|
|
|
|
|
|
BULLDOG DRUMMOND
Bulldog Drummond is a British fictional character created by "Sapper", a pseudonym of H. C. McNeile (1888-1937), in imitation of the hard boiled noir-style detectives appearing in contemporary American fiction. The stories followed Captain Hugh "Bulldog" Drummond, D.S.O., M.C., a wealthy former WWI officer of the Loamshire Regiment, who, after the war, spends his new-found leisure time as a private detective.
The writing is often unashamedly jingoist, as well as unacceptably racist by present-day standards. Drummond is a proto-James Bond figure and a crudely debased version of the imperial adventurers depicted by the likes of John Buchan. McNeile's jingoism and anti-Semitism (in The Black Gang, for example, Drummond and his chums intern villainous Jewish Bolsheviks in a kind of private concentration camp) make the books hard to appreciate even at the level of kitsch today.
The character first appeared in the novel Bulldog Drummond (1920), and was adapted into a number of films and radio serials.
After McNeile's death in 1938, his friend Gerard Fairlie continued to write stories based on the character.
Bulldog Drummond stories
Bulldog Drummond novels:
- Bulldog Drummond (1920, by McNeile)
- The Black Gang (1922, by McNeile)
- The Third Round (1924, by McNeile)
- Bulldog Drummond (1925, by Gerald du Maurier and McNeile)
- The Final Count (1926, by McNeile)
- The Female of the Species (1928, by McNeile)
- Temple Tower (1929, by McNeile)
- The Return of Bulldog Drummond (1932, by McNeile)
- Knock-Out (1933, by McNeile)
- Bulldog Drummond at Bay (1935, by McNeile)
- The Challenge (1937, by McNeile)
- Bulldog Drummond on Dartmoor (1938, by Gerard Fairlie)
- Bulldog Drummond Attacks (1939, by Fairlie)
- Captain Bulldog Drummond (1945, by Fairlie)
- Bulldog Drummond Stands Fast (1947, by Fairlie)
- Hands Off Bulldog Drummond (1949, by Fairlie)
- Calling Bulldog Drummond (1951, by Fairlie)
- The Return of the Black Gang (1954, by Fairlie)
- Deadlier Than the Male (1966, by Henry Reymond) - from an original story by Jimmy Sangster
- Some Girls Do (1969, by Henry Reymond) - based on the film script by David Osborn & Liz Charles-Williams
Bulldog Drummond short stories by McNeile:
- "Lonely Inn"
- "The Mystery Tour"
- "The Oriental Mind"
- "Thirteen Lead Soldiers"
- "Wheels Within Wheels"
Bulldog Drummond in film and radio
Bulldog Drummond silent films:
Bulldog Drummond talkies:
A Bulldog Drummond radio serial ran from 1941 to 1954; Bulldog was voiced by George Coulouris.
Later incarnations
- Kim Newman's short story "Pitbull Brittan", published in 1991, was a savage parody both of Bulldog Drummond and of the state of England under Margaret Thatcher, and featured the eponymous adventurer's battle against an international conspiracy responsible for the 1984 Miners' Strike. Newman also used the character for a brief cameo appearance in his novel The Bloody Red Baron.
- Another parody, Bullshot Crummond, was originally staged as a play and subsequently made into a 1983 motion picture.
Pop culture
Despite questionable his attitudes Bulldog Drummond can still appear as a popular culture reference. He is one of the heroes mentioned in The Coasters' 1957 hit "Searchin'."
- No matter where she's a-hidin', she's gonna hear me a-comin'
- Gonna walk right down that street like Bulldog Drummond!
Bulldog (Drummond) is also one of the nicknames proposed by Jumbo for former British spy turned teacher Jim Prideaux in Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy. This reflects his jingoistic spirit and determined attitude towards life, although Jim is not wealthy.
Listen to
|
|
|
|
|
|
|