BULLDOG DRUMMOND'S SECRET POLICE (1939) John Howard & Heather Angel | Crime, Mystery, Romance | B&W

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.

SYNOPSIS
Captain Drummond and his girlfriend, eager to marry, face complications when they discover a hidden treasure in the house they intend to celebrate their marriage in. Meanwhile, absent-minded Professor Downie pays a visit to Capt. Hugh "Bulldog" Drummond as he plans his long-awaited wedding to Phyllis Claverling in Temple Tower. The professor reveals the existence of a buried fortune on Drummond's estate, along with a codebook to locate it. However, their plans are disrupted when the codebook is stolen, Professor Downie is murdered, and Phyllis is kidnapped by someone also seeking the riches, dragging Drummond into the dangerous plot once again.

CAST & CREW
Heather Angel as Phyllis Clavering
John Howard as Captain Hugh C. "Bulldog" Drummond
H.B. Warner as Colonel Nielson
Reginald Denny as Algy Longworth
E.E. Clive as Tenny
Elizabeth Patterson as Aunt Blanche
Leo G. Carroll as Henry Seaton/Andrew Boulton
Forrester Harvey as Professor Downie
Clyde Cook as Constable Hawkins
David Clyde as Constable Jenkins
Neil Fitzgerald as Station Master
Elspeth Dudgeon as Housekeeper

Directed by: James P. Hogan
Screenplay by: Garnett Weston
Based on: "Temple Tower," a 1929 novel by H. C. McNeile
Produced by: Stuart Walker
Cinematography: Merritt B. Gerstad
Edited by: Arthur P. Schmidt
Music by: Boris Morros
Production Company: Paramount Pictures
Distributed by: Paramount Pictures
Release Date: April 14, 1939
Running Time: 56 minutes
Country: United States
Language: English

NOTES
The story is set 28 miles outside London in Rockingham, as a sign on the railroad station states.

The film uses flashbacks from previous Drummond films and dream sequences extensively, which has led some to criticize it as tiresome. Oddly, despite the phrase "secret police" in the title, there is nothing relating to any secret police in the plot except Col. Neilsen's quip when several of the characters are together. The production values are high as the sets are of high quality, but the script has not received much acclaim.