Bulldog Drummond’s Bride
Directed by James P. Hogan
Written by Stuart Palmer and Garnett Weston from the novel Bulldog Drummond and the Oriental Mind by Herman C. McNeile (“Sapper”)
1939/USA
Paramount Pictures
First viewing/Streaming on Hulu Plus
[box] Tagline: HIS Greatest CASE…HIS TOUGHEST BATTLE WAS ON ITS WAY AS WEDDING BELLS WERE RINGING![/box]
The last installment in Paramount’s “Bulldog Drummond” series has plenty of action and some good performances.
The oft-jilted Phyllis (Heather Angel) has threatened to marry Drummond’s (John Howard) rival on the 11th if Drummond does not make her his wife on the 10th. Just as Phyllis is about to leave to see her aunt in France, the couple witnesses a bank robbery. The clever bank robber (Eduardo Cannelli) disguises himself as a painter and holes up in the apartment the Drummonds intend to set up housekeeping in. The rest of the story sees Drummond confront the robber and a pursuit of the loot across the channel. With regulars Reginald Denny and E.E. Clive as Algernon and Tenny and H.B. Warner replacing John Barrymore as Colonel Nielson.
This was one of the most fun entries in the series. Eduardo Cannelli, always so good as an Italian gangster, is given a chance to ham it up when the robber fakes insanity. H.B. Warner is absolutely perfect as the Colonel – it is hard to imagine anyone else in the role after seeing him. Be prepared for some surprises!
The film is in the public domain and several full-length videos are available on YouTube.
It’s been so long since I have seen this film that I get it mixed up with the others but all the Drummond films were good Saturday matinee fare back in the day.
An interesting aside about H.B. Warner. He played Christ in deMille’s silent film “King of Kings” and it is said that it rather put a stop to his career. Although he continued to appear in films for the rest of his life, his star never rose and it should have. He was a good actor but it appears that Hollywood had some feeling about how to cast someone who had played Jesus ……..rather ironic I think.
I hadn’t known that about the Jesus portrayal. It’s hard to think of him as anything except an old man. I think Warner was one of the waxworks in Sunset Blvd.