JohnHowardReid Sir Ralph Richardson who played the title role in The Return of Bulldog Drummond (1934), here returns to this series, this time playing the master villain, whose henchmen put the real Bulldog Drummond out of the way, only to be thwarted in their efforts to steal British Museum jewels by an inept impersonator. Although it has its fair share of chuckles, and two or three quite risible moments, it's fair to say that Bulldog Jack is far more successful delivering thrills than laughs. True, Jack is funny enough, whilst brother Claude makes the most perfect Algy of the entire series. Richardson in a wonderful fright wig overacts the arch-criminal to a "T", and Gibb McLaughlin is likewise successful as the Drummond butler. These are players who know instinctively how to tread the fine line between broad farce and genuinely menacing excitement. Unfortunately this talent is not shared by Fay Wray whose heroine's straight face seems almost frozen stiff, and Paul Graetz who manages to overact yet isn't the slightest bit funny. Fortunately shortfalls in the acting department don't matter very much by the time the double climax rolls around. Aided by Junge's magnificently eerie sets, Greenbaum's noirish lighting and Ludwig's exceptionally skilful film editing, the runaway climax is the most suspensefully thrilling of the series. As usual, Forde's direction is most accomplished. He even re-uses his famous running-down-the-stairs routine from Would You Believe It? (1929) in which all the action is filmed in just the single set but made to appear lighthousely extensive on the screen by rapid pacing and brilliant cutting. My only complaint is that Bulldog Jack was made at least ten or twelve years before guest star cameos became so desirable and popular. Atholl Fleming is a dull and bland Bulldog (even though his first telephone voice sounds like Rex Harrison). How Ronald Colman or Jack Buchanan would have livened up this brief but vital part!OTHER VIEWS: A gentle spoof, with Jack Hulbert perhaps a little too strenuous in his pursuit of laughs, yet it manages to outpace many a more celebrated thriller in cliff-hanging suspense and nail-biting excitement. The casting of Claude Hulbert as Algy Longworth is nothing short of inspired, as is the enjoyable re-appearance of last year's Bulldog himself as this year's fiendish Moriarty-like antagonist. Lavish sets, atmospheric photography and a deft music score add immeasurably to the film's total appeal... Despite its comic potentials (which are for the most part realized quite ably and successfully), Bulldog Jack gets my vote as the best thriller of the year.

MartinHafer 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.

clark-9 Humorous dialog is the big plus for this film, and it's not even so-called 'British humor'. Is this a spoof or not? That's the best kind!The fast pace combined with the typically weak early 30s British audio quality means you have to listen closely to catch a lot of the humor, but there are also visual slapstick and spoof-like moments too.Having enjoyed several of the Bulldog movies starring John Howard (and the one Ray Milland entry), this movie was especially enjoyable for its `spin' on the characters and series. Use of the London Underground helps the atmosphere and staging as well as providing some humorous references in the dialog.

Norm-30 This film, simply put, is TERRIBLE! The acting is amateurish, and the characters run around a lot, but the whole thing FLOPS!The only redeeming things about this film are the (always beautiful!) Fay Wray, and the sets of the abandoned subway tunnels.Only die-hard Bulldog Drummond fans should see THIS one....if you can! (It's the "Plan 9" of Bulldog Drummond"!).