Bulldog Drummond's wedding plans must be put on hold once again while he tries to stop a madman (George Zucco) with a stolen death ray. A good entry in the Bulldog Drummond series. One of my favorites, actually. John Howard and the cast of regulars are enjoyable. Heather Angel continues to be the best Phyllis -- clever, brave, spunky. H.B. Warner yells a lot this time around. It's annoying. Leonard Mudie is terrific in his brief part as the inventor of the ray. George Zucco and Jean Fenwick are loads of fun as the villains. The science fiction elements are wonderful. Drummond has a cool fight scene on the pier. It moves along at a brisk pace and keeps your interest throughout. It's got George Zucco and a death ray -- how can you not like that?
13 Reviews
Bulldog Drummond on his way down the aisle
blanche-28 February 2013
Lots of familiar British faces in this lousy print of "Arrest Bulldog Drummond," from 1939.
This is my first Bulldog Drummond, and I found it delightful. Bulldog is about to marry Phyllis (Heather Angel) when he's delayed by murder. The inventor of a disaster machine, one that blows up things at fairly close range, is murdered, and his machine stolen. Bulldog is drawn into the investigation -- who murdered this man, took his machine, and what are they going to use it on? John Howard is the man himself, and he's handsome and energetic, with a great speaking voice -- he was Tracy Lord's stuffy fiancé in "The Philadelphia Story." Reginald Denny, familiar from "Rebecca," is one of Bulldog's Marx Brothers type friends, who tries to help. E. E. Clive, who looks like he's about 80 here, is Bulldog's butler Tenny. He died a year later at 60! George Zucco plays the villain, who uses a stingray stinger to kill.
Short, but very good and entertaining. I look forward to seeing more Bulldog Drummond films.
This is my first Bulldog Drummond, and I found it delightful. Bulldog is about to marry Phyllis (Heather Angel) when he's delayed by murder. The inventor of a disaster machine, one that blows up things at fairly close range, is murdered, and his machine stolen. Bulldog is drawn into the investigation -- who murdered this man, took his machine, and what are they going to use it on? John Howard is the man himself, and he's handsome and energetic, with a great speaking voice -- he was Tracy Lord's stuffy fiancé in "The Philadelphia Story." Reginald Denny, familiar from "Rebecca," is one of Bulldog's Marx Brothers type friends, who tries to help. E. E. Clive, who looks like he's about 80 here, is Bulldog's butler Tenny. He died a year later at 60! George Zucco plays the villain, who uses a stingray stinger to kill.
Short, but very good and entertaining. I look forward to seeing more Bulldog Drummond films.
Probably the best of the John Howard Drummonds
gridoon20242 July 2012
Warning: Spoilers
I can't say I was especially thrilled by any of the Bulldog Drummond films starring John Howard that I've seen so far (in fact, it is quite hard to tell them apart), but "Arrest Bulldog Drummond" may well be the best of them; it seems to be the most action-packed, the most incident-filled, the most eager-to-please. There are lots of pyrotechnics, a fine bad girl (Jean Fernwick, who on the basis of this should have had a more distinguished career than a long string of uncredited parts!), and Heather Angel in shorts! Yes, her legs are amazing. The film also has a strong sense of family - particularly in a scene where Tenny, Algy and Nielson are overjoyed to discover that Hugh is alive and well after having disappeared for four days. If one Drummond-Howard film is enough for your viewing experience, try to make it this one. **1/2 out of 4.
