she and Algy in a faint! There is some comfortable humor from Clive and Denny as Hugh's pals, and Barrymore cuts a dashing path, stealing every scene he is in, to the enjoyment of fans. Louis King keeps things moving nicely and photographer Harry Fischbeck does a nice job blending the minature sets with the real thing so we can just enjoy the fun. A good entry in the series which entertains in exactly the manner in which it was intended. Fun for fans of the "B" mysteries.

ASIN B000QRIK5Y - Newer movies often conflict with my limited ability to sit still and stare at a television screen. With oodles of old movies that are about an hour in length showing up on DVD for very low prices, I find myself with plenty to watch!

Hugh "Bulldog" Drummond (John Howard) is engaged to be married to Phyllis Clavering (Louise Campbell), a woman who very much would like him to call a halt to all the excitement and danger that surrounds him. He's promised that will be the case when they get married, but things aren't looking too promising on that front. When Bulldog drops in at the office of Col. J.A. Nielson (John Barrymore), he overhears enough of a conversation to pique his interest, but Nielson makes clear that this is none of his affair. A scientist, Sir John Haxton (Matthew Boulton) has developed a new and very dangerous explosive that he's named Haxtonite (of course!). In the wrong hands, it could be devastating. Shortly thereafter, a package drops by parachute into the path of Drummond's car and Haxton's plane crashes mere yards away. A severed hand is Drummond's first clue and, speaking of "the wrong hands", this one is cold - too cold to belong to a man who died just moments before! With the help of his rather hapless friend, Algy Longworth (Reginald Denny), his man Tenny (E. E. Clive) and even Phyllis, Drummond solves the case and brings down the nefarious Draven Nogais (Frank Puglia).

Run time, 57 minutes; good news for me and my short attention span. The title makes no sense, whatsoever, to me. Not only did I not see revenge, I didn't anything Drummond might want to get revenge for - perhaps I missed something. The description of this movie is wrong, everywhere I've seen it - "Bulldog Drummond (John Howard) along with his pal Algy Longworth and fiancee Phyllis Claverling, come upon a severed arm that is still attached to a valise filled with a new type of high explosive." One, Phyllis isn't with them. Two, it isn't a severed arm, just a hand. Three, it is not and never was attached to the suitcase.

Despite the setting (London), no one seems to have much of an accent, which I found weird. There are a lot of slapstick moments throughout the movie, something that might seem a bit odd for a mystery, but this was 1937 and movies had included sound for less than a decade at this point, so physical comedy had more of a place in various genres than it does now. This isn't James Bond. Author/creator Herman Cyril McNeile (writing as Sapper) isn't Ian Fleming. Still, the relationship is there in the books; it doesn't seem to be present, however, in this film, unless you count the opening scene, where Drummond uses a trick with chewing gum to retrieve a box containing his wedding rings from a sewer grate as slightly 007-ish. Maybe MacGyver-ish.

Based on Return Of Bulldog Drummond (1932), this is the ninth Bulldog Drummond movie (only the sixth with sound) and John Howard's first time as the title character, a role he played in another six movies. Howard, Denny and Clive suit their roles well, Barrymore is understated perfection and Campbell is almost over the top, but in an excellent way. The only true negative, and an intentional one at that, is the part of Gwen Longworth (Nydia Westman) whose nasally whining and rambling is enough to make a person wish for silent movies to make a comeback. Westman plays the part so well ("Algy Walgy", she calls her husband) that you're bound to love to hate her.

- AnnaLovesBooks

Captain Hugh "Bulldog" Drummond was one of those British gentlemen of leisure who one assumes was mentioned in dispatches for gallantry during The Great War. These amateur sleuths had superb manners and upper-class attitudes. They solved some of England's most ingenious crimes during the Twenties and Thirties. According to Drummond's chronicler, H. C. McNeile, Drummond "has the appearance of an English gentleman: a man who fights hard, plays hard and lives clean...Only his eyes redeem his face. Deep-set and steady, with eyelashes that many women envy, they show him to be a sportsman and an adventurer." In Bulldog Drummond's Revenge, John Howard plays Drummond. The Bulldog is turned into a conventionally handsome man with a carefully groomed moustache and not much sign of life. It's a bland, pleasant performance.

