Bulldog Drummond Escapes

Bulldog Drummond is supposedly the inspiration for James Bond. I don't see it, but Ben Mankiewicz gets a lot wrong. Amazing that TCM doesn't have a fact-checker. In truth, Ian Fleming said 007 was "Drummond above the waist and Mickey Spillane below."

This 1937 film stars Ray Milland, who only played Bulldog once. Someone on this board wrote that this film was only a B film, and wasn't Ray Milland a big star at one time? As if his career was on the decline. Actually it was just starting, and while I never thought of him as a superstar, he did come up the ranks after this.

In this film, Captain Hugh 'Bulldog' Drummond returns to England in his plane. Driving home, a young woman (Heather Angel) lands in front of his car. He doesn't hit her, but she falls.

He is attempting to revive her when he hears a shout and gunshots in the woods. He leaves her for a minute, and the woman jumps in his car and leaves.

She's left her purse and handkerchief in the car, so he goes to her home, Greystone. She asks him to help her as she is being kept prisoner there.

Meanwhile, Bulldog's pal Algy is about to become a father for the first time and is going crazy with worry in the hospital. Guy Standing is the inspector, and when he hears from Bulldog, he tells him to leave town. The Inspector is on vacation and doesn't want to get involved in one of Bulldog's murders.

Lots of fun, with Ray Milland a charming Drummond, very attractive, and very smooth. I would have loved to see him in more than just this Drummond film.

Many actors have played Bulldog, including Carlyle Blackwood in the silents, Richard Johnson, Walter Pidgeon, Robert Beatty, Tom Conway, Ron Randell, John Howard (who played the role 7 times), Ronald Colman, Athol Fleming, Ralph Richardson, Kevin McKenna, and Jack Buchanan. Whew.

Actually, the film The Man Who Knew Too Much was a Drummond story adapted by Hitchcock.

It's interesting that so many characters were inspired by Sherlock Holmes. Like Sherlock, Bulldog has a sidekick and a nemesis (in the books), Carl Peterson.

Looking forward to seeing more of the films on TCM.

As with most of the items in this series, one must put aside a great deal of incredulity. There are far too many coincidences and events dependent on the victim, for the bad guys to be as successful as they are. That said, there is a great deal of byplay among the principles, including the police department and others makes it a good deal of fun. The thing that really stretches things is that the young woman whom we focus on is semi-conscious much of the time and participate a bit too much in the plot to conceal her. There are, however, so many opportunities to escape or to get help, the ultimate rescue seems a little unnecessary. Ray Milland as Drummond is quite good. I always found him unflappable in his many portrayals (even the Hitchcock classic). He has suavity down to a science. The byplay with the butler is quite delightful. I'm still not sure why they were hanging on to this girl (she seemed like excess baggage) and what the mystery was, but I still had a fine time. I have six of these films and look forward to the next one.

Ray Milland's only outing as Bulldog Drummond is a pretty good start to Paramount's series. The story is about Drummond trying to help a woman who's being kept prisoner by her nefarious guardian at the ominously-named Greystone Manor. There's also a subplot about Drummond's right-hand man Algy being a nervous wreck waiting on his wife to give birth. Milland makes for a charming and lively Bulldog Drummond. He was one of three actors to play the character in 1937 alone and, for my money, he was better than the other two. Reginald Denny and E.E. Clive offer fun support. Lovely Heather Angel plays the heiress and has a nice playful chemistry with Milland. She's also something of a tough cookie, helping fight the bad guys instead of just standing around doing nothing. The rest of the cast features fine actors like Porter Hall, Walter Kingsford, Fay Holden, and Guy Standing. This was Standing's final movie, dying from a rattlesnake bite (!) a month after this was released. The Bulldog Drummond series wasn't one of my favorites of the many detective film series that littered the '30s & '40s but I have liked many of them. This one is particularly enjoyable with lots of humor and some nice foggy atmosphere. Short runtime and good pace also help.

Bulldog Drummond returns to England and, when driving home, encounters a young lady who steals his car. He traces her to a manor house and she asks for his help to get out of a difficult situation.

One of a series of B films in that period which featured the character Bulldrog Drummond. On this occasion Ray Milland fills his shoes and does a decent job but, with his star rising, he soon moved on to better films. Watchable and of interest to fans of the series.

I was very pleasantly surprised by this racy little number,available in the UK on one DVD with two other movies from the same series.A simple but effective plot and some good stand out action scenes,pretty well mounted for a 'programmer'.Bulldog Drummond was served better by these movies than Dick Barton fared in the Hammer productions that came a dozen or so years later.Well worth watching,with a nice late thirties flavour,and far superior to the later Richard Johnson attempts at the character.Maybe its time for a resurgence of interest in Bulldog Drummond !! Ray Milland is a suave hero,and Heather Angel a pert heroine.When major stardom priced Ray Milland out of the series,John Howard played the part with equal charm.