Bulldog Drummond (1929)

Director:

F. Richard Jones

Writers:

Herman C. McNeile (play)
Sidney Howard (adaptation)

Release Date:

2 May 1929 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Mystery | Thriller

Plot:

Hugh 'Bulldog' Drummond is a British WWI veteran who longs for some excitement after he returns to the humdrum existence of civilian life...

Plot Keywords:

Bulldog Drummond | Sequel | Beautiful Woman | Adventurer | Based On Play

Awards:

Nominated for 2 Oscars.

Cast

Ronald Colman	...	Capt. Hugh 'Bulldog' Drummond
Claud Allister	...	Algy Longworth (as Claude Allister)
Lawrence Grant	...	Dr. Lakington
Montagu Love	...	Carl Peterson
Wilson Benge	...	Danny
Joan Bennett	...	Phyllis Benton
Lilyan Tashman	...	Irma
Charles Sellon	...	John Travers
Adolph Milar	...	Marcovitch
Tetsu Komai	...	Chong
Gertrude Short	...	Barmaid
Donald Novis	...	Country Boy

Runtime:

90 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:G

Company:

Howard Productions

Quotes:

[first lines]
[in the silence of the club room, the waiter drops a spoon. Slowly the elderly Colonel stands up, and then... ]
Colonel: Pah! The eternal din in this club is an outrage! I ask you, wot?
Algy Longworth: You're perfectly right, Colonel. We ought to complain. Do you know that's the third spoon I've heard drop this month?
Hugh 'Bulldog' Drummond: Spoons, my hat. I wish that somebody would throw a bomb and wake the place up.

Movie Connections:

Spoofed in Bullshot (1983)

Soundtrack:

(I Says To Myself Says I) There's The One For Me

Mostly of historical interest now.

The literary character of Bulldog Drummond has not worn well. Reading the books now, Drummond tends to come across as more of a fascist bully than as a hero. This 1929 movie was Ronald Colman's first in a talkie and he plays the character with his usual charm, honing down the more brutal aspects of the Drummond in the books (although in one scene he does gleefully choke a man to death with his bare hands).

The movie is based on the stage play rather than on the book and the stage origins show. One can almost sense actors waiting for their cue to make an entrance. Colman and Bennett are pretty good in the lead roles but the over acting of Lawrence Grant as the mad doctor is painful to behold.

For collector's it's worth seeing once for the record.