A neat two film set of Bulldog Drummond films
wrbtu9 May 2003
Public Media Inc. has released a neat two film set of Bulldog Drummond films on one tape. The other film paired with "Arrest Bulldog Drummond" is "Bulldog Drummond in Africa." If you like The Thin Man series, you may like this as well. If you absolutely love The Thin Man series, you'll probably be disappointed with Bulldog Drummond. John Howard plays "Bulldog," which is something of a misnomer as played here because he's rather quiet, handsome & shy, not what one would expect from a "bulldog." Heather Angel matches well with Howard as his Fiancee in Perpetuity. The movies have charm, wit, a bit of mystery, & solid acting. If you're not expecting William Powell & Myrna Loy, you should be pleased. Anthony Quinn fans note: a very young Quinn has a neat little part in "...Africa." George Zucco fans note: he has a good part in "Arrest...." I rate "Bulldog Drummond in Africa" 7/10, & I rate "Arrest Bulldog Drummond" 6/10.
Bulldog Drummond vs Ming the Merciless!
Spondonman22 July 2005
"Arrest Bulldog Drummond" promises more than it delivers - the science fiction plot has bad hats Zucco & Co. in charge of and selling an explosive electric ray device to the Enemy, with Drummond & Co. out to stop him. The weapon has a range of between a quarter and half a mile - which seems to make it well worth £1,000,000 to a Bad Power. A plan to terrorise London? Nah, it'll never happen.
In 56 minutes it lurches from one improbable scene to another - H.B. Warner is definitely NOT my idea of a Scotland Yard Inspector, sorry, Colonel. Colonel? Zucco and his ... sidekick, Lady Beryl take an almost childish glee in repeatedly demonstrating the weapon to themselves - meaning to the original cinema audience of 11 years olds! Everyone as usual plays their parts well, especially Howard/Angel/Denny & Clive as the unflappable goodie quartet.
Some nice touches here and there, with plenty of witticisms from all concerned, especially Hugh's impending marriage to Phyllis - or not, make it an enjoyable entry in the series. My copy was very poor and choppy but didn't detract too much for me.
In 56 minutes it lurches from one improbable scene to another - H.B. Warner is definitely NOT my idea of a Scotland Yard Inspector, sorry, Colonel. Colonel? Zucco and his ... sidekick, Lady Beryl take an almost childish glee in repeatedly demonstrating the weapon to themselves - meaning to the original cinema audience of 11 years olds! Everyone as usual plays their parts well, especially Howard/Angel/Denny & Clive as the unflappable goodie quartet.
Some nice touches here and there, with plenty of witticisms from all concerned, especially Hugh's impending marriage to Phyllis - or not, make it an enjoyable entry in the series. My copy was very poor and choppy but didn't detract too much for me.
Come late!
JohnHowardReid28 March 2018
Warning: Spoilers
Director: JAMES HOGAN. Screenplay: Stuart Palmer. Based on the 1926 novel The Final Count by H.C. ("Sapper") McNeile. Photography: Ted Tetzlaff. Film editor: Stuart Gilmore. Art directors: Hans Dreier, Franz Bachelin. Set decorations: A.E. Freudeman. Music director: Boris Morros. Assistant director: Evan Thomas. Sound recording: Hugo Grenzbach, Richard Olson. Western Electric Sound System. Producer: Stuart Walker.
Copyright 25 November 1938 by Paramount Pictures Inc. Presented by Adolph Zukor. New York opening at the Criterion: 11 January 1939. U.S. release: 25 November 1938. Australian release: 12 January 1939. 6 reels. 60 minutes. SYNOPSIS: Drummond and his friends travel to a British-held tropical island to corner a villain who has transported a powerful death ray there from London, after killing its inventor.
NOTES: Number 14 of the 24-picture "Bulldog Drummond" series.
COMMENTS: There's plenty of explosive action in this one (after a slow start) and the support cast is interesting too. Unfortunately, the script re-introduces Nielson's tiresome "Don't call me Inspector!" joke, though Reginald Denny is less boobish than usual and Nydia Westman is mercifully not present. Hogan keeps the film moving at a crackling pace and production values, headed by Ted Tetzlaff's cinematography, are good.
Copyright 25 November 1938 by Paramount Pictures Inc. Presented by Adolph Zukor. New York opening at the Criterion: 11 January 1939. U.S. release: 25 November 1938. Australian release: 12 January 1939. 6 reels. 60 minutes. SYNOPSIS: Drummond and his friends travel to a British-held tropical island to corner a villain who has transported a powerful death ray there from London, after killing its inventor.
