Watch Bulldog Drummond at Bay For Free

Highly Overrated But Still Good

How wonderful it is to see this fine actress carry a film and carry it so beautifully.

The joyful confection is coated in a sparkly gloss, bright enough to gleam from the darkest, most cynical corners.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

In this Bulldog Drummond from 1937, Drummond is played by John Lodge, who later became a congressman. He was only Drummond once. He was solid enough, but he didn't have the light touch of some of the others or the wit.The criminals here (Victor Jory and Hugh Miller) have a fake club for world peace, but it's really just a front to get people to give them a lot of money. They kidnap a man endeavoring to get some new airplane plans from him in order to sell them, but just before he is caught, he throws a rock through Drummond's window with a piece of paper.Dorothy Mackaill is a woman, seemingly on the side of the criminals, who comes to Drummond's house with car trouble, but really wants to look for anything of the kidnap victim's.Pretty good, though the prints on these films are never very good. This one had sound that skipped as well. But as a series, Bulldog Drummond is interesting, with so many actors playing him over the years: Ray Milland, Ronald Colman, Sir Ralph Richardson, John Howard, Ron Randell, Tom Conway, Walter Pidgeon, Robert Beatty and Richard Johnson.

I noticed that the IMDb running times for this film vary tremendously. In the original UK version, the film was about 20 minutes longer. Perhaps this missing film might have made this movie a lot more engaging. Because I only saw the severely truncated American version, I can only review what I saw--and it did not thrill me. However, even if I did see the original version, it would have had some problems--such as the weak acting of the man playing Algy (Claud Allister--who was just too wimpy and annoying in this part). The biggest problem, however, was that the series really never had any stability in the lead--with almost a dozen different actors playing Drummond. In 1937, there were even two playing him simultaneously--John Lodge in this British film and John Hunter in the American-made series! I can't think of another B-movie series with so many lead changes--a definite problem for building up a loyal fan base.This film finds Drummond at home and a mystery falls in his lap--something common to most Drummond films. However, his odd reaction to the mystery astounded me. A man has escaped his kidnappers and he tries, in vain, to get help from Drummond. However, the kidnappers come to Drummond's home looking for the escaped man and rifle through Drummond's home. Then, the boss pays Drummond to keep his mouth shut and forget what he saw (which wasn't much)...and so Drummond takes the money and then goes to sleep!!!! Not exactly heroic behavior and he doesn't even attempt to do anything until the next day!!! Aside from Drummond being a weasel in the film, the movie also suffers from occasionally bad writing--even for a B. The worst was the horrid cliché that came out when Drummond captured a member of the group. The man told Drummond that he will tell him who the leader is--and when this conversation is interrupted, you KNOW that when Drummond returns after his brief absence that the man will be dead or gone--and of course, he is!! Overall, not a terrible film but certain one of the weaker ones in the series. For my time, the John Howard films are better as well as the early sound version with Ronald Colman.

John Lodge is Captain Hugh Drummond in one of a long series of films (its one of thee films from 1937 all with different Drummond's. The other two are the miscast Ray Milland and the perfectly cast John Howard). Here Drummond and his friends take on a group of foreign spies trying to get their hands on a new plane. One of the baddies is played to perfection by Victory Jory, who really turns in a highly evil performance. This is one of the darkest of any of the Drummond films with the bad guys really doing a number on anyone and everyone who fall into their hands. This is a solid, if slightly nasty little film that plays very differently than the seven films that followed with John Howard in the lead. Those films, while good little mysteries of their own, were just a tad lighter than this film. Very much worth a look, especially if one looks at how the character changed in one year by watching Ray Milland in Bulldog Drummond Escapes and John Howard in Bulldog Drummond Comes Back.

Kalinsky (Hugh Miller) is a mysterious financier who makes war a profitable business, and he means to get his hands on a secret war plane. He's formed an alliance with the villainous Gregoroff (Victor Jory), and they have kidnapped the plane's inventor Caldwell (Richard Bird). Captain Hugh Drummond (John Lodge) brings himself into the case after double agent Miss Thompson (Dorothy Mackaill) attempts to slip him a mickey, but she's no match for the perceptive Drummond who instinctively spills his tea and invites himself along for the ride when she makes her way to hook up with the bad guys.This is one film you'll have to pay attention to, especially if you're not familiar with the Drummond series, which I'm not (yet). The Captain's sidekick Algy (Claud Allister) shows up when the boss calls, though his presence here is more in the way of comic relief. It was a bit disconcerting that one of Algy's notable quirks is drinking straight alcohol! It seemed rather strange to me that he disappeared before the story ended with no explanation, maybe he just got bored.The one sit up and take notice scene proves just how dastardly Victor Jory's character could be. Near the end of the story as he readies his escape, he's confronted by Miss Thompson, and he belts her one right in the kisser - not a way to treat a lady! When the "secret" plane was finally revealed, hijacked by the sinister Gregoroff, I had to laugh because for all it's secrecy, it was just your run of the mill era bi-plane. But then we get the real scoop, as inventor Caldwell reveals the true secret. The plane can be controlled from the ground, and as Caldwell freezes the plane's controls, Gregoroff goes down in a blaze of glory.The only other Drummond film I've seen is "Bulldog Drummond Escapes", also from 1937. In that film's finale, he's planning to run off to get married with the film's heroine portrayed by Heather Angel. Ever the lady's man, Drummond's doing the same thing here!