Bulldog Drummond in Africa (1938)

The (hungry) lions (and a young Anthonny Quinn, as a bad guy) are what may help you remember this entry in the "Bulldog Drummond" series, since by this point the films have started to blend together completely. The lions also offer pretty much the only "African flavor" to the film - if it weren't for them, the action could just as well have taken place in, say, Canada instead of Morocco. The film gets a slight boost from the return of Heather Angel in the role of Phylis (her Phylis is more adventurous and danger-loving than the one played by Louise Campbell), and Tenny ("I rather like it, sir!") continues consistently to be funny; on the other hand, Algy continues consistently not to be. ** out of 4.

Drummond stumbles onto a kidnapping and brings his friends to Morocco in search of his missing friend and to put a stop to baddies. Like the last Drummond film I saw starring John Howard, this one is over in less than an hour.Here we are again. Drummond, as usual, is on his way to marry his fiancée, Algie is coming along for no particularly good reason and Drummond's manservant is along for a few laughs. The usual formula is definitely intact here. And as a result, there are few surprises but it is still campy fun and worth a look for fans of B-movies. I'd say more about the film, but frankly it was so ordinary (like eating toast actually) that I think I am done.By the way, in a relatively small role is a very young and not yet famous Anthony Quinn.

With a story that has a couple of interesting turns, rather effective atmosphere, and a good cast, "Bulldog Drummond in Africa" is one of the most entertaining of the John Howard series of 'Bulldog' features. To the usual good action and likable main characters, it adds some interesting settings that work well given the limited budget.The story opens with some light comedy about the ongoing obstacles to Drummond and Phyillis's wedding plans, and then they are plunged into another adventure when Phyllis herself witnesses Colonel Neilson being kidnapped. The story shifts to Morocco for the rest of the action, where the story takes some interesting turns, with the usual snappy pace. Even though it shows signs of having been filmed on a shoestring, the climactic confrontation with the lions creates some suspense.The cast has Howard, Reginald Denny, and E.E. Clive from the previous features, and they are joined by Heather Angel (returning to the role she had played in an earlier Drummond feature with Ray Milland), who is engaging and energetic as Phyllis, plus H.B. Warner as Neilson. This is the feature in which Warner took over from John Barrymore, who was always so enjoyable in the part, but Warner works well enough in his own right in this feature. His confrontations with the villains give him some decent material to work with.The main characters are given help from the supporting cast, with J. Carrol Naish doing a solid job as the traitorous Lane, and a young-looking Anthony Quinn making very good use of his opportunities. Strictly as light entertainment, it's an enjoyable combination.

...and they're excellent actors too, yet somehow, this mish-mosh of wasted talent manages to stumble the way through this lifeless second feature without any more than occasional signs of interest. There is a lion which roars with some energy and plays pat-a-cake with a dummy with some evident hope of making it as Leo's replacement at MGM. I wonder what happened to that lion.