Bulldog Drummond Escapes (1937)

An uncommonly young (and handsome) Ray Milland makes a perfectly adequate Bulldog Drummond in his one and only take on the role; some of his line readings are very amusing ("He IS bearded!"). The film itself sticks close to the formula of its predecessors (a young woman in distress, abducted and held against her will, by a smooth-talking villain who is hoping to get rich not so much through her, but through one of her relatives, etc.), except that the woman this time (Heather Angel) is a great proto-feminist heroine, with a knack for knocking bad guys over the head with various objects (she accidentally does this to Drummond himself once!). The film is also a bit too talky, but the cast, both main and supporting, keeps it watchable. **1/2 out of 4.

The 1930s and 40s saw many B-movie series detective films such as Charlie Chan, Sherlock Holmes, The Saint as well as Bulldog Drummond. Oddly, however, the Drummond films were even more prone than most of these films to change leading men. Sure, there were several Charlie Chans, but that was because Warner Olland and Sidney Toler died and had to be replaced. But with the Drummond series, many actors played the lead in only one film--and this is true here, as Ray Milland takes his lone stab at being the title character. While he's pretty good, he's really overshadowed by his supporting cast--and this isn't a bad thing at all. In fact, the overall plot and Milland, while pretty good, are probably the weakest points in the film.What I loved were the supporting cast and how their characters were written. In particular, I loved Drummond's smart-alleck butler--his lines were very funny and he was a very able assistant. In addition, I REALLY loved the leading lady because for once, she was not a stupid or helpless victim (which is usually the case in the films). Again and again, she behaves very smartly and I couldn't help but admire the film for this. Here are some examples: When Drummond is fighting with a bad guy, she does NOT just stand there with her mouth wide open doing nothing (the standard response in this type of film), but he shoots or smashes the bad guy over the head! When they try to drug her, she later spits out the pill and beats the lady taking care of her! Definitely, this dame is an action hero! When she knocks out a bad guy, she actually stops to pick up and use his gun! In so many films, they knock out a baddie and leave the gun right there--a cliché I truly hate! In addition to this wonderful woman (who Drummond is smitten with--probably due to her actions), the rest of the cast is excellent. They really help to raise an ordinary film to must-see status for fans of the status.

This is a solid low-budget feature that delivers the main things you hope for in a 'Bulldog Drummond' movie. It has good action, a plot involving a heroine in distress and some crafty villains, and a confident, good-natured hero played here by Ray Milland. All of the actors who portrayed Drummond gave the movies their own feel, but Milland, like most of them, gives the character the right balance of energy and British poise, while putting his own style into the role as well.The story is set up by an odd encounter between Drummond and Phyllis (Heather Angel) that leads to an involved sequence of events, with Drummond determined to find out exactly what dangers Phyllis is facing, at times even having to oppose his friend Colonel Neilson. The story moves at a good pace, moving quickly from one predicament to the next. There are times when it doesn't quite fit together smoothly, and with even better writing and editing it could have been even more effective, but the basic idea works pretty well.Heather Angel makes a good Phyllis, winning and energetic. It's interesting to see her in this early Drummond episode, since she later came back to play Phyllis after the character was played by other actresses for the next few features. Neilson is not given a particularly large role here, but the rest of the usual crowd is present, with E.E. Clive as the resourceful Tenny and Reginald Denny as the befuddled but helpful Algy.Porter Hall also helps out, with one of his many good character performances as Drummond's slippery opponent. The low budget look is helped by having most of the action take place at night and/or in darkened settings, giving it a decent atmosphere despite the lack of detail. It makes for a solid feature that works well enough as light entertainment.

The 1937-1938 series of Bulldog Drummond films released by Paramount, starring first Ray Milland, then John Howard as Captain Hugh C. Drummond, and based on the classic mystery/adventure novels by H. C. "Sapper" McNeile, are first-rate mysteries, and BULLDOG DRUMMOND ESCAPES is a worthy series opener. The whole series (composed of eight films) captures the spirit of the books much more than the rather boring Ronald Colman film made in 1929, which is, for some reason, ridiculously overrated by critics, who, at the same time, dismiss the Milland-Howard films as mediocre programmers. The Colman film put the emphasis on the love story, which is only subsidary in the books, had little or no action, and neglected to give any sense of real menace to the villains. The Paramount series, on the other hand, kept the love interest subsidiary, were full of edge-of-your-seat action, and included first-class villain actors as menaces in the various films, such as J. Carrol Naish, Eduardo Cianelli, Porter Hall, and Leo G. Carrol I really can't talk about the plot of this or any other series entry, as that would constitute a "spoiler" by IMDB standards, but suffice it to say that it is rather loosely based on BULLDOG DRUMMOND, the first of Sapper's books. Ray Milland is Drummond, and an excellent one, but he was too big a star to remain tied to one character for more than one movie, so John Howard took over for the subsequent seven films. Sir Guy Standing, who plays Colonel Neilson, the ever-flustered Scotland Yard man who would like to solve his cases without Drummond bothering him, also did only this one film, the role being taken for the next three by John Barrymore, and for the final four by H. B. Warner. Heather Angel plays the heroine, Phyllis Clavering, in this one and in the final four, while Louise Campbell is Phyllis in the middle three. Reginald Denny is Drummond's loyal but not-too-bright pal Algy Longworth, and repeats his role in all the other films in the series. E.E. Clive is Drummond's indispensible and imperturable valet Tenny (inexplicably changed from Denny in the books). Clive also kept his role throughout the entire series. So, anyone who is a fan of the Drummond books, should, if they want to see the best screen treatment of their hero, check out these films and ignore the abstracted praises of the Colman film.