A Volta de Bulldog Drummond

Bulldog Drummond was sort of the James Bond of the 1930s (not least because in both cases, a rather thuggish and brutal book character was made more gentlemanly and dashing on screen). Ronald Colman had a huge success with 1929's Bulldog Drummond, which is fairly creaky as a film but unquestionably showed him off as one of the first actors to understand acting for talkies, and remains watchable today because of his relaxed and charming presence.

Where it took three or four increasingly over-the-top Bond films before the spoofs started coming, two of the next three Drummond films (all made in 1934) were at least semi-tongue-in-cheek-- sort of like if Casino Royale and In Like Flint had followed immediately after Dr. No. While the British Return of Bulldog Drummond (with Ralph Richardson as the only screen Drummond apparently as racist and violent as the original) was serious, Bulldog Jack starred the rather dire comic Jack Hulbert as a nebbish ineptly posing as Drummond (with Richardson again, phoning in a performance as a shaggy-haired villain). And then there's this sort-of sequel to the 1929 Colman film ("sort of" because apart from Colman it's a completely different cast, crew and even studio), which is ostensibly a straight thriller, and quite suspenseful in parts-- yet has a self-mocking, absurdist edge far beyond anything in the 1929 film.

Under the fast-paced direction of Warner Bros. veteran Roy Del Ruth, there's a definite screwball influence here, with bodies disappearing and reappearing and Colman reacting to it all with a kind of bemused unflappability that goes well beyond even Powell and Loy's approach to detective work in The Thin Man. For a 1930s film it's startlingly self-referential and conscious of being a movie-- Colman declines a ride because he says it fits his image better to be seen disappearing into the fog, and at one point he flat out predicts that this is just the moment when a beautiful woman in distress should appear at the door, which of course she does. You half expect Basil Exposition's father to turn up and help him advance the plot.

Warner Oland makes a nicely exasperated villain, part straight man and part genuine menace, and though Charles Butterworth's exceedingly dim Algy is a bit tiresome (when Algy turns out to be a ex-wartime cryptographer, you're startled to discover he can even read), it's a genuine delight to see C. Aubrey Smith playing a real character and not Stock Crusty Old Gent #1.

Now then, if this is so good, why haven't you ever seen it? Unfortunately, 20th Century (not Fox yet) only owned the rights to the story it's based on for a certain period, so though they still own the film itself, they no longer have the legal right to exhibit it in the US. So it's never been released to TV here (although for some reason they have shown it on TV in Britain, and passable copies reportedly circulate in this country duped from British TV broadcasts). Fox ought to look past the constant repackaging of its ten most famous movies, write a small check to the McNeile estate for permanent rights and then make a big ballyhoo about the rediscovery and video release of a lost classic from the golden age of Hollywood.

Ronald Colman gets to repeat the role he made his talking picture debut in with Bulldog Drummond Strikes Back. Though it did not yield an Oscar nomination as his first essay of the Bulldog did it is still a marvelous entertaining film. There's also a distinct improvement in the casting of Charles Butterworth instead of Claud Allister as sidekick Algy Longworth.

I remember so thoroughly disliking Allister as Algy in the first Bulldog Drummond, he was more of an annoyance than anything else. Butterworth was an actor possessing a nice droll presence on screen and he handles the part so much better. Even when he screws up as he does in this film it's really not his fault and in fact he covers up a vital clue that the villain wants badly.

That villain being Warner Oland who plays a rich Middle Eastern tycoon who has relocated to London. Oland has a very important cargo coming in on a freighter he owns and nothing must stand in the way of his receipt of said cargo. That includes murder, the murder victim being Loretta Young's father who knew about the cargo and had a mysterious coded radiogram from the ship which he was killed for.

Colman's English charm was working on all cylinders in Bulldog Drummond Strikes Back. He managed not to get thrown in jail by C. Aubrey Smith of Scotland Yard and that in itself is a feat as he thoroughly annoys Smith with his constant calls for assistance. Similarly poor Butterworth has just gotten married and leaves his bride Una Merkel twice on the wedding night to come to Colman's assistance. Not to mention Loretta Young who is captivated by Colman as most of the English speaking world was.

