User reviews

Although I saw an edited version Bulldog Drummond Comes Back there was still enough there to enjoy. Especially enough of J. Carrol Naish and Helen Freeman as ruthless a pair of brother and sister villains you'll ever find.

These two have it for Drummond played by John Howard. He was instrumental in having Freeman's husband captured and executed in France and they've now captured Howard's long suffering Tess Truehart type fiancé Louise Campbell. But they don't kill her outright nor do they kill Howard. Naish and Freeman are enjoying toying with him like a pair of feral cats with a wounded mouse. Howard refers to Freeman as Lady MacBeth and she's that big a schemer.

Butler E.E. Clive and cricket friend Reginald Denny are in on the chase, but John Barrymore as Scotland Yard's Inspector Neilson is ordered out. You don't tell Scotland Yard what to do however.

The only real flaw in this Reginald Denny who in most films is amusing as Drummond's silly twit of a friend. But in Bulldog Drummond Comes Back he's downright annoying.

Bulldog Drummond Comes Back is a pretty good B film from Paramount Studios and while Howard is no Ronald Colman he gives a good account of himself in all his Bulldog Drummond films.

Overall, this entry in the Bulldog Drummond series is just an average B-feature, but it does have some good moments. This was the first feature in the series to star John Howard as Drummond, and it also has the usual supporting characters, with E.E. Clive and Reginald Denny as Drummond's sidekicks, Louise Campbell as Phyllis, and John Barrymore as Colonel Neilson. Howard, Clive, and Denny have some good lighter moments together during the course of events, and Barrymore, as you would expect, makes very good use of his opportunities, leaving you wishing there had been more scenes involving his character.

The story idea is interesting if lightweight, with villains played by J. Carrol Naish and Helen Freeman using a series of riddles and puzzles, along with a kidnapping, in their attempts to lure Drummond into a trap. The series of puzzles gets a bit far-fetched, but it does hold your interest, and perhaps with a little more careful writing and editing it could have made a pretty good movie.

Barrymore's series of disguises and other tactics is probably the most entertaining part of it all, and these also help to keep the tone light. Otherwise, there's nothing particularly impressive, but it has just enough to be worth seeing for those who enjoy the genre.

Bulldog Drummond was a popular character in 1920's and 1930's adventure novels by H.C. McNeile. Drummond was a wealthy WWI veteran and war hero (in real life, McNeile was also a veteran and war hero, having won the Military Cross, Britain's second highest medal for valor).

This film is notable for having excellent sets and atmosphere. Catch Drummond's big drawing room in the first scene! It's very evocative of an English gentleman's abode. There are really nice matte shots later of an old mansion, and several scenes in realistic looking pubs.

The plot is pretty thin, but honestly, the books were the same way. E.E. Clive, who appeared in all seven films with John Howard, is a standout! He brings a wealth of acting experience to the role.

Don't look for especially clever plots in these films. Watch them for the fun and the good 1930's atmosphere.

Weaker entry in the Bulldog Drummond series, with John Howard in the role. Usual funny banter and antics, but not much plot. Barrymore gets something to do as the inspector, swapping disguises to follow Drummond, Algy, and Tenny on a wild goose chase (mostly in circles; perhaps the budget was tighter than usual) to rescue poor Phyllis, who is being held captive by people who want to lure Drummond to his doom. For those keeping score, in this one, Drummond is planning to ask Phyllis to marry him and Algy is worried about missing the baby's christening. It's fun to see Algy and Tenny dressed up as fisherman to blend in at The Angler's Rest, but little of it rises above silly.

Bulldog Drummond's in love and ready for marriage. But that'll have to wait because his fiancée has been kidnapped by the brother and widow of an executed criminal Drummond put behind bars. The kidnappers intend to torture Drummond by making him follow a series of clues that lead him into dangerous situations. He must rely on his friends to help him figure out the clues and stay alive in the process.

John Howard's first Bulldog Drummond movie. Many actors played the character over the years (three in 1937 alone) but no one played him more than Howard. He would play Drummond for a total of seven films, all in the span of two years. Interestingly, despite playing the title character, Howard isn't top-billed. That honor goes to John Barrymore, who plays Bulldog Drummond's friend Colonel Nielsen. Barrymore's career was in a poor state at this time and he needed work. You would never know it from his performance as he's a lot of fun to watch. A little hammy at times but that's to be expected with him. John Howard isn't quite as lively as Ray Milland was in the role but he's good in a serviceable B hero kind of way. Reginald Denny continues on as Drummond's sidekick Algy and E.E. Clive as Drummond's butler Tenny. Both are entertaining. Helen Freeman and J. Carrol Naish make good villains. Louise Campbell plays Drummond's love interest Phyllis for the first of three films. She reminds me a little of Maureen O'Sullivan, which is not a bad thing. It's an enjoyable B detective picture. Nothing more special than that but it doesn't have to be. I happen to like these types of pictures. It's an entertaining way to pass an hour.

