BULLDOG DRUMMOND AT BAY (1937)

GB
1937
1hr 18mins
Dir: Norman Lee
Starring: John Lodge and Dorothy Mackaill

Bulldog Drummond infiltrates a pacifist organisation who are attempting to steal the plans of a top secret aircraft

This was the tenth film in the celebrated Bulldog Drummond adventure series, and it was based on the novel of the same name by H. C. McNeile. It features a train journey aboard the ‘Scotch Express’ with a couple of shots of wheels and motion and a few views from outside the window added to the single shot of a contemporary LNER express passing in the hands of A1 Class 4-6-2 No.2569 Gladiateur. The shot shows the train crossing a viaduct and is footage taken from the 1929 classic The Flying Scotsman (qv). It went on to reappear in Thursday’s Child (1943). The finished film was 78 mins long yet the versions currently available for viewing run to just 59 minutes. The film was remade in 1947, but it is not known if it features any trains.

A1 4-6-2 No.2569 Gladiateur brings its train across a viaduct. Its name is spelt correctly for it is named after the French Thoroughbred racehorse who won the English Triple Crown in 1865.