13 Lead Soldiers

This film was believed lost by mystery film addicts when a 16mm print turned up on ebay in the early 2000's. The buyer kindly transferred the film to VHS so the rest of us could enjoy it. Now some people may complain about the lack of quality or production values but when your master is a beat up 16mm print I tend to be a little forgiving. Also the fact that it was long lost makes me grateful a print exists at all.

The film itself didn't disappoint this old mystery buff. Conway is great as the suave detective. The rest of the cast is very solid and the plot is a neat little twister about locating a hidden treasure. Not to be missed by mystery buffs and please forgive the quality as we are lucky to have it available to us.

This Bernard Small production stars Tom Conway as Bulldog Drummond -- why not? He'd already played the Saint and the Falcon, and if he'd played Sexton Blake, it wouldn't surprise me -- in a movie based on one of Sapper's novels. An acquaintance comes to Conway, explaining he has two old lead soldiers, and someone who owned two others had been killed. Would he hold onto them and look into it? To complicate the plot, John Newland is playing Algy, and they decide to switch names for the term of this adventure.

It's a nicely complicated movie because everyone seems to be operating under a false identity. In fact, it's so complicated that I had no idea of what was going on until Conway playing Drummond playing Algy started his explanation of the very complicated mystery behind all the goings-on. Conway saunters through the role and is clearly amused by the deadly situation, like Roger Moore playing Bond.

It's directed by Frank MacDonald, one of those B specialists who could handle just about any subject, spent most of his career directing westerns, but actually had a nice talent for comedy. He wound up directing episodes of GET SMART.

This is the second of the two Tom Conway Bulldog Drummond mysteries. He is assisted by John Newland as Algy and also a second sidekick character called Seymour. It's good to see the 'One Step Beyond' presenter Newland in an early acting role. Here Algy changes identities with Drummond but he is still out charmed by the real Drummond for the attention of the ladies. So I suppose it was obvious that Newland was never going to seen as a leading man through his characterization in this film.

The action begins at Stedman Manor where an intruder breaks in and steals two lead soldiers and an ancient map. Dr Steadman is murdered during the break-in. He had been treating the figures with chemicals. It turns out that the soldiers were of modest value so the mystery is why are the figures and map worth stealing and murdering for?

There came a point when I did guess the identity of the murderer. But it didn't mar the mystery for me as there were other layers that still needed to be sorted. The relationship of the suspects to each other does continue to drive the intrigue. And of course why exactly is the completion of the set of lead soldiers important? There is a very gripping finale which should satisfy any mystery fan.

This is the twentieth Bulldog Drummond film, as well as the second and last starring Tom Conway as Drummond. (He played Drummond twice in 1948.) There is little difference between Tom Conway as Hugh Drummond and Tom Conway as the Falcon. He is perfectly adequate in either role, with his usual charm and ease. This film is interesting because of a genuinely intriguing plot premise of a historical/archaeological nature. The 'thirteen lead soldiers' of the title, and the parchment palimpsest manuscript associated with them, record the whereabouts of and access to the 'treasure of the Saxons', concealed just before the Battle of Hastings in 1066. It is necessary to collect all the soldiers, hence the temptation to murder various owners of them. Sapper wrote the story containing this idea, and it is a pity that it was not given a better treatment. It is potentially very much in the genre of 'Lara Croft, Tomb Raider', and could form the basis for a modern film along those lines. Someone ought to give this consideration. This version is entertaining in a typically B picture way, never rising higher than that, but not sinking lower either. Algy Longworth, played here by John Newland, is not an ass as played by Reginald Denny, but is a pathetically inept sidekick who longs to be able to emulate his hero, Hugh. In this film, much fun is had by Algy pretending to be Hugh and Hugh pretending to be Algy, to confuse some of the people they meet in the course of the story. Even as 'Bulldog Drummond', however, the limp Algy cannot make headway with the gals, he finds, and he despairs with the realization that he never will. It is all done in typical comedic style. The Inspector this time is Gordon Richards, who shouts a lot and is boring and tedious. Terry Kilburn is colourless as Drummond's young male secretary, which is a thankless part with almost no lines or point. (There is no actual butler this time.) Helen Westcott is rather interesting as one of the young women in the story, and we could have done with more of her. Maria Palmer is more histrionic and obvious in her role as a potential villainess. This film is neither inferior nor superior, it is what it is.

Well I have to thank this film for one thing: I now know what a palimpsest is! John Newland ("Algy") get a chance to step up a bit more in this engaging crime drama based around some mysterious lead soldiers - each depicting different figures from history. He, and his boss "Drummond" (Tom Conway) temporarily swap identities before being brought into the mystery when a man is murdered, and his two wee sculptures are pinched. What gives? Well it doesn't take our dynamic duo long before they discover that there are actually eleven more of these metal blighters, and together with an accompanying parchment they could reveal a hidden treasure. Maria Palmer ("Estelle") brings a little intrigue to the proceedings and Harry Cording reprises his oft-visited role as the man with the menace. I think this is one of the better "Bulldog Drummond" adventures. It's well enough paced and Newland and Conway work well together with a gentle humour and bit of help from their disdainful Scotland Yard ally "Insp. McIver" (Gordon Richards) to create quite an enjoyable treasure hunt with quite a strong (if terribly lit) denouement.