the audience applauded

Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

I didn’t really have many expectations going into the movie (good or bad), but I actually really enjoyed it. I really liked the characters and the banter between them.

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.

Bulldog Drummond sits this one out; he appears only at the start, gets injured, and sends a proxy to take over his new adventure. This proxy may be a bit of a bumbler, but when it comes down to it, he's quite brave and efficient as well! The traditional damsel-in-distress is played this time by the incredibly beautiful Fay Wray, of "King Kong" fame, while an unrecognizable Ralph Richardson, who played Bulldog Drummond himself in the previous entry of the series, now appears as the main villain! The film largely goes for the laughs, and finds quite a few, but not as consistently as one would like; however, in the last 10 minutes it goes for the thrills as well, with some extremely well-done stunts and action sequences that still hold up today. More than worth a look. **1/2 out of 4.

** small spoiler **Bulldog's car is sabotaged and he crashes into another car on his way to a mysterious mission. As it turns out, the driver of the other car is a great fan of Bulldog's work and his lifestyle. So, while Bulldog is mending in the hospital, the fan agrees to take on Bulldog's work for him. Thus begins an exercise in comedic silliness that only the Brits can do.It's not hysterically funny. It just has that sort of laid back, gentle, situation type humor that the Brits do better than anyone else.There is also enough tension and mystery to make all the running about worth while.I gave it the nine it deserved.

Have seen this film several times now and generally chuckle/grin/smile most all of the way through. Always enjoy seeing the Underground and the British Museum settings again. Excellent "escapist" antidote to today's generally depressive "gloom and doom" national atmosphere. These days, I feel we need more of this type of film and less of the kind that's too light on dialogue and too heavy on violence and special effects.