Classic movie site with rare images, original ads, and behind-the-scenes photos, with informative and insightful commentary. We like to have fun with movies!
Archive and Links
grbrpix@aol.com
Search Index Here




Friday, October 17, 2014

Brit Sleuthing With Comic Chaser


Bulldog Jack Is 1935's Thrill and Laugh Mix

What if Bulldog Drummond fell sick and needed someone to pinch hit for him? That's the conceit of this comedy/thriller where funnyman Jack Hulbert assumes mantle of the dashing detective and cracks a jewel-robbing mob operating out of London's underground rail system. Action set there is profuse for an otherwise modest-managed Gaumont release, that company again trying to crack US markets as they had (and would) with Hitchcock suspensers. Stateside lead lady Fay Wray assists along those lines, as does fact we knew Drummond from times Ronald Colman played him over here. Hulbert was an acquired domestic taste, bitter to some perhaps as any import wine might be, but efficient once he stops bungling and gets down to straight crime-fight. Ralph Richardson underplays as the mastermind and never tries to upstage a florid Hulbert. UK humor was at that time a thing less accessible to us. It took Alec Guinness and Peter Sellers in the 50's to show how funny Brits could be. Variety reviewed Jack as Alias Bulldog Drummond, finding it "... fated for bookings of lesser importance on this side." MGM-UA owns Bulldog Jack now, having leased the pic to Netflix, Dish Network, and possibly elsewhere.

10 Comments:

Blogger aldi said...

"It took Alec Guinness and Peter Sellers in the 50's to show how funny Brits could be."

Charlie Chaplin and Stan Laurel might have disagreed with that! :)

12:21 PM  
Blogger John McElwee said...

Good point. Guess I was thinking more about British humor in films from over there.

2:05 PM  
Blogger Kevin K. said...

I don't think the Crazy Gang movies made it stateside, either.

2:18 PM  
Blogger John McElwee said...

Donald Benson remembers the British "Carry On" series:


Lately I've seen most of the "Carry On" films, a long series of Bs united by the same production team and varying configurations of a stock company of actors. Very broad, mildly lecherous and often given over to genre parodies, they are to Ealing comedies what Three Stooges are to Laurel and Hardy. And like the Stooges, they seem to enjoy a weird mix of affection and dismissal in their homeland.

Did they ever make any inroads here? I vaguely remember seeing newspaper ads for "Carry On Camping", a 1969 entry, and later stumbling across some mentions in a volume of NY Times reviews.

5:28 PM  
Blogger John McElwee said...

I do remember a "Carry On" film playing the Liberty with "Dr. Terror's House Of Horrors" in 1965, but that's the only one I recall showing up locally.

5:32 PM  
Blogger rnigma said...

One of the "Carry On" gang tried his luck in Hollywood: Jim Dale played multiple roles in Disney 's western spoof "Hot Lead and Cold Feet," though his co-star Don Knotts was highlighted in all the ads.

Jack Hulbert certainly had a chin that could rival Jay Leno's.

8:20 PM  
Blogger coolcatdaddy said...

As for British comedians, let's not forget Bob Hope.

If I'm not mistaken, "Carry on Cleo" got some attention on this side of the pond. Released in 1964, it used sets and costumes originally made for Liz Taylor's "Cleopatra" before that production had to relocate to Rome.

12:24 PM  
Blogger b piper said...

Let's not forget that W.C. Fields was, if not born British, the son of Cockney immigrants. I love much British humor, from Shaw to Monty Python to The Goodies, but low comedy (as in The Crazy Gang or the Carry Ons) does not seem to be their forte. Give me the Stooges any day.

11:26 PM  
Blogger Dave K said...

Love the Brit star comedies from the thirties and forties. Will Hay, the Crazy Gang and Arthur Askey are all over Pub-D-Hub. A lot of the fun for me is how alien many of the references are. You might see how far you make it through Askey's I THANK YOU, currently on Netflex streaming.

12:34 PM  
Blogger Tbone Mankini said...

The only CARRY ON I recall on US TV was the Phil Silvers FOLLOW THAT CAMEL...tho maybe saw one or two on Canadian TV in the mid70s. ...

