The Return of Bulldog Drummond (1934)

Let's be realistic.

Best movie of this year hands down!

A brilliant film that helped define a genre

Watching it is like watching the spectacle of a class clown at their best: you laugh at their jokes, instigate their defiance, and "ooooh" when they get in trouble.

Despite Ralph Richardson taking the lead role, I didn't find this entry in the Bulldog Drummond saga particularly good. The print wasn't good -- a low-contrast 16 mm. print with poor sound -- and the story about how Bulldog and his old regimental pals break up a gang of foreign adventurers-for profit, who unwisely kidnap Mrs. Bulldog (Ann Todd), thinking this will stop him, was Best British Pulp. The villain in this case is Francis L. Sullivan, who looks to have some fun by occasionally donning a bushy beard and speaking with a Russian accent The actors do their best, but the direction by the uninspired Walter Summers and camerawork by Jack Parker is simple-minded and obvious at all times.

This is a particularly feeble attempt at a Bulldog Drummond film.There is a plot of sorts but that more or less comes to an end when Richardon encounters Francis L Sullivan.Then it is just a case of them trying to outwit each other.The film then employs some extraordinarily silly devices to move the plot along.A nerve gas applied to an antimacassar,and a henchman who can "imitate" anyone.Then we move on to the scene where the car hurtles into the water,only you can see the rope attached to the rear axle.Richardson who has been paralysed by the gas then manages to struggle out of the car.The climax at the house is awful.When Richardson and Todd are in danger of drowning Algy suddenly gets the idea to go to their rescue.After all what sort of hero is it who actually has to be rescued at the climax.Todd is top billed but difficult to understand why when she is only in the film for a few minutes.Richardson is allowed to overact far to much.He would turn in a far superior characterisation as the villain in the following years "Bulldog Jack" which is a far superior film.Difficult to understand why the distributors chose to release this film bearing in mind that they have many more superior BIP and ABPC films in their vaults.Incidentally about 10 minutes in there was a sound defect on the soundtrack.Why was a disc released with this?

"The Return Of Bulldog Drummond" presents a somewhat different take on the title character compared to its two immediate film predecessors: this time Captain Drummond is the head of a vigilante squad, his friend Algy is his second-in-command, oh, and he has also gotten married! His main opponent here is an old foe - pretty much what Blofeld is to James Bond. Directed in a punchy style (even a dog gets electrocuted!), the film is a sheer adventure, with barely any hint of mystery. It's an OK programmer of its type; if I have one complaint is that there are a few too many written letters shown on the screen that we are supposed to read to help us follow the plot, but both the handwriting and the picture quality of existing prints make it hard to do so. **1/2 out of 4.

Finally got a hold of this title as it's very hard to come by. I enjoy Bulldog Drummond and his pal Algy and I was not disappointed here. As stated by a previous reader this one is markedly different from all other Bulldog dramatizations in that it's played straight and is not at all tongue-in-cheek. I found Ralph Richardson a stalwart, cocky Drummond very able to take care of himself despite some ineffectual-looking fight scenes. I also found Claude Allister an enormously different Algy from the one portrayed by Reginald Denny - Allister's, for some odd reason, is a silly-ass Englishman type complete with monocle and Terry-Thomas delivery.Oh, alright, I suppose the overriding theme was pacifist in nature but as a 'yank' I didn't have Neville Chamberlain in the back of my mind - I just wanted to see a good old-fashioned Bulldog movie, and I got one. It moved quickly with very little down time and it held my interest throughout. I thought Writer-Director Walter Summers did a thorough job and did himself and viewers a big favor by inserting a slimy villain in the person of Francis L. Sullivan, a veteran of slimy villain parts.Good 'Bulldog' and worth my vote of a 7.