Bulldog Drummond at Bay | |
---|---|
Directed by | Sidney Salkow |
Screenplay by | Frank Gruber |
Based on | Bulldog Drummond at Bay 1935 novel by H.C. McNeile |
Produced by | Louis B. Appleton Jr. Bernard Small |
Starring | Anita Louise Patrick O'Moore Terry Kilburn Holmes Herbert Ron Randell |
Cinematography | Philip Tannura |
Edited by | Aaron Stell |
Production company | Venture Pictures |
Distributed by | Columbia Pictures |
Release date |
|
Running time | 70 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Bulldog Drummond at Bay is a 1947 American adventure crime mystery film directed by Sidney Salkow and starring Ron Randell for the first time as the British sleuth and adventurer Bulldog Drummond. The cast also includes Anita Louise, Patrick O'Moore and Terry Kilburn. [1]
The film is loosely based on the novel Bulldog Drummond at Bay by H. C. McNeile. [2]
When thieves rob his country estate, Bulldog Drummond uncovers a deadly jewel caper involving foreign agents trying to steal plans for a top-secret British aircraft.
The Bulldog Drummond series had been popular B movies before the war. In June 1946 it was announced Venture Pictures, a Columbia producing unit headed by Lou Appleton and Bernard Small, had done a deal with the estate of H.C. McNeile to make two Bulldog Drummond pictures, with an option to provide six more (the last one had been Bulldog Drummond's Secret Police (1939)). John Howard had played Drummond in the 1930s but it was decided to use a new actor in the part. [3]
In November 1946, it was announced that Drummond would be played by Ron Randell, an Australian actor who was signed to a long term contract with Columbia off the back of his performance in Smithy. [4] Sidney Salkow would direct with filming to start in December. [5] According to Appleton, "We wanted a new film face and someone with a British way of speaking." [6]
Former child star Terry Kilburn was given an adult role. [7]
The Monthly Film Bulletin called Randell "an attractive personality... a worthy successor as Drummond." [8]
Leonard Maltin called the film an "innocuous British 'quota quickie'". [9]
Filmink wrote "This was an okay film, a little creaky – Randell wasn’t quite comfortable in the lead." [10]
Bulldog Drummond is a 1929 American pre-Code crime film in which Hugh "Bulldog" Drummond helps a beautiful young woman in distress. The film stars Ronald Colman as the title character, Claud Allister, Lawrence Grant, Montagu Love, Wilson Benge, Joan Bennett, and Lilyan Tashman. Produced by Samuel Goldwyn and directed by F. Richard Jones, the movie was adapted by Sidney Howard from the play by H. C. McNeile.
Bulldog Drummond's Secret Police is a 1939 English Castle murder mystery film directed by James P. Hogan, based on the H. C. McNeile novel Temple Tower. It is one of many films featuring the British sleuth and adventurer Bulldog Drummond. In 1930, Fox produced Temple Tower, directed by Donald Gallaher and starring Kenneth MacKenna and Marceline Day, which was also based on the McNeile book.
Hugh "Bulldog" Drummond is a fictional character, created by H. C. McNeile and published under his pen name "Sapper". Following McNeile's death in 1937, the novels were continued by Gerard Fairlie. Drummond is a First World War veteran who, fed up with his sedate lifestyle, advertises looking for excitement, and becomes a gentleman adventurer. The character has appeared in novels, short stories, on the stage, in films, on radio and television, and in graphic novels.
Herman Cyril McNeile, MC, commonly known as Cyril McNeile and publishing under the name H. C. McNeile or the pseudonym Sapper, was a British soldier and author. Drawing on his experiences in the trenches during the First World War, he started writing short stories and getting them published in the Daily Mail. As serving officers in the British Army were not permitted to publish under their own names, he was given the pen name "Sapper" by Lord Northcliffe, the owner of the Daily Mail; the nickname was based on that of his corps, the Royal Engineers.
Anita Louise was an American film and television actress best known for her performances in A Midsummer Night's Dream (1935), The Story of Louis Pasteur (1935), Anthony Adverse (1936), Marie Antoinette (1938), and The Little Princess (1939). She was named as a WAMPAS Baby Star.
Bulldog Drummond's Revenge is a 1937 American adventure mystery film directed by Louis King, produced by Stuart Walker, written by Edward T. Lowe Jr. and Herman C. McNeile (novel), and featuring John Barrymore. The picture stars John Howard in his second appearance as Bulldog Drummond; Howard previously appeared as Ronald Colman's brother in Lost Horizon. Top-billed John Barrymore portrays his friend Colonel Nielsen.
Ronald Egan Randell was an Australian actor. After beginning his acting career on the stage in 1937, he played Charles Kingsford Smith in the film Smithy (1946). He also had roles in Bulldog Drummond at Bay (1947), Kiss Me Kate (1953), I Am a Camera (1955), Most Dangerous Man Alive (1961) and King of Kings (1961).
It Had to Be You is a 1947 American comedy romance film directed by Don Hartman and Rudolph Maté and starring Ginger Rogers and Cornel Wilde. It was produced and distributed by Columbia Pictures. A marriage-shy sculptor meets the boy of her childhood dreams, now a firefighter.
Sidney Salkow was an American film director, screenwriter, and television director.
The Mating of Millie is a 1948 American romantic comedy film directed by Henry Levin and starring Glenn Ford, Evelyn Keyes and Ron Randell. It was produced and distributed by Columbia Pictures.
China Corsair is a 1951 American adventure film directed by Ray Nazarro, starring Jon Hall and Lisa Ferraday and released by Columbia Pictures. It was the film debut of Ernest Borgnine.
The Return of Bulldog Drummond is a 1934 British thriller film directed by Walter Summers and starring Ralph Richardson, Ann Todd and Claud Allister. It was based on the 1922 novel The Black Gang by H.C. McNeile and was the fourth film in the series of twenty-five.
Temple Tower is a 1930 American pre-Code crime film directed by Donald Gallaher and starring Kenneth MacKenna, Marceline Day. and Peter Gawthorne.
Lorna Doone is a 1951 American adventure film directed by Phil Karlson and starring Barbara Hale and Richard Greene. It is an adaptation of the 1869 novel Lorna Doone by R. D. Blackmore, set in the English West Country during the 17th century.
A Son Is Born is a 1946 Australian melodrama directed by Eric Porter and starring Ron Randell, Peter Finch, John McCallum and Muriel Steinbeck. It was one of the few films made in Australia in the 1940s. The movie is particularly notable for featuring Randell, Finch and McCallum before they moved overseas and became stars in the United States and Britain respectively.
The Lone Wolf and His Lady is a 1949 American mystery film directed by John Hoffman and starring Ron Randell, June Vincent and Alan Mowbray. It is the 15th and final Lone Wolf film produced by Columbia Pictures, and was written by Edward Dein and Michael Stuart Boylan.
Bulldog Drummond at Bay was the ninth Bulldog Drummond novel. It was published in 1935, and written by H. C. McNeile under the pen name Sapper. It was filmed in 1937 and in 1947.
Bulldog Drummond Strikes Back is a 1947 American adventure crime mystery film directed by Frank McDonald and starring Ron Randell, Gloria Henry and Patrick O'Moore. The film is loosely based on the H. C. McNeile novel Knock-Out.
Patrick O'Moore (1909–1983) was an Irish actor who appeared in a variety of American films and television shows. A character actor, he appeared in a number of Hollywood's British-themed films during the 1940s and 1950s.