Overrated

It's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

Watching it is like watching the spectacle of a class clown at their best: you laugh at their jokes, instigate their defiance, and "ooooh" when they get in trouble.

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!

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.

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?!

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.