NOTES: Number 14 of the 24-picture "Bulldog Drummond" series.
COMMENTS: There's plenty of explosive action in this one (after a slow start) and the support cast is interesting too. Unfortunately, the script re-introduces Nielson's tiresome "Don't call me Inspector!" joke, though Reginald Denny is less boobish than usual and Nydia Westman is mercifully not present. Hogan keeps the film moving at a crackling pace and production values, headed by Ted Tetzlaff's cinematography, are good.
It's got George Zucco....that's already a nice plus!
planktonrules3 March 2010
Warning: Spoilers
The Bulldog Drummond series was not one of the more memorable adventure/detective series of the 30s and 40s. Most of the problem was the very high turnover in the lead--with almost a dozen actors playing Captain Drummond. However, the leading man in this film, John Howard, did play in quite a few--and made more of the role than many of the other actors given a chance to play Drummond. The combination of a good villain (George Zucco) and very good support from H.B. Warner as 'the Colonel' make this one better than most.
The film begins with a seemingly crazy engineer telling the British government that he alone has the power to end wars!! They rightfully assume the man is nuts...but, oddly, he is correct! It seems that this fellow named Gannett is an inventor much like the real life Nicola Tesla (who was rather crazy according to most accounts of his time--as in addition to his brilliant inventions, he tried to perfect a death ray among other crackpot ideas). Gannett manages to create a ray that makes guns and other weapons disappear--this, potentially, ending wars! However, an evil man (Zucco) hates this because he is a war profiteer and is more than willing to steal the ray and sell it to the highest bidder! As for Drummond, I loved how the Colonel didn't do what the authorities usually do in such a film. Usually, they try their best to harass the hero and threaten to arrest him. However, the Colonel KNOWS that by the end of each of their encounters, it turns out Drummond is right and saves the day. So, instead of arresting him, the Colonel instead gets him out of jail repeatedly and is certain that Drummond will somehow work everything out in the end!! That's really pretty funny and sort of like an anti-cliché moment! In addition to Warner's excellent support, I liked how Algy and Tenny worked together in the film--they were quite funny and worth seeing. In fact, the entire film was better than average for the series--a lot of fun and with an interesting escapist plot.
UPDATE--Oddly, the day after I saw this film, I just happened to see "Blake of Scotland Yard" (which was made two years earlier) and noticed that "Arrest Bulldog Drummond" was essentially a re-working of this earlier film! As a result, I added this update and knocked a point off this later film's score as it was NOT nearly as original as I first thought! Interesting timing, huh?!
The film begins with a seemingly crazy engineer telling the British government that he alone has the power to end wars!! They rightfully assume the man is nuts...but, oddly, he is correct! It seems that this fellow named Gannett is an inventor much like the real life Nicola Tesla (who was rather crazy according to most accounts of his time--as in addition to his brilliant inventions, he tried to perfect a death ray among other crackpot ideas). Gannett manages to create a ray that makes guns and other weapons disappear--this, potentially, ending wars! However, an evil man (Zucco) hates this because he is a war profiteer and is more than willing to steal the ray and sell it to the highest bidder! As for Drummond, I loved how the Colonel didn't do what the authorities usually do in such a film. Usually, they try their best to harass the hero and threaten to arrest him. However, the Colonel KNOWS that by the end of each of their encounters, it turns out Drummond is right and saves the day. So, instead of arresting him, the Colonel instead gets him out of jail repeatedly and is certain that Drummond will somehow work everything out in the end!! That's really pretty funny and sort of like an anti-cliché moment! In addition to Warner's excellent support, I liked how Algy and Tenny worked together in the film--they were quite funny and worth seeing. In fact, the entire film was better than average for the series--a lot of fun and with an interesting escapist plot.
