O Tesouro de Bulldog Drummond

Terrific adventure that caps the 1937-39 series nicely, with John Howard comfortable in his role as Drummond and Heather Angel a treat (if not an especially good actress) as poor Phyllis. The whole gang is at the old tower estate, preparing for the Drummond wedding, when an absent-minded scholar shows up with a tale about secret passages and treasure right under their feet! Drummond tries to keep out of it, but a sinister figure enters in the night and causes havoc. Soon, the whole troupe is creeping thru dark passages and avoiding deadly traps.

The dialog isn't quite as witty or sardonic as in previous entries, but the tension is keen. Ciphers, skeletons, spikes, raging torrents, crumbling platforms, and more make this one of the best of the Bulldog Drummond series. For those keeping score, in this one, Drummond is (again) about to marry Phyllis, and Algy seems to have forgotten that he is already married.

The penultimate Bulldog Drummond movie from Paramount starring John Howard finds Drummond once again on the verge of marrying Phyllis. But, once again, something interrupts their plans. This time it's in the form of murder and a search for hidden treasure at Drummond's family estate. There's a different vibe to this one than others in the series. It almost doesn't feel like a Bulldog Drummond movie at all. Not that that's necessarily a bad thing. I pretty much like any movie of the 'old dark house' variety and this one fits that bill nicely.

John Howard and Heather Angel are both fine. The interrupted marriage plot is already stale by this point but they do what they can with it. E.E. Clive is great as Tenny. He was typically the highlight of these movies and this is no exception. Reginald Denny and H.B. Warner also return. Denny is especially slapsticky this time around. Mrs. Trumbull herself, Elizabeth Patterson, plays Phyllis' aunt. She's a nag but a fun one. Great character actor Leo G. Carroll plays the villain. I don't think that's a spoiler since he almost always played the villain. Makes use of lots of footage from previous Drummond movies for a dream sequence. It's not poorly done but it raises some eyebrows given the already-brief runtime. After a slow start, it turns out to be an enjoyable B mystery thriller of the 'old dark house' variety. Effective atmosphere and good sets help. It is one of the best of the series, as several other reviewers here note. But I can't rate it as high as some of them do because, while good for a Drummond film, it's really not all that special judged against other similar movies of the era.

After a bit of a slow start, this Bulldog Drummond feature is a solid B-movie with some moments of good suspense and effective atmosphere. It has all the familiar characters, with John Howard as Drummond, and E.E. Clive, Reginald Denny, Heather Angel, and H.B. Warner in the recurring roles, plus a young Leo Carroll (billed without the G.) heading the supporting cast.

The first part is a little slow-moving, dwelling rather lengthily on the series's running joke about Drummond's often-postponed wedding to Phyllis. Although it tries to get a bit too much material out of it, this part does include a sequence of flashbacks to earlier 'Bulldog' features that offers some pleasant moments to those who enjoy the series.

The main plot has a familiar premise, with a search for a hidden treasure whose location needs to be deduced from an old cipher. It becomes a race, as Drummond and his friends are determined to find it before a criminal adversary can. While not an especially imaginative story idea, it does lead into a pretty good sequence in the last part of the movie, with some good and rather macabre atmospheric settings as the hunt for the treasure plays out.

While preparing to marry his fiancee (for the umpteenth time!), Drummond discovers that there is a treasure buried somewhere in the secret passageways beneath his ancient British estate.

When England's most-noted history professor reveals this to Drummond, he is invited to stay at the manor house. He is murdered before he can figure out the meaning of the ancient cypher, and Drummond & Co. have to discover it AND the murderer.

A VERY interesting story, with secret passageways, ancient torture devices, and all sorts of "death-dealing devices".

Great fun!

When done right, Bulldog Drummond can be very entertaining. This one, however, is formulaic and predictable and wears thin after a promising start. Hugh is getting married in the morning at Rockingham Castle. A Distinguished Professor appears on the scene to announce that a treasure is hidden somewhere in the Castle and a Bad Guy follows him - from here you can fill in the blanks.

The plot proceeds clumsily. There are elements of comic relief that are unfunny and annoying, provided by Reginald Denny as Algy and by Elizabeth Patterson as Aunt Blanche. Evidently, neither of them are equipped to handle comedy and the film suffers as a result. This series never lived up to the promise of the first talking Drummond, with Ronald Colman in the lead.

I gave this one a rating of 5 and cannot recommend it despite good production values and a good cast.