Bulldog Drummond at Bay
Directed by Norman Lee
Written by Patrick Kriwan and James Parrish
1937/UK
Associated British Picture Corporation
First viewing
[box] “Demobilised officer, … finding peace incredibly tedious, would welcome diversion. Legitimate, if possible; but crime, if of a comparatively humorous description, no objection. Excitement essential.” — Advertisement placed in The Times by Drummond in the novel Bulldog Drummond[/box]
This entry comes from the U.K. and features an entirely different cast than the 1937 Paramount pictures. I thought this might mean a weaker film, but no, it’s the best since the first one with Ray Milland!
This time Bulldog (John Lodge) is on the trail of an evil foreign arms broker who has been bilking a World Peace organization into backing his nefarious deeds. The broker has kidnapped the inventor of a top-secret weapon and is torturing him to get the plans. Tennie the butler and the long-engaged Phyllis have left the scene but Algie is still along and more twitish than ever.
I think the only other movie I’ve seen John Lodge in was The Scarlet Empress where I was not impressed with his performance. Here, though, he has just the right mixture of savoir faire and daring to make an excellent Drummond. I liked the leading lady a lot, too. Well worth seeing if you are in to this kind of mindless entertainment.