3:17 PM  

Post a Comment

<< Home

grbrpix@aol.com
  • December 2005
  • January 2006
  • February 2006
  • March 2006
  • April 2006
  • May 2006
  • June 2006
  • July 2006
  • August 2006
  • September 2006
  • October 2006
  • November 2006
  • December 2006
  • January 2007
  • February 2007
  • March 2007
  • April 2007
  • May 2007
  • June 2007
  • July 2007
  • August 2007
  • September 2007
  • October 2007
  • November 2007
  • December 2007
  • January 2008
  • February 2008
  • March 2008
  • April 2008
  • May 2008
  • June 2008
  • July 2008
  • August 2008
  • September 2008
  • October 2008
  • November 2008
  • December 2008
  • January 2009
  • February 2009
  • March 2009
  • April 2009
  • May 2009
  • June 2009
  • July 2009
  • August 2009
  • September 2009
  • October 2009
  • November 2009
  • December 2009
  • January 2010
  • February 2010
  • March 2010
  • April 2010
  • May 2010
  • June 2010
  • July 2010
  • August 2010
  • September 2010
  • October 2010
  • November 2010
  • December 2010
  • January 2011
  • February 2011
  • March 2011
  • April 2011
  • May 2011
  • June 2011
  • July 2011
  • August 2011
  • September 2011
  • October 2011
  • November 2011
  • December 2011
  • January 2012
  • February 2012
  • March 2012
  • April 2012
  • May 2012
  • June 2012
  • July 2012
  • August 2012
  • September 2012
  • October 2012
  • November 2012
  • December 2012
  • January 2013
  • February 2013
  • March 2013
  • April 2013
  • May 2013
  • June 2013
  • July 2013
  • August 2013
  • September 2013
  • October 2013
  • November 2013
  • December 2013
  • January 2014
  • February 2014
  • March 2014
  • April 2014
  • May 2014
  • June 2014
  • July 2014
  • August 2014
  • September 2014
  • October 2014
  • November 2014
  • December 2014
  • January 2015
  • February 2015
  • March 2015
  • April 2015
  • May 2015
  • June 2015
  • July 2015
  • August 2015
  • September 2015
  • October 2015
  • November 2015
  • December 2015
  • January 2016
  • February 2016
  • March 2016
  • April 2016
  • May 2016
  • June 2016
  • July 2016
  • August 2016
  • September 2016
  • October 2016
  • November 2016
  • December 2016
  • January 2017
  • February 2017
  • March 2017
  • April 2017
  • May 2017
  • June 2017
  • July 2017
  • August 2017
  • September 2017
  • October 2017
  • November 2017
  • December 2017
  • January 2018
  • February 2018
  • March 2018
  • April 2018
  • May 2018
  • June 2018
  • July 2018
  • August 2018
  • September 2018
  • October 2018
  • November 2018
  • December 2018
  • January 2019
  • February 2019
  • March 2019
  • April 2019
  • May 2019
  • June 2019
  • July 2019
  • August 2019
  • September 2019
  • October 2019
  • November 2019
  • December 2019
  • January 2020
  • February 2020
  • March 2020
  • April 2020
  • May 2020
  • June 2020
  • July 2020
  • August 2020
  • September 2020
  • October 2020
  • November 2020
  • December 2020
  • January 2021
  • February 2021
  • March 2021
  • April 2021
  • May 2021
  • June 2021
  • July 2021
  • August 2021
  • September 2021
  • October 2021
  • November 2021
  • December 2021
  • January 2022
  • February 2022
  • March 2022
  • April 2022
  • May 2022
  • June 2022
  • July 2022
  • August 2022
  • September 2022
  • October 2022
  • November 2022
  • December 2022
  • January 2023
  • February 2023
  • March 2023
  • April 2023
  • May 2023
  • June 2023
  • July 2023
  • August 2023
  • September 2023
  • October 2023
  • November 2023
  • December 2023
  • January 2024
  • February 2024
  • March 2024
  • April 2024
  • May 2024
  • June 2024
  • July 2024
  • August 2024
  • September 2024