Bulldog Courage: A Proper Old-School Knockabout

Alright, listen, when you get a film like *Bulldog Courage* in front of you (we’re talking the 1935 version here, not something new with a bulldog in a superhero cape or whatever), it’s like one of those meatball sandwiches from Pressbyrån. You know you’re getting something familiar, bit messy, maybe not Michelin, but sometimes that’s just perfect. Directed by Sam Newfield, who’s got more films under his belt than I’ve had cups of Coop filterkaffe, the man’s a bloody machine.

Tim McCoy’s in the lead and I swear, the way he wears a hat could teach even old Persbrandt a thing or two about looking rugged. And Joan Woodbury? Someone once said she had eyes like a strong storm off Vänern in October, and I can see why. She’s got that old-Hollywood confidence, but with a glint, as if she’s in on the joke and you’re not. Producer Sigmund Neufeld clearly wasn’t out to win Oscars, but he knew how to churn out these uncomplicated little Westerns for restless folk stuck in rainy Swedish autumns.

A memory comes knocking

Confession time: My granddad had a poster with a set-jawed cowboy glaring into the kitchen, and I realised years later, it was bloody Tim McCoy! Every time someone nicked the last dammsugare (the pastry, not a vacuum cleaner), he’d shout, “Show some bulldog courage!” Now every time I see this film, I smell black coffee and Brylcreem.

This movie’s simple as boiled potatoes, yeah? Good and evil, revenge, a tin badge, all the trimmings you’d expect. The pacing drags in the middle, like waiting for the SL commuter train during November snow, but when McCoy’s fists start flying I’m suddenly wide awake again. The action is old-school crunch, not shaky-cam nonsense.

I’m not saying it’s a masterpiece. The plot wouldn’t pass muster on SVT, and some bits are cheesier than a Västerbottenpaj. But it’s got heart, grit, and just enough dust you want to cough up popcorn after. If you’re tired of films that think they’re smarter than you, stick this on with a hot mug of O’Boy and let yourself be a kid again. Maybe you’ll feel that old

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