The Lone Wolf Keeps a Date

This was Warren Williams's 4th Lone Wolf outing to Eric Blore's 3rd as the adventurous master and butler Michael Lanyard and Jamison. The entire cast were dapper in the Hollywood sunshine but Blore outshone them all, he was never more snazzily dressed than in here.

The plot has it that Lanyard lets himself become embroiled in a rather nasty kidnapping affair after the baddies steal his precious stamp album mistaking it for their pay off of USD 100,000. And as usual he was helping out a damsel in distress. Amidst some fine comedic banter between the leads, slapstick, the baddies being hunted down by Lanyard and vice versa with the cops after Lanyard it can all get can pretty complicated and surreal at times, especially when the yacht makes an appearance so I recommend attention. Favourite bits: The amusing opening and chase scene in Havana; Lanyard feigning utter horror at the mess his stamp collection had got into in baddie Ed Gargan's none-too-delicate hands; whenever 53 yo zooty Blore had to run - what a sight!

All in all another nice entry in the series (by my count no. 6/15), for those of us who like the genre.

Michael Lanyard, aka The Lone Wolf is elated when he manages to complete his Cuban stamp collection at a shop in Havana, on his way to The Airport, he encounters a young woman named Patricia Lawrence, and offers to help her with a sizeable problem.

Not my favourite Lone Wolf film, but still a watchable film, Warren William is intensely watchable and good fun, and he does make it pretty enjoyable.

There is a lot going on, possibly too much, it seems to rush excitedly into one direction, pause, then veer off on another strand, stamps, kidnap, ransom, it's a bit too much at times.

I've enjoyed each of The Lone Wolf mysteries, and all of them so far have had a nice balance of comedy and mystery, I would suggest that this one is a little more balanced towards the humorous side, some of it works, some of it is a little too much, the mystery takes something of a back seat.

Eric Blore, Frances Robinson, Jed Prouty and Thurston Hall are all very good.

6/10.

"Lanyard" (Warren William) and honourable factotum "Jamison" (Eric Blore) are in Havana on the trail of a rare stamp when they encounter "Patricia" (Frances Robinson) who wants to pinch their cab for an urgent trip to the airport. Charmed, the "Lone Wolf" agrees but after a few moments wishes he hadn't. It turns out that she is embroiled in a ransom plot that involves a kidnapped businessman, $100,000 and her poor old fiancé "Scotty" (Bruce Bennett) who is likely to fry if they don't get to the truth and free the victim in time. Of course, as soon as he is seen anywhere near the investigation, "Insp. Crane" (Thurston Hall) and the hapless "Dickens" (Fred Kelsey) are back on his case hoping and praying that this might be the time they finally manage to apprehend him. It's not the best story here, it's a bit thin and a little too contrived, but there are plenty of amiable one-liners and some fun with boats that sees "Dickens" getting a well deserved ducking once or twice.

THE LONE WOLF KEEPS A DATE is so heavily pulled down by too many sub-plots that it becomes exceedingly hard to follow as it goes on and on with devious twists and turns. Suffice it to say, you can watch it at your own discomfort.

He's in Havana this time, coming to the aid of a damsel in distress (Frances Robinson) and keeping one step ahead of the police with his valet ERIC BLORE, again on hand to supply the comic interest.

THURSTON HALL is enjoyable as a harried police inspector and there are plenty of references to the dumb cops in his employ. None of them are clever enough to deal with WARREN WILLIAMS as The Lone Wolf.

It chugs along at a fast pace with, as Williams says, "no time for explanations." BRUCE BENNETT is the heroine's boyfriend, mixed up somehow in a kidnapping plot and needing help from The Wolf, who's mixed up in something about a valuable stamp collection. Bennett has only one brief scene in jail at the beginning.

Whatever humor there is comes from police bungling and the antics of Eric Blore as Williams' faithful valet--and always a welcome presence in these things.

Summing up: A jumbled trifle easily forgotten and not one of the best in the series.

Michael Lanyard,(Warren William) as the Lone Wolf has his hands full in this series trying to come to the aid of a very pretty young gal named Patricia Lawerence,(Frances Robinson). Michael Lanyard has his valuable stamp collection worth 100,000 dollars stolen and also gets involved with a kidnapping. Lanyard always keeps trying to leave clues to his whereabouts to his sidekick, Jamison,(Eric Blore) and Patricia who ride on boats and yachts on the waters of California. Inspector Crane, (Thurston Hall) is constantly tying to catch the Lone Wolf along with plenty of slapstick comedy and plenty of laughs. Jamison wore very nice clothes in this film and even out shined the Lone Wolf in his outfits. Enjoy a great 1940 Classic.