Bulldog Jack (1935)

the audience applauded

This is a must-see and one of the best documentaries - and films - of this year.

The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

Bulldog Drummond sits this one out; he appears only at the start, gets injured, and sends a proxy to take over his new adventure. This proxy may be a bit of a bumbler, but when it comes down to it, he's quite brave and efficient as well! The traditional damsel-in-distress is played this time by the incredibly beautiful Fay Wray, of "King Kong" fame, while an unrecognizable Ralph Richardson, who played Bulldog Drummond himself in the previous entry of the series, now appears as the main villain! The film largely goes for the laughs, and finds quite a few, but not as consistently as one would like; however, in the last 10 minutes it goes for the thrills as well, with some extremely well-done stunts and action sequences that still hold up today. More than worth a look. **1/2 out of 4.

I would love to know the background for this film, as I simply cannot understand the reason such a plot was chosen. You see, this really isn't a Bulldog Drummond film. While Drummond (Atholl Fleming) is in the film, he's only in it a short time before he's injured. Then, another man (Jack Hulbert) poses as Drummond to complete the case! Now such a clumsy plot device like this MIGHT have made sense if Fleming had regularly played the part of Drummond but had commitments that made it impossible to complete the film with him. But Fleming never played this character before or after and I can't see why they just didn't have him or Hulbert play Bulldog Drummond and be done with it. Perhaps it just seemed like a good idea at the time! The film is a bit like a traditional Drummond film and a bit and not. While there is a mystery and a kidnapped damsel (Fay Wray, the 'hero' in the film is far less heroic--and a lot less macho. He and Algy both bungle about and somehow stumble upon a solution despite themselves. How anyone could mistake him for Drummond is beyond me, but it's all good fun (aside from a particularly bad performance by Claude Hulbert as Algy--yecch!) and a reasonably good entry into the series. By the way, Bulldog Drummond is one of the most inexplicable characters in film history. While the films were obviously very successful because so many were made, the number of people who played this part is huge--and they never had any one actor who was the definitive Drummond. In 22 films, 13 different actors played this part! One of the best, sadly, was Walter Pidgeon. While not at all English, the film was better than most and quite enjoyable. Ronald Colman was pretty good but only played him twice.

Jack Hulbert plays a polo player named Jack Pennington who literally runs into Bulldog Drummond when Drummond's car is sabotaged to stop Drummond from helping the young woman (Fay Wray) back in London. Drummond's arm is broken in the crash and he asks Hulbert to take his place in order to get the information that will let him help the fair damsel.Hulbert of course refuses to give up the ruse and soon with the aid of Algy he's trying to rescue the kidnapped girl and best the villainous Morelle (Ralph Richardson).Moving like the wind this is a damn fine little comedy mystery. Hulbert is absolutely hysterical as the Drummond wannabe as he blusters his way in and out of danger. His insanity is absolutely charming.(He would repeat the same sort of nonsense to much the same effect three or so years later in Kate Plus Ten an adaptation of an Edgar Wallace story thats gotten better with each viewing. Fay Wray has never looked more stunning. I'm so used to her in American films which seem now never managed to show her beauty the way that this film does. As Morelle Ralph Richardson is a truly demented evil genius. Its clear he's dangerous, however he's so genuinely smooth that you almost by that he could be a nice guy.The action is first rate with the climatic underground train sequence rightly held out as a key reason to see the film. One can easily imagine that the final twists and turns had audience members seeing this on a big screen shrieking.This is a really good film and one wonders why its not currently out on DVD or, apparently, available for TV broadcast in the United States, since its easily one of the better mysteries of this sort.Yes you really do want to check this film out.(I don't know if I'd consider it a Bulldog Drummond film, partly because its so humorous, partly because Drummond isn't really in it and partly because its kind of atypical for the films that are real Drummond films. It is but its not. CAn we call it a semi-Drummond film?)

I'm constantly amazed at the inventiveness of 1930s detective stories. The genre was still being formed and all sorts of crazy narrative techniques were being tried. Most failed of course or even if they hit, they weren't rich enough to be developed and therefore died as well.The Bulldog Drummond franchise was one of the most successful of the era, and also one that had the most experimentation, compared for example with Chan or Holmes. In this edition, the crooks hide behind false identities and motives. The criminal plan is to create a deceptive object. So there are already two "false identities" involved. This film adds a third: the series detective has a surrogate who operates in his name.It doesn't work for me. Probably didn't at the time, except to provide a way to introduce "British" humor. But its a clever idea, huh?Ted's Evaluation -- 1 of 3: You can find something better to do with this part of your life.