British adventurer John Howard (as Hugh "Bulldog" Drummond) is ready to marry girlfriend Louise Campbell (as Phyllis Clavering), but she is kidnapped. That's very typical in the "Bulldog Drummond" movie series. The abductors, who have a personal connection to Drummond, are in a playful mood. They keep Ms. Campbell alive and send Drummond clues regarding her whereabouts. The clues are received on typewritten notes and heard on gramophone record albums. Most notably joining in the "find Phyllis" game is master-of-disguise detective John Barrymore (as Colonel Nielson). This was the first of three supporting appearances by Mr. Barrymore in the Drummond series. "Bulldog Drummond Comes Back" was the first of seven appearance by Mr. Howard in the leading role. In an unpropitious start, he gets a fine supporting cast. The title refers to Drummond coming back to England, from America.

***** Bulldog Drummond Comes Back (1937-09-03) Louis King ~ John Howard, John Barrymore, Reginald Denny, E.E. Clive

This is the tenth Bulldog Drummond film, and the first starring John Howard, who was to make the character his own in memorable fashion. John Barrymore gets top billing, despite the fact that he is in only a supporting role, but then that's stars for you! Barrymore plays Inspector Neilson, which he was to do for two more films, but he looks tired and world-weary, in fact as if he had been on a binge the night before (which is not unlikely). Barrymore dons some excellent disguises during the film, with false noses and moustaches and odd accents, which must have delighted him. We have almost as much fun with them as he does. The boring Louise Campbell plays Phyllis Clavering, who is always about to marry Drummond but constantly being prevented from doing so by some new crime erupting, or being kidnapped, or whatever. (The next year the more exciting Heather Angel was to resume this role, which would be a great improvement.) E. E. Clive and Reginald Denny as Tenny the Butler and Algy respectively, are here again (having missed the intervening film with John Lodge as Drummond), and are as marvellous as ever. This film has an extra dimension of interest. The wonderfully sinister villains played here by J. Carroll Naish and Helen Freeman not only kidnap Phyllis but put Drummond, upon whom they seek revenge, through an ingenious 'treasure hunt' ordeal, where they leave him coy notes which he has to decipher quickly, and also gramophone records where he is given instructions on where to go and what to do next. This is certainly an excellent added layer of intrigue to a mystery story, and is a story device which should be used more often in films. It all becomes really interesting as we follow the frustrated Drummond from rendezvous to rendezvous, as he is 'given the runaround' with the clock ticking. There are of course comic moments, and a great deal of quaintness is on hand at the seaside tavern where you walk in, order your beer, choose a gramophone record and put it on the Victrola which is sitting on the bar. Never saw that before! The earliest form of jukebox! This is a particularly good Drummond movie, and is well worth watching.

In foggy old London town/ Did Drummond chase the poesy 'round/ Assisted by a secret corps/ Led by "Colonel" Barrymore.

In this Bulldog Drummond adventure, starring John Howard, he must follow a playful string of clues to rescue his kidnapped girlfriend. The villains, intent on revenge, hiss and taunt at every turn. Thankfully, they drag out the game long enough for the hero to thwart their efforts. John Barrymore plays the resourceful Colonel Neilson who finds a way to aid Drummond.

As adventures go, this is rather weak. The trail of clues is obtuse and repetitive. It all ends with a ticking cliche.

If you are looking for that quintessential definition of a solid B film, take in BULLDOG DRUMMOND COMES BACK. It's a whole lot of fun. Simply put, when you come down to it, the ingredients for a successful film are in place. John Howard makes his debut as the dapper detective in fine style, but its the old master, John Barrymore, who is the real star, if not a hilarious scene stealer as the ever resourceful Colonel Neilson. Just watching Barrymore work his magic is worth every single minute. The script is punctuated with some tense moments, all about Drummond's fiancée kidnapped by a homicidal maniac who wants payback. But there's a lot more moving parts in this opus. Master of characters J. Carrol Naish is equally entertaining as Barrymore, playing and pulling out all the stops as the diabolical villain. On the lighter side, Reginald Denny is a treat to watch as Algy, Drimmond's cautious companion of sorts, followed by E.E. Clive as Drummond's long suffering butler. The producers and writers at Paramount did their job. Great atmosphere for late night viewing, not to be missed.

