ShangLuda Admirable film.

RipDelight This is a tender, generous movie that likes its characters and presents them as real people, full of flaws and strengths.

TrueHello Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

Juana what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

blanche-2 Bulldog Drummond is supposedly the inspiration for James Bond. I don't see it, but Ben Mankiewicz gets a lot wrong. Amazing that TCM doesn't have a fact-checker. In truth, Ian Fleming said 007 was "Drummond above the waist and Mickey Spillane below."This 1937 film stars Ray Milland, who only played Bulldog once. Someone on this board wrote that this film was only a B film, and wasn't Ray Milland a big star at one time? As if his career was on the decline. Actually it was just starting, and while I never thought of him as a superstar, he did come up the ranks after this.In this film, Captain Hugh 'Bulldog' Drummond returns to England in his plane. Driving home, a young woman (Heather Angel) lands in front of his car. He doesn't hit her, but she falls.He is attempting to revive her when he hears a shout and gunshots in the woods. He leaves her for a minute, and the woman jumps in his car and leaves. She's left her purse and handkerchief in the car, so he goes to her home, Greystone. She asks him to help her as she is being kept prisoner there.Meanwhile, Bulldog's pal Algy is about to become a father for the first time and is going crazy with worry in the hospital. Guy Standing is the inspector, and when he hears from Bulldog, he tells him to leave town. The Inspector is on vacation and doesn't want to get involved in one of Bulldog's murders.Lots of fun, with Ray Milland a charming Drummond, very attractive, and very smooth. I would have loved to see him in more than just this Drummond film.Many actors have played Bulldog, including Carlyle Blackwood in the silents, Richard Johnson, Walter Pidgeon, Robert Beatty, Tom Conway, Ron Randell, John Howard (who played the role 7 times), Ronald Colman, Athol Fleming, Ralph Richardson, Kevin McKenna, and Jack Buchanan. Whew.Actually, the film The Man Who Knew Too Much was a Drummond story adapted by Hitchcock.It's interesting that so many characters were inspired by Sherlock Holmes. Like Sherlock, Bulldog has a sidekick and a nemesis (in the books), Carl Peterson.Looking forward to seeing more of the films on TCM.

arfdawg-1 Captain High 'Bulldog' Drummond has just returned to England. As he is driving home in the dark, a young woman jumps out in front of his car. He misses her, but she falls to the ground. As he tries to revive her, he hears a shout for help, then gunshots. As he goes to investigate, the woman drives away with Drummond's car. He is soon able to trace her to nearby Greystone Manor, and when he goes there to meet her, she urges him to help her get out of a desperate situation.This is my first Bulldog Drummond movie. I didn't know Ray Miland was the main actor. Wasn't he a great actor at one time? This is a grade B picture that is studio make an watchable. It's just over an hour long.The best part for me was the first scene where Bulldog flies in from an international trip (he's flying) and customs asks him if he has anything to declare and he says - "no, you can check." Times have changed.It's a watchable film, as I say and Miland is good.

zboston3 This is by no means a gem of the highest water, but it certainly has some moments of suspense and humor. It's set in one endless foggy night (It's foggy even indoors sometimes.)in England as BD attempts to rescue a damsel in distress. Though clearly shot on sets, the fog and darkness prevent it from looking completely phony.The actors are good though Ray Milland plays the hero in that manic, bright eyed, and bright teethed mode you see in many 30's movies, and his sidekick, Algy, is a bit in the dimwit mode such as Watson was often portrayed in the Sherlock Holmes films.However there are a number of amusing dialog scenes between Milland and other in the film so I'd rate it better than an average programmer.

classicsoncall For my first introduction to the Bulldog Drummond franchise, I must say I was rather pleasantly entertained. The film is decidedly played in a much lighter vein than the Charlie Chan stories of the same era, and with a cast of characters that complement each other nicely. Captain Hugh "Bulldog" Drummond (Ray Milland) however is not without his shortcomings as a detective, as he gets blind sided more than once and rescues the wrong girl before finally resolving the mystery.In retrospect, the set up is one of the bigger plot holes in the movie. Miss Phyllis Clavering (Heather Angel) hijacks Drummond's auto in the middle of nowhere, only to return to the Greystone estate where she's being held captive. There we're introduced to a villainous cast of characters headed by Norman Merridew (Porter Hall), who masterminds a counterfeiting scheme following the murder of Miss Clavering's brother.For his part, Drummond is aided by hapless partner Algy Longworth (Reginald Denny), and Scotland Yard Commissioner Sir Reginald Nielson (Guy Standing). However it's Drummond's butler Tenny (E.E. Clive) who almost steals the show as the deadpan foil for his master, getting him out of more than one scrape before it's over. His best effort is when he nonchalantly drags a body in a blanket to Drummond's closet as if it were a routine occurrence.Pay attention to a conversation between Phyllis and Drummond when she describes the letter she found in the garden. She states that it was blurry and covered in mud making it hard to read. Earlier however, when we see that same letter switched to prevent it from reaching Colonel Nielson, it appeared in perfect condition.There's a running gag that gets a bit overdone regarding Algy's first encounter with fatherhood. He's constantly thwarted trying to get in touch with the hospital to find out what's happening. Of course everything works out well, as the old boy is rewarded with a son.All in all, "Bulldog Drummond Escapes" is a fun story, complete with clever word play, the old shoes behind the curtain trick, a lights out gimmick and the advantage between good and bad guys shared equally. Drummond even gets the girl in the end, planning marriage as it were, though I understand other adventures stood in the way before that happened. I'm inclined to check them out based on this introduction to the series.