Search - Bulldog Drummond's Revenge on DVD

Matt B. from GETZVILLE, NY
Reviewed on 12/29/2010...

This detective story features the resourceful Capt. Drummond (Howard) as he pursues thieves who’ve stolen a batch of a newly developed explosive. A treacherous volatile, it is liable to be set off by the slightest jar, which provides a marvelous running joke.

Drummond is alternately helped and hindered by his sidekick Algy (Denny), his finance Phyllis, his butler Tennie, and Inspector Nielson (Barrymore). Algy is a pip-pip-rigthto Englishman out of the pages of Agatha Christie. Out of Margery Allingham, beautiful and down to earth Phyllis wants adventurous Drummond to settle down to home and fireside. From Wodehouse, Tennie the butler is mildly caustic and always funny. Grouchy Inspector Nielson complains of being tormented by Drummond’s infernal questions. Mr. Kanda is a Japanese character who, amazingly, has a bona fide Japanese accent that is troubled by the distinctions between ban / van and sea / she.

The movie is tight, moving from scene to scene at a rapid pace. Verbal humor, sight gags, consistent characters combine with coincidence and other imponderables. Scenes take place in a car, in a cockpit, on a train, and climax on the Dover – Dunkirk boat. The actors, clearly veterans of the stage, all put in plausible performances. I also liked some very cool shots of London and Dover. I was pleasantly impressed with this movie since I was expected a pulpy detective story and got a tightly plotted, well acted, and funny thriller instead.

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A Nice One

Bobby Underwood | Manly NSW, Australia | 05/06/2010

(5 out of 5 stars)

""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."