Bulldog Drummond in Africa

British adventurer John Howard (as Hugh "Bulldog" Drummond) is all set to marry girlfriend Heather Angel (as Phyllis Clavering). After several unexpected wedding postponements, Drummond isn't taking any chances. He is sequestered himself in his mansion. So that he can't go out and stumble into some crime scene, Drummond has surrendered his trousers and money to pal Reginald Denny (as Algernon "Algy" Longworth). Manservant E.E. Clive (as Tenny) is also left in his underwear and shirt-tails. Meanwhile, a mystery connected to Africa develops. Drummond's old friend and colleague H.B. Warner (as Colonel Nielson) is kidnapped. Of course, the Drummond wedding is canceled...

Drummond, Algy and Tenny take a flight to Africa. Phyllis is a stowaway...

Drummond and his supporting cast are really on the road to Morocco, which somehow doesn't seem like the Africa promised in the title. However, Morocco is on the continent. And, there are lions hanging around. For this entry in the series, John Barrymore has been replaced in the role of Scotland Yard investigator Nielson. Another veteran actor with a stellar list of credits, Mr. Warner was a good choice to fill Mr. Barrymore's shoes. Less obviously, Ms. Angel returns to play Phyllis, for the duration. J. Carrol Naish (as Richard Lane) has fun in the bearded villain's role. As his henchmen receiving generous on-screen time, good-looking young Anthony Quinn makes a striking impression.

***** Bulldog Drummond in Africa (1938-08-05) Louis King ~ John Howard, H.B. Warner, J. Carrol Naish, Reginald Denny

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.

The opening ruse to keep Drummond & Co. from finding Adventure and to find Marriage wears thin after 10 minutes or so, but this potboiler soon picks up speed - the plane taking them all to Morocco was slower.

J. Carroll Naish as the baddie kidnaps the goodie from Scotland Yard, H. B. Warner for his state secrets, flies him out of the country with Drummond in pursuit. I won't give the game away as to whether he, Algy, Tenney and Phyllis succeed in releasing Warner, properly chastise the baddies (including the cub Anthony Quinn) and fly back home into a happy ending - you'll have to bite your nails and watch it!

At times utterly predictable, even with a rather savage lion in some shots - what did they have to do to make it so mad - but as usual a very watchable entry in this series.

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.

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.