During the 1920s-1950s, there were TONS of different actors who played the lead in the Bulldog Drummond films--too many. In fact, because of this massive turnover, the series never really caught on with the public. However, at least for a while, John Howard was able to provide some stability--appearing as Drummond in seven films. While none of these films were terrific, they were generally better than the other films of the series.

This one finds Drummond about to get married--for the thousandth time! In fact, that was a huge running joke with many of the Drummond films--he was always just about to get married when disaster strikes in the form of some mystery. Here, Drummond cannot get married because his fiancée is kidnapped! It seems there is a strange couple who say they are doing this to destroy Drummond because he was responsible for the capture of their loved one! What makes this different from many of the Drummond films is that his fiancée is not a passive victim--she often goes out to try to solve the mystery herself and seems to love the excitement of the Drummond lifestyle!

Overall, a decent addition to the series and interesting and worth seeing. Not the best of the Howard films (the villains and their cause seem weak), but also certainly not the worst. Average, but good for B-movie mystery/suspense fans (like me).

Drummond and his pals spend their time following the instructions of a pair of continental criminals who want revenge and, using his kidnapped fiancee as a prod, keep them running hither and yon to no particular purpose. Everyone seems ashamed to be in this turkey, especially John Barrymore, who spends much of his time underacting. If you are particularly enamoured of this series, which never exceeds watchable, or are a fiend for John Barrymore -- which makes some sense at any rate, give it a look. Otherwise, avoid it.

Some very hammy European bad guys interrupt Captain Drummond's wedding plans by kidnapping his fiancée in an attempt to lure Drummond into a ridiculous wild goose chase that sees our hero following cryptic clues for some reason or other. The plot is unimportant and wafer-thin; it's the ride that's fun.

A very creaky, dated, no budget gem, Bulldog Drummond Comes Back is a fairly entertaining romp with engaging characters saying very quaint English things to each other, and generally cavorting about in various contrived circumstances.

John Howard is good as Drummond. He's suitably dashing and charming, and he does a fine job. The supporting cast of good guys are all good value, and are blessed with frequently mildly amusing dialogue. The baddies are straight out of a Tin-Tin comic but that's not a bad thing in this case.

The show is stolen by Barrymore, who, even though he never quite seems to be thoroughly enjoying himself in the role of Scotland Yard Detective Nielson, is always the best thing in the frame when he's on screen. His array of disguises (don't ask) are hilarious, and often ingenious.

Overall a lot of fun if you're in the mood for some extremely lightweight, silly adventure comedy.

Now John Howard is Bulldog Drummond in this 1937 film, "Bulldog Drummond Comes Back," with John Barrymore getting top billing.

Phyllis (Louise Campbell), the fiancée of Bulldog, is kidnapped. In order to find her, Bulldog, who has wronged the kidnappers, has to solve a series of clues. It's all to trap him.

The villains are J. Carrol Naish and Helen Freeman, and John Barrymore is the Colonel. He did two Bulldog films. What a great actor -- it's kind of sad to see him here. He uses some disguises very effectively.

Tenney (E.E. Clive) is very good as Bulldog asks for his approval on a poem, and Tenney provides him with further help. And poor Algy (Reginald Denny) is trying to get back for his baby's christening. Somehow Bulldog always lures him away from family.

I like John Howard in this role. He's handsome, smooth, and sophisticated. He's best remembered (by me anyway) as Katharine Hepburn's fiancée in The Philadelphia Story.

The story idea is interesting if lightweight, with villains played by J. Carrol Naish and Helen Freeman using a series of riddles and puzzles, along with a kidnapping, in their attempts to lure Drummond into a trap. The series of puzzles gets a bit far-fetched, but it does hold your interest, and perhaps with a little more careful writing and editing it could have made a pretty good movie.

Entertaining.

You know, I've only recently started getting into black-and-white noir films, and I must say that I really dug this one. I got it in a boxed set of twenty others mystery/crime/thriller/noir classics, and I was shocked by how entertaining this one was. I know it's also part of a very large movie series, but this is the only entry I've seen from the Bulldog Drummond franchise. But, man-oh, man-, I'd return in a heartbeat. This one was that good!