Incidentally a pair of London bobbies lend timely assistance to Colman twice inadvertently as he is in the clutches of the villain. Those scenes are truly funny as Colman emerges from the clutches of Oland debonair as ever.

Bulldog Drummond Strikes Back is a great introduction to the debonair charm and class of Ronald Colman, possessor of the great voice in the English speaking world.

I have been lucky enough to collect all the old Bulldog Drummond movies and I believe that this one is the best all-around offering.

Ropnald Coleman comes across as sophisticated without being pretentious, as adventuresome without being an unreasonable risk-taker. In fact his whole demeanor is one of having fun and inviting the audience along for the ride.

Loretta Young is as beautiful as ever and plays the damsel in distress in true 1930s melodramatic splendor.

Warner Oland comes across with one of his classic, pre-Charlie Chan villian portrayals that is both menacing as well as full of oily charm, also common in the 30s adventures.

I loved it when I first saw it a year ago and I have brought it out for several viewings since then and I have enjoyed it every time.

In short it is the kind of movie that reminds the viewer of how charming and full of fun Ronald Coleman was on the screen.

... with better sound technology than in Colman's first sound film, Bulldog Drummond (1929).

The film opens with Colman's friend Algy (Charles Butterworth) getting married. After the wedding Drummond decides to take a walk in the fog. First he accidentally says "Excuse me" to a tall post he mistook for a person, which, for some reason, makes a passing woman (Loretta Young) frantic, and she walks away talking to herself and seemingly angry at Drummond. Drummond then gets lost and goes to a nearby house to find out where exactly he is located. He finds the door of the large house ajar, the lights all out, a roaring fire in the fireplace, and a dead man on the couch. Drummond goes to get a local policeman. But when he returns the door is locked and a butler answers the door, the house is well lit, and there is a man on the couch alright, but he is asleep, claiming to have been asleep there for hours, since after dinner. What goes on here?

Drummond gets in trouble with his friend Colonel Nielsen as Drummond cannot prove that any of the bizarre and nefarious things that he experiences that night have actually happened and he repeatedly returns to the mystery house only to have the police arrest him for bothering Prince Achmed (Warner Oland), the homeowner, who is well regarded in the community. Drummond is also no favorite of Algy or his bride before the night is over, because he keeps interrupting their wedding night at key junctures.

Warner Oland did this between Charlie Chan films, and it was a bit of a gamble for Fox to place him in a film as a villain under the circumstances. It's a fun entry and a great goodbye to Colman in the role.

This has got everything: a damsel in distress, dastardly sinister foreigners, a haunted house, disappearing corpses and an evil plot which only our dashing English adventurer can foil.

Bulldog Drummond was astonishingly popular in the 20s and 30s. He was James Bond, Indiana Jones and Poirot all rolled into one. Ronald Colman is wonderfully, fantastically and magnificently over the top as the epitome of the English gentleman. "You're like something out of a book" Loretta Young tells him and that's just what he is. He doesn't try to be realistic, he's a super hero pure and simple.

It's rare that you can say this about a film from this era but every single second is exciting. It's one of Daryl Zanuck's first productions from his new 'Twentieth Century Pictures' since he broke away from Warner Brothers and for this he poached top director Roy del Ruth from his old studio. Their result is superb. Everything works: the pace is perfect, the story is intriguing and exciting and the cast were surely born to play these roles.

Lastly, if you've not seen a 1930s Loretta Young picture for a while you'll be absolutely staggered by how insanely beautiful she was back then. Although she's also a marvellous actress, she's not actually the star in this. Obviously Ronald Colman steals the show but close on his heels is Charles Butterworth, the comedy relief. Often the comedy relief in a 1930s film was just an annoyance but he's brilliant in this. That dry wit and befuddled insouciance is one of the many highlights of this hour and a half of joy.

They knew what they were doing when they made this - pure entertainment.