Chan vs. other detectives

[GaryLeeOz]

Bulldog Drummond was initially given the A-list treatment when Ronald Colman played Bulldog in 1929 and 1934 but by the time John Howard got the role it definitely lost a lot of its status ... still I enjoyed "Arrest Bulldog Drummond" (1939). I wasn't convinced that Howard's accent was "British" enough. Still, he was Colman's brother in "Lost Horizon" so I guess the Producers thought he was "Pip Pip and Cheerio" enough. Like Philo Vance, several studios had a go at making Bulldog Drummond movies with actors like Walter Pidgeon, Tom Conway, Ray Milland and Ralph Richardson.

[John Cucinotta]

I recorded several of the Bulldog Drummond films on DVR the other day.  Haven't watched them yet.  John Barrymore is in at least one of them.  Will post an opinion later.

[rodb]

i agree with you completely. I watched about 15 minutes of these and had to turn the channel. Compared to Boston Blackie, The Falcon, the saint,Mr Moto , mrs Marple and Nancy drew; Bulldog DRUMMOND doesn't do it for me
 

[Ed Kasprowicz]

They seemed very repetitive to me. Some of the earlier Bulldogs were very good movies, especially the one featuring Warner Oland as the villain, but, they never show up on television these days   ...Ed K.

[John Cucinotta]

I finally have time to watch some of the Bulldog Drummond films I recorded.  I saw "BD's Revenge" and "BD at Bay".  They were both interesting to watch once, but neither was a memorable film.  They both have rather shallow storylines with simple mystery elements.  Also, both films follow the "inverted mystery format", where the audience sees who the bad guys are, and the film focuses on the detective solving a crime for which we already know at least part of the solution.  I will probably watch a couple more of these films, since rainy weather is coming.  I would like to again see the old Drummond film with Warner Oland as a sinister Asian prince, which I saw years ago.  I believe that film was a higher quality mystery.

[DrHumbug]

Chan Fans:

My Charlie Chan page on my drberlin.com website (as well as other links on this site) will close down around July 27. This does not mean that I have lost interest in the Chan films (or Moto and Wong) but my other website – www.numismatourist.com is hosted by the Authors Guild, of which I am a member. This site represents my current book writing and travel activities and I do not have the time to support both sites. I still eagerly await the release of the remaining Chan films on DVD to replace my VHS copies.

If anyone wants to copy any of the Chan links to articles I had written (e.g., “The Who’s Who of Charlie Chan’s Family,” and the Memphis 2004 article) for their own web site, you may do so but the copyright notice must not be removed.

I still will monitor the posts here and contribute my opinions when necessary. Feel free to inquire about my site by emailing me at:  w3hb (at) yahoo (dot) com.

Thank you so much,

Howard, aka Dr. Humbug

[rodb]

thank you for the updates. It is good to know that not all of the cc sites are going to fade away.

[channer]

TCM is showing some earlier people from outer space movies tonight (Thursday). I'm glad the Chan movies didn't descend to the level of, say, " Charlie Chan Outwits People From Outer Space". Has anyone seen anything Chan-related lately?

[Ed Kasprowicz]

Dead Men Tell ran this week on MOVIES! It's still one of my favorites. I'll be revisiting CC at the Opera soon. I've been reading Karloff's biography "More than a Monster" and, of course, there was a fair amount of coverage of Opera in it. The details of Lionel Atwill's legal problems following his infamous party (covered a little later on in the book) was also very interesting. This is a great book, and, a "must read" for all Karloff fans. ...Ed K.

[John Cucinotta]

I watched "Bulldog Drummond in Africa" which was part of the recent Drummond marathon on the cable TV.  I thought this was a weak movie with a rather far-fetched plot and dull character development among the supporting cast.  For example, Algy Longworth, who usually provides a nice character contrast to Drummond, had a smaller role than usual, and his wife Gwen was absent.  If you are planning on watching the Bulldog Drummond films, this is not the best one to start with.

[channer]

We all seem to be in accord in judging the quality of several of the Drummond movies. It is a shame that more respect wasn't paid to the material that the series was derived from, and that production values were not higher. To me, the movies had a "Let's hurry up and get this in the can." aspect to them. It's sad when you contemplate what could have been done with the character.