Another trip to the altar for Bulldog Drummond is averted when at a pre-wedding gathering in Switzerland a Swiss detective is murdered and an artificial diamond, courtesy of its inventor Halliwell Hobbes to bride and groom John Howard and Louise Campbell. That sets off a round of a little over an hour of fast paced adventure as Drummond once again shows up Scotland Yard.
Bulldog Drummond's Peril steps into the realm of science fiction with Halliwell Hobbes inventing a machine that can create diamonds, a process we know takes millions of years of geologic pressure. The gizmo he has looks like it was made from spare parts in Dr. Frankenstein's laboratory.
The film is blessed with two villains, industrialist Matthew Boulton and rival scientist Porter Hall both of whom want to get their hands on that formula and profit off it in some way. One way that wasn't even considered was that very few diamonds are used as jewelry. The majority are industrial strength and used for things like oil drill bits. A way to manufacture those babies on the cheap would yield someone a lot of money.
John Barrymore plays the Scotland Yard inspector and by dint of his name is top billed over John Howard as Drummond. It's a sad come down for Barrymore who reminds me of J.D. Cannon as Chief Clifford in the McCloud series, the way Drummond constantly shows up the Yard. He also has a little bit of Perry White thrown in as he constantly is telling people 'don't call me inspector'.
The science is a bit bizarre and the plot has way too many holes in it. If you're expecting something as good as when Ronald Colman was Bulldog Drummond, you won't find it here.
Bulldog Drummond's Peril steps into the realm of science fiction with Halliwell Hobbes inventing a machine that can create diamonds, a process we know takes millions of years of geologic pressure. The gizmo he has looks like it was made from spare parts in Dr. Frankenstein's laboratory.
The film is blessed with two villains, industrialist Matthew Boulton and rival scientist Porter Hall both of whom want to get their hands on that formula and profit off it in some way. One way that wasn't even considered was that very few diamonds are used as jewelry. The majority are industrial strength and used for things like oil drill bits. A way to manufacture those babies on the cheap would yield someone a lot of money.
John Barrymore plays the Scotland Yard inspector and by dint of his name is top billed over John Howard as Drummond. It's a sad come down for Barrymore who reminds me of J.D. Cannon as Chief Clifford in the McCloud series, the way Drummond constantly shows up the Yard. He also has a little bit of Perry White thrown in as he constantly is telling people 'don't call me inspector'.
The science is a bit bizarre and the plot has way too many holes in it. If you're expecting something as good as when Ronald Colman was Bulldog Drummond, you won't find it here.