The first entry in a long-running film series comes from 1929, but in some ways it looks more modern than that. Despite its being a very early talkie, the dialogue flows naturally, and the camera work is rather advanced as well. Ronald Colman plays a suave adventurer in a style not far removed from that of Sean Connery as James Bond, several decades later! And Lilyan Tashman, as a wicked bad girl, gives a supremely self-assured performance; although not as "conventionally" beautiful as her co-star, Joan Bennett (who plays the slightly whiny damsel-in-distress), she is far sexier. The story, however, is nothing special; essentially a continuous back-and-forth between two locations (an inn and a phony "clinic"). And there is no real ending - the way the film ends, you'd think the story would be continued in the next chapter, but apparently that never happened! **1/2 out of 4.
Review of Bulldog Drummond
