The Return of Bulldog Drummond *** (1934, Ralph Richardson, Ann Todd, Joyce Kennedy, Claud Allister) – Classic Movie Review 8190

The treasurable Ralph Richardson makes a rousing Major Hugh ‘Bulldog’ Hugh Drummond in Sapper’s fascist tale of organising a black-shirted vigilante group of men from his former unit to end crime in Britain by removing wily non-Brits.

Writer-director Walter Summers’s 1934 The Return of Bulldog Drummond is a very lively account of Sapper’s novel The Black Gang, with ripe performances to match and sharp insights into the era along the way.

Francis L Sullivan is a deliciously succulent villain, Carl Peterson, who commits the ultimate crime of abducting Drummond’s wife Phyllis (Ann Todd). Claud Allister is the comedy relief as Algy Longworth.

Sapper’s novel The Black Gang is also the basis for the 1938 American movie Arrest Bulldog Drummond with John Howard.

Also in the cast are Joyce Kennedy, Spencer Trevor, Charles Mortimer, Wallace Geoffrey, Patrick Aherne and H Saxon-Snell.

The Return of Bulldog Drummond is directed by Walter Summers, runs 75 minutes, is made by British Intermational Pictures, is released by Wardour Films (1934) (UK) and Mundus Distributing Corp (1935) (US), is written by Walter Summers, based on the novel The Black Gang by Herman C McNeile (as Sapper), is shot in black and white by Jack Parker, is produced by Walter C Mycroft, and is designed by John Mead, with costume design by Norman Hartnell.

It was made at Welwyn Studios, Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire, England.

© Derek Winnert 2019 Classic Movie Review 8190

Check out more reviews on http://derekwinnert.com