Bulldog Drummond in Africa

On the eve of his wedding Captain Hugh Drummond is off to Morocco when Scotland Yard's Colonel J. A. Nielson is kidnapped by international criminal Richard Lane( played by J. Carroll Naish). With his fiancée Phyllis Clavering, friend 'Algy' Longworth and his trusty valet 'Tenny' Tennyson, Bulldog flies his own plane 1200 miles only to find the local British Consul ordering him home without delay. Drummond isn't an easy man to get rid of however and they soon mount their rescue plan.

Highly enjoyable Drummond entry. The plot is smooth, the atmosphere and the action are effective. The finale where a lion is well fed is thrilling. Great fun. Watch out for young Anthony Quinn as a bad guy.

Bulldog Drummond In Africa finds John Howard once again postponing his plans to marry Heather Angel whose been left at the altar more times than Adelaide in Guys And Dolls. It's her fault really at this point because she's the one that has discovered that Drummond's good friend from Scotland Yard H.B. Warner has been kidnapped and spirited to Morocco.

Angel stows away on Howard's plane along with his two friends Reginald Denny and E.E. Clive. Warner has been kidnapped by international spy and man of mystery J. Carrol Naish and wants Warner to give him the secret of something called a disintegrater ray. Sounds like lasers way before they were perfected.

Of course Howard affects a rescue lest Warner's character Colonel Nielsen not be around for the next film. As usual Reginald Denny provides the bumbling comic relief. I swear Drummond keeps Algy around strictly for laughs the way the Cisco Kid used to have Pancho along. The guy who is really useful is E.E. Clive who's like a Boy Scout in that he's always prepared.

Anthony Quinn has a small part as one of Naish's henchmen and I noticed in the credits that Anne Bauchens did the editing. Annie B was a most trusted employee of the Cecil B. DeMille group, in fact C.B. had it in his contract that only she was allowed to edit his films. I'm wondering if she was there to take care of Quinn in the rushes because Quinn at the time was DeMille's son-in-law.

Bulldog Drummond In Africa is a pleasant enough B film from the Paramount lot.

With a story that has a couple of interesting turns, rather effective atmosphere, and a good cast, "Bulldog Drummond in Africa" is one of the most entertaining of the John Howard series of 'Bulldog' features. To the usual good action and likable main characters, it adds some interesting settings that work well given the limited budget.

The story opens with some light comedy about the ongoing obstacles to Drummond and Phyillis's wedding plans, and then they are plunged into another adventure when Phyllis herself witnesses Colonel Neilson being kidnapped. The story shifts to Morocco for the rest of the action, where the story takes some interesting turns, with the usual snappy pace. Even though it shows signs of having been filmed on a shoestring, the climactic confrontation with the lions creates some suspense.

The cast has Howard, Reginald Denny, and E.E. Clive from the previous features, and they are joined by Heather Angel (returning to the role she had played in an earlier Drummond feature with Ray Milland), who is engaging and energetic as Phyllis, plus H.B. Warner as Neilson. This is the feature in which Warner took over from John Barrymore, who was always so enjoyable in the part, but Warner works well enough in his own right in this feature. His confrontations with the villains give him some decent material to work with.

The main characters are given help from the supporting cast, with J. Carrol Naish doing a solid job as the traitorous Lane, and a young-looking Anthony Quinn making very good use of his opportunities. Strictly as light entertainment, it's an enjoyable combination.

Public Media Inc. has released a neat two film set of Bulldog Drummond films on one tape. The other film paired with "Bulldog Drummond in Africa" is "Arrest Bulldog Drummond." If you like The Thin Man series, you may like this as well. If you absolutely love The Thin Man series, you'll probably be disappointed with Bulldog Drummond. John Howard plays "Bulldog," which is something of a misnomer as played here because he's rather quiet, handsome & shy, not what one would expect from a "bulldog." Heather Angel matches well with Howard as his Fiancee in Perpetuity. The movies have charm, wit, a bit of mystery, & solid acting. If you're not expecting William Powell & Myrna Loy, you should be pleased. Anthony Quinn fans note: a very young Quinn has a neat little part in "...Africa." George Zucco fans note: he has a good part in "Arrest...." I rate "Bulldog Drummond in Africa" 7/10, & I rate "Arrest Bulldog Drummond" 6/10.

There is a lot of funny stuff, from two men being locked in a room without any pants, so that Drummond won't get involved and miss his wedding, to them cutting the phone cord and dancing a highland fling in a home-made kilt. As it turns out, the one who wanted the wedding to go one is the one responsible for getting them into another adventure. As usual, it's a secret that could turn the face of the war. The one who knows the most is kidnapped and may be fed to the lions that the villain has in his courtyard if he doesn't reveal the secret code. There is a long standoff. Meanwhile, Drummond and the gang have arrived without proper papers to stay in Morocco. They become targets of the people they are pursuing and nearly get blown out of the sky. There are a whole series of wonderful things between Drummond and Tenny. A very young Anthony Quinn makes an appearance as a cold blooded assistant to the bad guys. This one is much more watchable than some of the others and moves to a nice boil.