UPDATE--Oddly, the day after I saw this film, I just happened to see "Blake of Scotland Yard" (which was made two years earlier) and noticed that "Arrest Bulldog Drummond" was essentially a re-working of this earlier film! As a result, I added this update and knocked a point off this later film's score as it was NOT nearly as original as I first thought! Interesting timing, huh?!
Hold My Grapes
boblipton26 March 2002
A superior entry in the series -- which means it is watchable. Most of the good lines are reserved for Reginald Denny, who infects those about him with energy. George Zucco performs his usual thankless role of the intelligent villain with his customary restraint. The plot is, as usual, exceedingly silly. To see how this sort of material can be done interestingly, take a look at the SAINT or FALCON series from RKO.
Good watching and excellent performances, pity about the plot and the secret weapon
robert-temple-17 May 2008
This is the fourteenth Bulldog Drummond film, and it is highly watchable. The performances are very good, and one wishes the plot were less implausible and the 'secret weapon' were not a mere tin contraption which any schoolboy could have put together in an hour from scraps in a school workshop. But then, we are not meant to take the plot at all seriously, we are merely meant to sit back and enjoy seeing John Howard and Heather Angel almost get married again, H. B. Warner as Colonel Nielson grumble and demand not to be called 'Inspector', E. E. Clive as Tenny the Butler say 'I rather thought so, sir' in his own inimitable way, and Reginald Denny as Algy Longworth be an endearing bumbling fool as usual: 'You mean you're not dead, Hugh?' 'Not even a bit dead, Algy.' George Zucco is a wonderfully convincing and menacing villain, as he was to be so many more times. One surprising development is that Claud Allister, the original Algy Longworth as far back as Ronald Colman days, who in his time had seen many a Drummond come and go, appears in a serious straight role as a distinguished friend of the Commissioner, which he does very well. Perhaps they were giving a part to an old pal, or Allister wanted to show that he could be a jolly good straight actor, have a deep voice rather than a high-pitched effete whinny, and look as if he were not a dolt, - at all of which he succeeds admirably. Heather Angel is delightful, the diametrical opposite to the cringeing, whimpering and helpless Joan Bennett who in earlier times draped herself in Colman's arms like a water hose which has just squirted its last. The clouds of war are gathering in this 1939 film. There are secret agents of foreign powers willing to pay a million pounds for a ray which detonates guns at a range of half a mile. One senses the danger in the air, despite all the silliness. One wonderful touch in this film is the presence of a trained talking raven. He has a role in the plot, and even shares the last frame. We could have done with more of that raven.
Watch out for the stinger.
Bernie444410 October 2023
Capt. Hugh Chesterton 'Bulldog' Drummond (John Howard) is engaged and about to be married to Phyllis Clavering (Heather Angel.) However, he has to put it off as he is the suspect in a murder. The real murderer bumps off a scientist, beware of the stinger, who invented a laser type death ray that is designed to blow up gunpowder from a distance.
Will Bulldog get the bad guys before they can hatch their insidious plot? Or will Col. J. A. Nielsen, "don't call me inspector', incarcerate Bulldog?
Phyllis takes a positive role and the bad guys anticipate her interference.
The recording of this film is "z" you would never guess that in the same year they made "Gone with the Wind".
Will Bulldog get the bad guys before they can hatch their insidious plot? Or will Col. J. A. Nielsen, "don't call me inspector', incarcerate Bulldog?
Phyllis takes a positive role and the bad guys anticipate her interference.
The recording of this film is "z" you would never guess that in the same year they made "Gone with the Wind".