The plot, told in 57 brisk minutes, has something to do with haxonite, a super explosive, often unstable, that can obliterate cities. A large sample is stolen from the inventor while he's flying his single-engine plane at night in the fog. When Hugh Drummond and his best friend, Algy Longworth (Reginald Denny, playing the epitome of the English twit), discover the suitcase (it had been tossed out of the plane attached to a parachute) on their way to meet Phyllis Claverling, Hugh's long time fiancée, all sorts of complications arise. There's the increasingly impatient Phyllis who wants a husband and not a detective, a hand reaching around a doorway to turn out the lights, a long train ride to Dover with a suspicious woman who looks so mannish she must either be a male in disguise or on heavy-duty hormones, and international spies. All this takes place, or course, at night. Phyllis despairs of ever getting Hugh to the altar. Algy's wife shows up briefly and then disappears, thankfully. She brings a shrill laugh that is to comedy what a drill is to dentistry. There's also a severed arm, a few days old, which makes an occasional appearance. And there is John Barrymore playing, in a few brief scenes, Colonel J. A. Nielson, head of Britain's most shadowy secret service. He's top billed, has little to do but be authoritative and lend his name to this enterprise. It's a poignant situation. Barrymore still can dominate any scene he's in.

E. E. Clive is one of the best things in the movie, and in the series. He plays Drummond's manservant, Tennyson. "Tenny" is an elderly snob, but marvelously competent, remarkably resourceful and, one surmises, probably smarter that Drummond. His performance brings some acerbic life to the movie. "Ah, Tenny, getting married is great fun, isn't it?" says Drummond. "In Switzerland, sir?" says Tenny, raising an eyebrow. "Anywhere, Tenny, anywhere!" Says Tenny, with finely tuned distaste, "It's a popular belief, sir."

Bulldog Drummond's Revenge is one of those many time-filling programmers from the past that do no harm. They're fun to watch every now and then. The DVD transfer is only passable, and minimizes the fun.

It looks like Capt. Hugh Chesterton 'Bulldog' Drummond (John Howard) is getting married to Phyllis (Louise Campbell) and giving up the detecting racket. He almost loses the wedding rings, but with a little ingenuity and a stick of American gum, they are retrieved. A lot of good that does him as it turns out a scientist is missing along with an extraordinary explosive formula. Only Bulldog finds out the hard way with a severed arm containing a familiar ring. Col. J.A. Nielson (John Barrymore) of Scotland Yard wants to know how Bulldog fits in the situation.

Yes, this is a formula spy story with a Bulldog Drummond overlay. Based on the novel "The Return of Bulldog Drummond."

It looks like Capt. Hugh Chesterton 'Bulldog' Drummond (John Howard) is getting married to Phyllis (Louise Campbell) and giving up the detecting racket. He almost loses the wedding rings, but with a little ingenuity and a stick of American gum, they are retrieved. A lot of good that does him as it turns out a scientist is missing along with an extraordinary explosive formula. Only Bulldog finds out the hard way with a severed arm containing a familiar ring. Col. J.A. Nielson (John Barrymore) of Scotland Yard wants to know how Bulldog fits in the situation.

Yes, this is a formula spy story with a Bulldog Drummond overlay. Based on the novel "The Return of Bulldog Drummond."

This wasnt too bad, I dont know if it is something to own, but certainly a good renter. If you like classic mysteries (classic as in old movies) check it out. They went for the gothic approach on this adding foggy streets and so forth. Druommnd is out to find a man who is carrying explosives that are to be used in war. It is very minor crime and espionage, and some minor slapstick humor,but it wasn't too terrible. 55 minutes of harmless crime/mystery. Not bad at all. The Monogram/MGM Charlie Chan movies are still better.
Alpha's DVD is the usual old warn looking print, but you can clearly see the movie, despite the fact it needs a good remastering. Typical Alpha print maybe a C or C+, B- at best.

It looks like Capt. Hugh Chesterton 'Bulldog' Drummond (John Howard) is getting married to Phyllis (Louise Campbell) and giving up the detecting racket. He almost loses the wedding rings, but with a little ingenuity and a stick of American gum they are retrieved. A lot of good that does him as it turns out a scientist is missing along with an extraordinary explosive formula. Only Bulldog finds out the hard way with a severed arm containing a familiar ring. Col. J.A. Nielson (John Barrymore) of Scotland Yard wants to know how Bulldog fits in the situation.

Yes this is a formula spy story with a Bulldog Drummond overlay. Based on the novel "The Return of Bulldog Drummond."