Lighthearted crime story with a few surprisingly vicious moments. It overcomes its 1929 stagey presentation with a story that zips at the speed of a Quarter Horse and some expert comic relief. There were two previous silent adaptations of H.C. McNeile’s Bulldog Drummond pulp novels; this film reboots the series for the talking pictures with a dashing Ronald Colman in the lead role. It starts at the beginning when Drummond is a bored English playboy and ex-military man who puts an ad in The Times requesting some “excitement”. He gets his wish when the lovely Joan Bennett calls on him for help saving her rich uncle from a gang of extortionists lead by Drummond’s arch nemesis (in the novels) Carl Peterson.
This is Ronald Colman’s first sound film and he wears the new format well. Whether romancing Joan Bennett in a seedy inn or choking a man to death with his bare hands, he brings a perfect balance of suaveness and humor. Almost two dozen, mostly B-grade Bulldog Drummond films followed, with the lead mostly played by John Howard, though the likes of Ralph Richardson and Ray Milland also got one crack each at the character. Ronald Colman would play Drummond one more time in Bulldog Drummond Strikes Back in 1934.