This one has a nice blend of suspense, thriller, and drama, but even has a nice, little romance on the side, since the film is mostly focused on Bulldog's fiancé being kidnapped by the widow of a man he saw executed (I'm assuming in a previous movie). There's also a TON of humor in this flick, and that made it even more fun to watch.

I got a little confused, however, by so many characters arriving in the finale. Sometimes it's hard for me to follow these older films-especially noir work. But it didn't take away from how enjoyable the film was.

The directing was really solid-and it became excellent, when we had moments like the car chase, towards the end. That was brilliantly shot.

The action is very well-done. But the riddles are what really had me interested. Drummond was so fun to watch solve these things.

That brings me to the acting. The acting was solid from pretty much everyone, no matter how hammy even the villains are supposed to be. I enjoyed all of them. But I was REALLY surprised by how much I loved both the man who played Drummond and the man who played his butler. Their relationship with each other was so sarcastic and witty; it'd be hard to see how someone couldn't have fun watching them go back and forth in a loving way. My boy John Barrymore from the silent classic "Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde" was also here, and I was stoked to see him, even though he's not really in the forefront of the film. But he's not meant to be, so that's okay. I was just happy to see him at all, outside of the old Jekyll flick. The guy is a legend, in my honest opinion.

Overall, I really, REALLY enjoyed "Bulldog Drummond Comes Back", and would like to see the rest of the films, at some point, even though they started way back in the day, with the silent era. I'd recommend this one to anyone who's looking for a fun thriller. It's very enjoyable, even now, in 2019.

Bulldog Drummond, his friends Algy and Colonel Nielson and his loyal manservant Tenny go on the trail of Drummond's fiancé Phyllis after she is kidnapped.

Bulldog Drummond got made into films a lot: prior to this there were two films with Ronald Colman, and one each with Ralph Richardson and Ray Milland. However, American actor John Howard played Drummond in a total of seven films between 1937-39.

Howard himself is alright, but the character of Drummond is poorly rutter and seems almost a secondary character in his own film. Much more interesting is Drummond Scotland Yard pal Colonel Nielson, who is some sort of Sherlock Holmes-esque master of disguise. He's played by top-billed John Barrymore, who is wonderful as always, but it's a sign of his declining career that he was appearing a somewhat cheesy B movie like this. If this had been made ten years earlier, Barrymore would have made a good Bulldog Drummond.

Reginald Denny and E.E. Clive both reprise their roles from the Ray Milland film, while J. Carrol Naish gets to do his usual foreign villain schitck. The plot is a somewhat silly runaround with clues being left at various location for Drummond and co.; it's somewhat like an episode of Scooby-Doo. However, it's all over in less than an hour so you don't waste too much of your time.

In this "episode", Bulldog Drummond's girlfriend is kidnapped by his long time enemy as a form of revenge. Drummond, along with his friend Colonel Nielsen, are in hot pursuit after them.

Every film that has a series and a "hero" figure will always find that one day his girlfriend has been kidnapped - so nothing new here, it's just a standard and overly used plot. It depends on how well you like the characters as to if you will enjoy this same plot theme.

I'm not a fan of Bulldog Drummond. But I am forcing myself to watch or skim through them to finish reviewing all the films in the Mill Creek Mysteries 50-pack. The 6 Bulldog Drummond films are the only ones left that I didn't care to watch but forcing myself to complete the pack reviews.

2/10

It looks like Captain Hugh C. 'Bulldog' Drummond (John Howard) is getting married to Phyllis Clavering (Louise Campbell) his girlfriend and giving up the detecting racket.

Only this time the movie starts with Phyllis' kidnapping. From there is the standard Bulldog formula. We watch as the story unfolds. Clues come fast.

The copy I watched is an Alpha Video poor quality 1937 version at 58 minutes. The screenplay is based on "Bulldog Drummond and the Female of the Species" by H. C. "Sapper" McNeile.

The filming location is Paramount Studios - 5555 Melrose Avenue, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA.

Another amazing experiment in the detective form, as filmmakers tried to do their own detective work on what works.

In this experiment, the detective is something of a nitwit, but with a charming fiancée. She is kidnapped of course and our detective has to "find" her by following all sorts of clues. Some of these need detecting and are pretty ludicrous. Others are simple; "go back to where you were."

The experiment in the form involves the surrounding characters: two buffoons, and a wily inspector from Scotland yard. He's the detective behind the detective, usually in disguise. Its a double fold that doesn't quite work. So the experiment fails. But if you wander into this, the Scotland Yard man is John Barrymore playing his stage persona.

Ted's Evaluation -- 1 of 3: You can find something better to do with this part of your life.