Bulldog Drummond's Secret Police

1939 "TRAPPED IN A CAGE WITH DEATH while a Madman cracks the whip!"
6.1| 0h55m| NR| en| More Info
Released: 29 March 1939 Released
Producted By: Paramount
Country: United States of America
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
Official Website:
Synopsis

Captain Drummond and his girlfriend want to marry but a hidden treasure in the house in which they want to celebrate their marriage is complicating the situation involving a series of deaths and an elusive murderer.

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Reviews

Dynamixor The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.
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.
Plustown A lot of perfectly good film show their cards early, establish a unique premise and let the audience explore a topic at a leisurely pace, without much in terms of surprise. this film is not one of those films.
Kaydan Christian A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.
utgard14 The penultimate Bulldog Drummond movie from Paramount starring John Howard finds Drummond once again on the verge of marrying Phyllis. But, once again, something interrupts their plans. This time it's in the form of murder and a search for hidden treasure at Drummond's family estate. There's a different vibe to this one than others in the series. It almost doesn't feel like a Bulldog Drummond movie at all. Not that that's necessarily a bad thing. I pretty much like any movie of the 'old dark house' variety and this one fits that bill nicely. John Howard and Heather Angel are both fine. The interrupted marriage plot is already stale by this point but they do what they can with it. E.E. Clive is great as Tenny. He was typically the highlight of these movies and this is no exception. Reginald Denny and H.B. Warner also return. Denny is especially slapsticky this time around. Mrs. Trumbull herself, Elizabeth Patterson, plays Phyllis' aunt. She's a nag but a fun one. Great character actor Leo G. Carroll plays the villain. I don't think that's a spoiler since he almost always played the villain. Makes use of lots of footage from previous Drummond movies for a dream sequence. It's not poorly done but it raises some eyebrows given the already-brief runtime. After a slow start, it turns out to be an enjoyable B mystery thriller of the 'old dark house' variety. Effective atmosphere and good sets help. It is one of the best of the series, as several other reviewers here note. But I can't rate it as high as some of them do because, while good for a Drummond film, it's really not all that special judged against other similar movies of the era.
Hitchcoc This Drummond entry is lacking in continuity. Most of them have their elements of silliness, the postponed wedding, and so on. However, this has an endless series of events occurring in near darkness as the characters run from one place to another. The house seems more like a city. There's also Leo G. Carrol who is such an obvious suspect who no-one seems to even look at. He is a stranger and acts rather suspicious, but Drummond and the folks don't seem to pick up on anything. Still, it as reasonably good action and a pretty good ending.I know that Algie is supposed to be a comic figure, but like Nigel Bruce in the Rathbone Sherlock Holmes flicks, he is so buffoonish that it's hard to imagine anyone with taste or intelligence being around him. Is there a history behind him that will explain how he and Drummond became associates?
Snow Leopard After a bit of a slow start, this Bulldog Drummond feature is a solid B-movie with some moments of good suspense and effective atmosphere. It has all the familiar characters, with John Howard as Drummond, and E.E. Clive, Reginald Denny, Heather Angel, and H.B. Warner in the recurring roles, plus a young Leo Carroll (billed without the G.) heading the supporting cast.The first part is a little slow-moving, dwelling rather lengthily on the series's running joke about Drummond's often-postponed wedding to Phyllis. Although it tries to get a bit too much material out of it, this part does include a sequence of flashbacks to earlier 'Bulldog' features that offers some pleasant moments to those who enjoy the series.The main plot has a familiar premise, with a search for a hidden treasure whose location needs to be deduced from an old cipher. It becomes a race, as Drummond and his friends are determined to find it before a criminal adversary can. While not an especially imaginative story idea, it does lead into a pretty good sequence in the last part of the movie, with some good and rather macabre atmospheric settings as the hunt for the treasure plays out.
djensen1 Terrific adventure that caps the 1937-39 series nicely, with John Howard comfortable in his role as Drummond and Heather Angel a treat (if not an especially good actress) as poor Phyllis. The whole gang is at the old tower estate, preparing for the Drummond wedding, when an absent-minded scholar shows up with a tale about secret passages and treasure right under their feet! Drummond tries to keep out of it, but a sinister figure enters in the night and causes havoc. Soon, the whole troupe is creeping thru dark passages and avoiding deadly traps.The dialog isn't quite as witty or sardonic as in previous entries, but the tension is keen. Ciphers, skeletons, spikes, raging torrents, crumbling platforms, and more make this one of the best of the Bulldog Drummond series. For those keeping score, in this one, Drummond is (again) about to marry Phyllis, and Algy seems to have forgotten that he is already married.