Search - Bulldog Drummond's Secret Police on DVD

Terrific Fun

Bobby Underwood | Manly NSW, Australia | 04/03/2010

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Though this started out as an "A" production, the lower budget series that followed was great fun. The "B" series of Bulldog Drummond had John Howard in the role Ronald Colman had made successful.The very cute Heather Angel was Hugh's fun bride-to-be, Phyllis Clavering. E.E. Clive was great as Bulldog's valet, Tenny, and Reginald Denny offered moments of amusement as his affable pal, Algy. H.B. Warner was fun as Colonel Nielson and Elizabeth Patterson swell as Phyllis' Aunt Blanche, always skeptical that Bulldog would ever make it to the alter with Phyllis.



James Horn directed this one with a screenplay from Garnett Weston based on "The Temple Tower" by H.C. "Sapper" McNeile. This particular entry is quite fun, as Hugh finds adventure in his own home. Five other times Bulldog's nose for mystery and adventure has kept him from the alter with Phyllis, and when a professor shows up at Rockingham on the eve of the nuptuals with a book containing directions to a hidden treasure in the world underneath Bulldog's home, adventure can't be far away.



A secret cipher and the possibility of treasure is just too much for Hugh and his pals to resist, wedding or not! The fun really starts and the pace picks up once the book is stolen and a man is murdered. Phyllis is game, however, and joins in the chase with moxy, asking for a gun. She may need it when she's taken hostage by the killer and the treasure is found, Bulldog and gang on the chase to save her.



There is a dream sequence that lets Hugh recall some of his exploits from previous entries which is campy fun. Leo Carroll makes a good "B" villan and Howard adds the right touch as the man-about-town who can't resist a good adventure. Heather Angel is cute as a button throughout and an ending with a laugh makes this a particularly enjoyable outing for Bulldog and gang. Those who enjoy "B" films, especially series, will like this one a lot. A fun double feature for a Saturday morning!"

A dull dark old house comedy caper for the Bulldog. The last

C. O. DeRiemer | San Antonio, Texas, USA | 08/18/2009

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Where were we? Phyllis Claverling is once more impatiently waiting for Hugh Drummond to make her his wife. She's been left standing at the altar several times already while Hugh -- `Bulldog' to friends and enemies alike -- goes chasing off to solve ingenious crimes. This time the wedding is scheduled to take place at Drummond's Rockingham estate. Little does Phyllis know that a decidedly odd professor, horrid murder, a secret cipher and a hidden fortune somewhere on the estate will postpone the nuptials once again.



By now John Barrymore, who had lent a faded, poignant but authoritative presence to the part of Colonel Neilson, head of Britain's most secret service, had gone. Colonel Neilson is now played by the fine, skeletal and unauthoritative H. B. Warner, an actor who was much more interesting on the rare occasions when he played a villain. Hanging on in the series is John Howard, bland and manly as Drummond, Reginald Denny as Drummond's twit of a best friend, Heather Angel as Phyllis and, best of all, E. E. Clive as `Tenny' Tennison, Drummond's aged, efficient and acerbic valet.



Dithering and eccentric Professor Downie shows up at Rockingham just after the wedding party has arrived to inform Drummond and his wedding guests that a fabled treasure in jewels belonging to Charles I, worth at least one million pounds, is hidden somewhere in the dank passages underneath Rockingham Tower. Foolish legend? Professor Downie's corpse, discovered later that evening, implies not.



Once Hugh starts investigating, the clichés of a dark old mansion storyline kick in: Dripping passageways, a spiked ceiling clattering slowly downward, a swirling abyss of tidal water...all good stuff but a little late to save this 56-minute programmer. Before we get to them we have to wade through a four-minute dream sequence in which Hugh flashes back through movie clips to his past adventures and wedding frustrations. This time-wasting sequence is just more semi-amusing distraction that the screenwriters use to eat up time, to economise and to keep us away from exploring the bowels of Rockingham. The serio-comedy mystery is half way over before anyone even starts thinking about creeping down secret passages. By then the writers have told us who the murderer is.



I'm afraid there's not much to Bulldog Drummond's Secret Police except tired comedy unless you, like the Bulldog and Phyllis, thrive on delayed gratification.



Bulldog Drummond's Secret Police is in the public domain. The version I saw is nothing to brag about, but it at least doesn't show much damage."