Bulldog Drummond's Revenge (1937) Reviews

• Pretty Good 'Bulldog' Feature With Plenty of Action

  Snow Leopard2005-06-07

  This is a pretty good, if unspectacular, Bulldog Drummond feature with the usual good cast and a story with plenty of action plus a little humor at the right times. The story is a little less imaginative than the ideas in some of the other features in the series, but it makes up for it with plenty of action that keeps things going. Most of the story-line revolves around a secret new explosive that a scientist has invented, which the villains would obviously love to get their hands on. Some of the better moments come when the main action interferes with Drummond's plans to marry Phyllis (Louise Campbell), while flustering the befuddled but ever-helpful Algy (Reginald Denny). John Barrymore is always good fun as Colonel Neilson, and he makes good use of his opportunities here, while E.E. Clive does likewise as the quick-witted Tenny. It's a good feature that should satisfy any fan of the series, though its fairly familiar plot ideas and rather nondescript villains keep it from being one of the very best entries in the series.

• Funny, entertaining, quick pace

  clark-92001-07-27

  This is one of the better entries in the Drummond series. Three of the best entries are from 1937. The real reason they are better may be because of the writer, Edward T. Lowe Jr. He wrote this one as well as 1937's Bulldog Drummond Escapes and Bulldog Drummond Comes Back. The pace is quick, the dialog good, and there is some very nice physical humor throughout that features reasonable exaggeration without being too farcical. John Barrymore's more restrained performance as Col. Nielsen helps to highlight his bits of physical humor. The supporting cast is in especially fine form. The plot centers on the theft of a powerful explosive and our hero's efforts to retrieve it and solve the murders associated with the theft. There is nice touch involving a hand and arm. Lastly, if don't like to see women faint, stay away!

• Good entry of the series

  djensen12005-03-19

  John Howard settled into the role of adventurer Hugh "Bulldog" Drummond with this better-than-average entry. The dialog is quick and witty, and the plot is faster and more complicated than usual, with plane crashes, explosions, and scenes aboard trains and ships. Drummond gets mixed up with foreign agents smuggling some secret explosives in a suitcase and who just happen to be going Drummond's way. Barrymore has less to do as Colonel "Don't call me inspector" Nielson, but Phyllis is more helpful, and pal Algy and valet Tenny are never far behind. For those keeping score, in this one, Drummond and Phyllis are planning a European voyage to be married, and Algy is worried that his wife thinks he's left her (well, he has, but not on purpose).

• "Take it easy, you want this stuff to blow up?"

  classicsoncall2006-04-01

  The Bulldog Drummond franchise was a busy one with nine films in the three years from 1937 to 1939. They generally followed a thematic line, one of those being the theft of a newly invented device that might prove useful to enemy hands. In "Bulldog Drummond's Revenge", the gizmo in question is an explosive powder called 'haxonite', presumably named after it's inventor Sir Hohn Haxton (Matthew Boulton). The powder is rather tricky and unpredictable, but it's theorized that enough of the crystals could blow London to bits. In very quick order, Haxton's traitorous butler Draven Nogais (Frank Puglia) murders the inventor aboard a plane flight, and parachutes himself and the device away from the doomed airplane. The coincidences necessary to make the film proceed are extraordinary, as Drummond and his sidekicks Algy and Tenny (Reginald Denny, E.E.Clive) recover the suitcase with the explosives, which conveniently falls on the road they're traveling. Back at Rockingham Lodge, the suitcase in turn is stolen by the bad guys during the old lights out trick, prompting a London to Dover escapade that have the heroes and villains trading the advantage before Drummond's team makes the save for Scotland Yard. As ever, Drummond's fiancée Phyllis Clavering (Louise Campbell) is left to wonder whether the wedding will ever take place, as it's constantly being interrupted by some nefarious plot or another. This time around, Miss Clavering receives consolation from Algy's wife Gwen (Nydia Westman), the first time Mrs. Longworth is introduced into the filmography. The movie gets some mileage out of a rather gruesome plot device, a severed hand from Sir Haxton's plane crash. The girls do a double faint when the hand is revealed in the commotion at Rockingham when the suitcase is stolen. Rounding out the cast is John Barrymore as Colonel Nielson of Scotland Yard; he once again gets top billing over John Howard's Drummond, as he did in their prior film "Bulldog Drummond Comes Back". Barrymore's manner is sophisticated and professional, unlike the roles assigned to the lead authority in films of the Charlie Chan and Mr. Wong series of the same era. The comic relief as it were is left to Algy for the physical slapstick, and Tenny for the cerebral. Tenny's best deadpan line occurs early when Drummond comments on how much fun getting married ought to be; the response - "It's a popular belief Sir." With the case solved and the explosive powder back in safekeeping, the anticipated Drummond/Clavering wedding plans seem to be on track to survive some more adventures, and it will take a few more films to get there. There does seem to be some semblance of continuity to the development of the characters, so watching the series in the order of release is helpful to keep track of things. The movies offer a nice balance of mystery and comedy and thankfully don't take themselves too seriously.

• Chasing After The Hackstonite

  bkoganbing2009-03-13

  The title in this film, Bulldog Drummond's Revenge is a bit of a misnomer because John Howard as the intrepid Bulldog is not out for any personal vengeance in this case. What he's looking to do is stop an international crook played by Frank Puglia from stealing a new, but as yet unstable explosive compound. In some of these B films the studios were never really careful. Howard is once again planning his wedding with his ever faithful Louise Campbell who seems to be more faithful to him than Olive Oyl was to Popeye. A chance visit to his bete noire, John Barrymore as Colonel J.A. Neilson of Scotland Yard has him learn of the experiment of scientist Matthew Boulton. The source is of all people, a Japanese diplomat played by Miki Morita. This was probably the last time, other than in Mr. Moto films that a Japanese was given friendly treatment in an American film. Matthew Boulton plays Sir John Hackston and of course he's named the stuff Hackstonite. It seems to come in grains and small pebbles and you never can tell when it will blow up, like liquid nitroglycerin that way. Anyway Puglia stages an elaborate plane crash killing Boulton and gets away with the stuff. The rest of the film is Drummond with his team of silly friend Algy, Reginald Denny, and his intrepid butler Tennison played by E.E. Clive. Clive actually proves in the films I've seen to have a head on his shoulders. Not too bad, but did Louise ever get the slippery Bulldog to finally say 'I do'?