Copyright 17 February 1936 by Gaumont British Picture Corp. of America. No recorded New York opening. A Gainsborough Picture. U.K. release through Gaumont British: February 1936. Australian release through 20th Century-Fox: 27 May 1936. 76 minutes. Cut to 55 minutes in the USA.
U.S. release title: The Two of Us.
SYNOPSIS: Tired of living on the dole, a fast-talking confidence man promotes himself into a non-salaried job at the bank where through a series of happy accidents he becomes the instigator of a scheme to produce cheap shoes. However, the foreign manufacturers he is undercutting hire a gang of arsonists to burn down the factory.
COMMENT: Many professional critics have their favorite Jack Hulbert movie. Barrie Pattison, Leslie Halliwell and many other critics have cast their votes for "Bulldog Jack". Certainly this choice has a lot to recommend it. If I were writing this piece in 1964 or even '76, I too would be terribly inclined to go along with that perspicacious majority view. Trouble is that now in 2017 Bulldog Drummond is dead. Part of the charm and indeed the intrinsic enjoyment of spoofs like "Bulldog Jack" is that they presume on an audience's at least nodding acquaintance with their originals. Who reads "Sapper" in 2017. When was the last time you saw Drummond on TV? My grown-up daughters, both in their mid-twenties have never so much as heard of either Bulldog or his creator.
It's true that Bulldog Jack is funny enough and exciting enough to stand alone, but it's impossible to appreciate all the inside humor when you're sitting on the outer.
Two more of my top favorite Hulberts are in the same class: the Oppenheim spoof "Falling for You" (1933) and the Beau Geste take-off "The Camels Are Coming" (1934). At this point, some writers would say, "So we're stuck with "Jack of All Trades." But that would be far from accurate, as Jack is a mighty funny, yet highly original fellow. In fact it's the only black-and-white movie my youngest daughter (who's 35) has wholeheartedly enjoyed. "The pace is so fast and everything is so relevant, it's just like a modern film," she says. I don't know where she gets the idea that modern movies are smartly paced. I find them excruciatingly slow. But she's certainly right about Jack's zippy pacing and she's also on the button with the central situation's remarkable relevance to working conditions in 2017.
As usual, Hulbert is perfectly cast. "He's so ugly," says my daughter, "yet he's so full of confidence and self-assurance. I love the way he just elbows his way in and gets on top of every situation." My daughter also admired Hulbert's dancing. And "Jack of All Trades" is a movie where this aspect of his talent is seen at its very best. He has three extremely tuneful songs, two of them with exceptionally witty lyrics as well. Oddly, the best is right at the very start. After an ingeniously lengthy preamble, Hulbert really gets into stride as he jaunts down a seemingly endless studio street — the camera rapidly tracking with him all the time — as he whizzes through the cleverly catchy "Where There's You There's Me" — a number that is briefly reprized twice before the next interlude, the lavishly chorused "Tap Your Tootsies". Then the last is a serio- comic romantic ballad, delightfully staged and ingeniously set on a private landing.
As is also customary, Hulbert is given some really solid support. Gina Malo is a pleasant enough heroine who can ably assist with song-and-dance, but it's Robertson Hare who oddly enough has the role of his life. His wonderful introduction, revealed crouched in a corner when two guests move off to the buffet, sets his character to a "T".
Lacking Peter Gawthorne who was probably busy at Scotland Yard that month, Athole Stewart has the part of the bank chairman. Gawthorne would have played the part with irascible, block-headed stupidity. But I think Stewart is even better. He plays the man as ditheringly stupid. Yet he's an endearing fool — and you couldn't apply any adjectives like that to the blustering Gawthorne. His associates, sly Felix Aylmer, attention-grabbing Fewlass Llewellyn and chubby H.F. Maltby are also a delight; whilst a young-looking Cecil Parker has a typical part as a pompously prevaricating investment adviser. Technically the film is superbly made with polished direction and most attractive lighting and sets.
The climax in the burning factory is a marvel of extraordinarily effective special effects work and fiendishly ingenious props including a treadmill that traps our principals, a reluctant fire hose, a chute as long as a dozen slippery dips and an uncontrollable fire ladder.
Generous Gainsborough spent a huge amount of money on this one — and it's all up there on the screen.
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