Typical B-feature
Leofwine_draca2 November 2023
ARREST BULLDOG DRUMMOND is another adventure in the prolific series, with our hero unsurprisingly finding himself wrongfully accused of a crime and being forced to go on the run. He's also trying to get married, which seems to be a long-running joke in this particular series. The main story is about the theft of an atomic weapon which seems entirely timely given the era, and the globetrotting antics are quite interesting when you put them into the proper context. The best part of this one is the presence of George Zucco as the scheming mastermind; he propped up many a B-movie with his presence and he does so here too.
an okay chapter in "B Drummond"
ksf-218 April 2018
John Howard is probably best known for playing "Bulldog" in the Bulldog Drummond crime films. Before that, he was "George", the brother that couldn't wait to leave ShangriLa, in Lost Horizon (it's awesome... if you haven't seen it!) and H.B. Warner, who played "Chang" in Horizon is also in this chapter of Bulldog Drummond. While the picture is good, the sound quality is pretty rough, and we miss some just due to the poor quality. These were pretty light-weight roles for Warner and Howard, and it's the usual formula; Drummond gets mixed up in a murder, is held for questioning, and spends the rest of the film solving the crime, to prove his innocence. In this one, he is also getting married, but keeps postponing the ceremony. E.E. Clive is "Tenny", Drummond's butler/sidekick, kind of a running gag. The bad guy (Leonard Mudie) has a ray-gun gadget that can destroy any target that he chooses. and somehow, a stingray from the aquarium is involved. Too random... too many things going on. Very story driven. Script needed some cleaning up or something. It's okay. Not the best one.
Directed by James Hogan... he had directed a bunch of the Bulldog Drummond films, as well as many of the Ellery Queens. Died pretty young at 53. Original stories written by Herman McNeile, who had just died in 1937. The first Bulldog Drummond stories were actually made into silent films. One fun note - Ron Colman (also from Lost Horizon) had played the 1929 Bulldog in "Bulldog Drummond". It's all connected!
Directed by James Hogan... he had directed a bunch of the Bulldog Drummond films, as well as many of the Ellery Queens. Died pretty young at 53. Original stories written by Herman McNeile, who had just died in 1937. The first Bulldog Drummond stories were actually made into silent films. One fun note - Ron Colman (also from Lost Horizon) had played the 1929 Bulldog in "Bulldog Drummond". It's all connected!
Call him whatever you want. Zucco's villains are always Moriarty.
mark.waltz7 July 2022
Warning: Spoilers
George Zucco only played Moriarty once, but that was enough to make him forever associated with that character, it being the second of the Sherlock Holmes series and one of the best. With thick goggles and an evil leer, he's come up with a surefire way to kill, and it's up to Bulldog Drummond to stop him. John Howard was nicely set in the role originated by John Barrymore in the silent era and continued with Ronald Colman, and the series of hour long B pictures are fun and easy to get through with a great supporting cast, a light-hearted humorous touch that has an air of elegance, and ridiculous plot lines that are straight out of later James Bond movies but easier to follow and wrapped up in 75% of the time.
It's the day of his wedding to Heather Angel, and he has to delay it because her life is threatened thanks to a note found on his back by "the stinger", the identity whom the audience knows but Drummond and other associates do not. E. E. Clive is very funny as Howard's valet, and H. B. Warner perfect as the head of Scotland Yard. Zeffie Tilbury, that old dear who celebrated granny's rejuvenation in an "Our Gang" short and was the grandmother in "The Grapes of Wrath", is a delight as Angel's aunt. Jean Fenwick adds to the villainy as Zucco's accessory. I was never bored watching this film, and as absurd as much of it is, I have to say it was a delight.
It's the day of his wedding to Heather Angel, and he has to delay it because her life is threatened thanks to a note found on his back by "the stinger", the identity whom the audience knows but Drummond and other associates do not. E. E. Clive is very funny as Howard's valet, and H. B. Warner perfect as the head of Scotland Yard. Zeffie Tilbury, that old dear who celebrated granny's rejuvenation in an "Our Gang" short and was the grandmother in "The Grapes of Wrath", is a delight as Angel's aunt. Jean Fenwick adds to the villainy as Zucco's accessory. I was never bored watching this film, and as absurd as much of it is, I have to say it was a delight.
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