Bulldog Drummond in Africa

British adventurer John Howard (as Hugh "Bulldog" Drummond) is all set to marry girlfriend Heather Angel (as Phyllis Clavering). After several unexpected wedding postponements, Drummond isn't taking any chances. He is sequestered himself in his mansion. So that he can't go out and stumble into some crime scene, Drummond has surrendered his trousers and money to pal Reginald Denny (as Algernon "Algy" Longworth). Manservant E.E. Clive (as Tenny) is also left in his underwear and shirt-tails. Meanwhile, a mystery connected to Africa develops. Drummond's old friend and colleague H.B. Warner (as Colonel Nielson) is kidnapped. Of course, the Drummond wedding is canceled...

Drummond, Algy and Tenny take a flight to Africa. Phyllis is a stowaway...

Drummond and his supporting cast are really on the road to Morocco, which somehow doesn't seem like the Africa promised in the title. However, Morocco is on the continent. And, there are lions hanging around. For this entry in the series, John Barrymore has been replaced in the role of Scotland Yard investigator Nielson. Another veteran actor with a stellar list of credits, Mr. Warner was a good choice to fill Mr. Barrymore's shoes. Less obviously, Ms. Angel returns to play Phyllis, for the duration. J. Carrol Naish (as Richard Lane) has fun in the bearded villain's role. As his henchmen receiving generous on-screen time, good-looking young Anthony Quinn makes a striking impression.

***** Bulldog Drummond in Africa (1938-08-05) Louis King ~ John Howard, H.B. Warner, J. Carrol Naish, Reginald Denny

There is a lot of funny stuff, from two men being locked in a room without any pants, so that Drummond won't get involved and miss his wedding, to them cutting the phone cord and dancing a highland fling in a home-made kilt. As it turns out, the one who wanted the wedding to go one is the one responsible for getting them into another adventure. As usual, it's a secret that could turn the face of the war. The one who knows the most is kidnapped and may be fed to the lions that the villain has in his courtyard if he doesn't reveal the secret code. There is a long standoff. Meanwhile, Drummond and the gang have arrived without proper papers to stay in Morocco. They become targets of the people they are pursuing and nearly get blown out of the sky. There are a whole series of wonderful things between Drummond and Tenny. A very young Anthony Quinn makes an appearance as a cold blooded assistant to the bad guys. This one is much more watchable than some of the others and moves to a nice boil.

Bulldog Drummond In Africa finds John Howard once again postponing his plans to marry Heather Angel whose been left at the altar more times than Adelaide in Guys And Dolls. It's her fault really at this point because she's the one that has discovered that Drummond's good friend from Scotland Yard H.B. Warner has been kidnapped and spirited to Morocco.

Angel stows away on Howard's plane along with his two friends Reginald Denny and E.E. Clive. Warner has been kidnapped by international spy and man of mystery J. Carrol Naish and wants Warner to give him the secret of something called a disintegrater ray. Sounds like lasers way before they were perfected.

Of course Howard affects a rescue lest Warner's character Colonel Nielsen not be around for the next film. As usual Reginald Denny provides the bumbling comic relief. I swear Drummond keeps Algy around strictly for laughs the way the Cisco Kid used to have Pancho along. The guy who is really useful is E.E. Clive who's like a Boy Scout in that he's always prepared.

Anthony Quinn has a small part as one of Naish's henchmen and I noticed in the credits that Anne Bauchens did the editing. Annie B was a most trusted employee of the Cecil B. DeMille group, in fact C.B. had it in his contract that only she was allowed to edit his films. I'm wondering if she was there to take care of Quinn in the rushes because Quinn at the time was DeMille's son-in-law.

Bulldog Drummond In Africa is a pleasant enough B film from the Paramount lot.

Bulldog Drummond in Africa is a 1938 entry into the series, with John Howard again as Hugh Drummond, Heather Angel as Phyllis, E.E. Clive as Tenney, Reginald Denny as Angy, and instead of Barrymore, we have H.B. Warner, the first Demille Christ, as the Colonel.

Hugh again is trying to marry Phyllis. This time they've decided that Hugh will stay in the house and not answer the phone until it is time to leave; this way, he can avoid becoming involved in any case.

When Phyllis arrives at the Colonel's house to pick him up, she meets a man who says he is the new tenant, which seems strange to her. She sees the Colonel's briefcase, though she is told he isn't there, but has gone to Africa. She parks in a hidden spot and sees men carrying out the Colonel.

So Hugh is on another case.

Fast-moving and quite good, the men who have taken over the Colonel's house are trying to locate some top secret government process - these things are real McGuffins, just an excuse for the story. The Colonel won't give them any information. They then take him to Africa.

Actually they are in Morocco.

Loved seeing the old plane. Angy is really out of it this time, and Drummond is his usual dapper, mostly relaxed self.

Fun episodes. I really like this cast but of course would have loved to see Barrymore again. He made a much more vital, worse tempered Colonel.

Anthony Quinn plays a thug.

Capt. Hugh 'Bulldog' Drummond still hasn't married his sweetheart Phyllis. And he won't be getting married this time, either, as he winds up investigating the kidnapping of his friend Colonel Nielsen. So Drummond, along with Phyllis and sidekicks Algy and Tenny, must go to Morocco to rescue the Colonel.

Two new additions to the cast as H.B. Warner takes over as Col. Nielsen and Heather Angel is the new Phyllis Clavering. Heather had previously played the role in the first movie in Paramount's Bulldog Drummond series, where she displayed a great chemistry with Ray Milland. She's back here but with a different Drummond, John Howard. She has fine chemistry with Howard as well and brings a pluckiness to the role of Phyllis that is a treat to watch. E.E. Clive continues to be the heart of the series as loyal butler Tenny. Reginald Denny is just there and begs the point more than ever of why Drummond needs two sidekicks instead of just one. The legendary J. Carrol Naish plays the villain here, his second appearance in the Drummond series. He's always enjoyable. Anthony Quinn has an early role as his henchman. This is one of the best of the Bulldog Drummond movies I've seen. Some good action and humor with nice atmosphere. It moves very quickly (runtime is just shy of an hour) and at times feels like a few episodes of an action serial strung together. But it works as a solid time-passer. The action-packed climax, which includes a man-eating lion, is the highlight.