Simply A Masterpiece

Please don't spend money on this.

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

Another trip to the altar for Bulldog Drummond is averted when at a pre-wedding gathering in Switzerland a Swiss detective is murdered and an artificial diamond, courtesy of its inventor Halliwell Hobbes to bride and groom John Howard and Louise Campbell. That sets off a round of a little over an hour of fast paced adventure as Drummond once again shows up Scotland Yard.Bulldog Drummond's Peril steps into the realm of science fiction with Halliwell Hobbes inventing a machine that can create diamonds, a process we know takes millions of years of geologic pressure. The gizmo he has looks like it was made from spare parts in Dr. Frankenstein's laboratory.The film is blessed with two villains, industrialist Matthew Boulton and rival scientist Porter Hall both of whom want to get their hands on that formula and profit off it in some way. One way that wasn't even considered was that very few diamonds are used as jewelry. The majority are industrial strength and used for things like oil drill bits. A way to manufacture those babies on the cheap would yield someone a lot of money.John Barrymore plays the Scotland Yard inspector and by dint of his name is top billed over John Howard as Drummond. It's a sad come down for Barrymore who reminds me of J.D. Cannon as Chief Clifford in the McCloud series, the way Drummond constantly shows up the Yard. He also has a little bit of Perry White thrown in as he constantly is telling people 'don't call me inspector'.The science is a bit bizarre and the plot has way too many holes in it. If you're expecting something as good as when Ronald Colman was Bulldog Drummond, you won't find it here.

This is one off the more fast-paced features in the Bulldog Drummond series, with the usual likable regulars and a story that includes some interesting details. For the first half or so, it's as good as any of the movies in the series. In the last part, it gets a bit too tangled up at times, but it still comes out all right.The setup makes use of the series's running gag about the often-postponed plans for the wedding between Drummond and Phyllis, with the adventure this time getting underway with the theft of one of their own wedding gifts. The main story centers around a scientist who has developed a way of producing synthetic diamonds, and some of it is rather imaginative. It also incorporates some nice offbeat details, such as an endearing live penguin.The story is nicely paced, and except when it tries to squeeze just a little too much out of the material in some of the later sequences, it works pretty well. John Howard is low-key but suitably unflappable as Drummond. Most of the series regulars get some moments of their own. John Barrymore doesn't get as much to work with in this one as he usually does, but he is always entertaining when he gets the chance. Much of it would be watchable just for the good-natured interplay amongst the characters.

Capt. Hugh "Bulldog" Drummond is finally marrying his long standing fiancé Phyllis, while on a retreat in Geneva. During a reception party, Hugh and Phyllis receive a flawless man-made diamond from friend Gwen's scientist father. Sir Raymond Blantree, a guest at the party and jewel magnate, sees the diamond and plans to get both it and Prof. Goodman (Gwen's father) before the discovery decreases the value of all jewels around the world (smirk). Hugh, Algy, and Tenny chase Blantree, and his accomplice Greer, back to London, but being of position, Blantree is able to avoid police persecution by Col. Neilson, who is still fed up with Drummond's wild adventures. Blantree tries to buy the formula from Goodman, but he refuses to sell, saying he will give it away. Blantree learns that Goodman plans to borrow equipment from a rival gemologist Dr. Botulian and plans to have Greer impersonate Botulian to get the formula, but the doctor has plans of his own for obtaining the formula. Will one of their plans succeed despite the efforts of Drummond and company? Good entry in the series, but it didn't live up to its potential with plenty of setup and weak execution. Biggest problem was at first the audience was intended to left in mystery as to who the real Botualian was, but after two minutes of it, this reviewer was just confused. The first half of the film focused on the villainy of Blantree and then he was discarded in the second half for Botulian, and frankly both of them were limp adversaries. I had to laugh at Blantree's idea of the man made gems weakening the financial value of pure gems, apparently the executives at QVC would have given Bulldog more of a run for his money. Rating, 6.

One of the weaker entries in the Drummond series, but it's still entertaining. Perhaps I've seen too many of the Drummond films too close together. The humor is not as sharp as earlier entries. The pacing is fine, but the plot and villains don't seem to be up to snuff. The villains don't appear evil or sharp enough to harm a fly, let alone our hero.There is a nice sequence of that wonderful 30s "lab equipment" working its magic. So much more exciting and dramatic than computer chips and LEDs! Now that's evil!