L'énigme du loup solitaire

I have long loved Warren William and his incarnation of 'the Lone Wolf'. However, following an absence of a few years, the character's back but played by Gerald Mohr. He's certainly NOT Warren William...but is the film worth seeing? But, at least Jameson is still played wonderfully by Eric Blore!

When the film begins, you hear that the patriotic Michael Landyard (the Lone Wolf) is returning from his stint in the military. Yet, despite serving his country and constantly proving he's a law- abiding guy, the police immediately assume he's up to no good. And, when a gem is stolen, they insist Landyard is the man behind the robbery.

The overall film is pretty silly and easy to forget. After all, imagine Landyard and his man servant spending much of the film dressed up like extras from "Kismet". It seems that the clues lead to some mythical Muslim land where folks in charge STILL dress up in ridiculous 15th century garb! That's what makes the film a bit funny but also a bit stupid. Not a terrible film...just not at all like the Lone Wolf of old.

The Lone Wolf, Michael Lanyard, is back from the war and has turned into Gerald Mohr in "The Notorious Lone Wolf," released in 1946.

Poor Lanyard - he's back for hours and he's suspected of stealing a rare sapphire from a museum, and then he's accused of murder. And all he really wants to do is make up for lost time with his girlfriend, played by Janis Carter. Lanyard spends the rest of the film trying to clear his name. One way he does it is to detain the Indians who have come for the gem and impersonate one of them, with Jameson (Eric Blore) his butler impersonating the other.

All in all, very pleasant. Mohr is attractive but here's my problem with him. He's not the same type as William, obviously - he's less sophisticated, there's more emphasis on the romance, and he seems younger. That would have all been great if Mohr had just played that. Instead, to me, he's trying to be smooth and sophisticated and it's coming off as artifice. He needed to play to his own strong qualities.

Entertaining.

The Notorious Lone Wolf (1946)

* 1/2 (out of 4)

The war is over so Michael Lanyard (Gerald Mohr) returns home where he plans on spending time with his woman (Janis Carter) but he ends up accused of stealing a priceless jewel so he must try to clear his name and catch the real villain. THE NOTORIOUS LONE WOLF was the first film in the series after Warren William left. You'd think that that would be the real negative aspect but it's actually not. While Mohr doesn't come close to the same type of performance as William, I at least give him credit for not trying to copycat the performance and instead he takes the character into a new direction. Mohr's Lone Wolf is a lot more in-your-face, a lot more upbeat and he just comes across as the polar opposite of William's. That's certainly a good thing because you at least know you're watching a new type of character and I think this approach worked. What doesn't work is the lackluster story and boring direction. The story itself is just one cliché after another including some incredibly bad comic moments. It seems like the screenwriter was going to have the girlfriend be just as important as Lanyard but thankfully it never reached that level. What it did leave us with was some really embarrassing comic moments including a long running one early on when Lanyard and the girl simply want to kiss but they keep getting distracted. Outside of Mohr the performances aren't all that memorable either. Carter is OK as the love interest but in the end forgettable. Eric Blore is back with the comic stuff and John Abbott is also here but doesn't do too much. THE NOTORIOUS LONE WOLF just doesn't have enough going for it to make it entertaining.

This was Gerald Mohr's first crack at Michael Lanyard the Lone Wolf, 2 sequels followed. His valet Jamison meets him ecstatically at the airport where he's returning to New York after 4 years away fighting the War, and with lots of "You haven't changed a bit" the film launches into 20 minutes of comedy. He brought his own style to the role played previously by William, a more youthful and ... amorous attitude coupled with his fine radio voice and very white teeth that worked fine by me.

Back for a few hours Lanyard is suspected of stealing a rather valuable sapphire from a museum, then on the run for murder - don't touch that gun, Doh! The plot was thickened with the original royal Indian owners also after the gem, only legally, and a continually thwarted love interest - after all he and his girlfriend had been waiting 4 years. The usual entertaining chase ensued, Lanyard/Jamison (trying to clear themselves) for Blackie/Runt and Crane for Farraday - Inspector Crane even used Farraday's police office in here. Rigging Jamison up with a walkie-talkie when he was disguised as one of the Indians was very contrived but worth watching for Blore's facial convulsions alone.

Well made albeit slightly farcical at times and competently acted - but ultimately throwaway of course - I've always enjoyed this one, it's certainly on a par with with all of the previous entries in the series.

This Lone Wolf entry introduces Gerald Mohr in the title role... and that's part of the problem. It labors for so long to set up that "this new guy" is the Lone Wolf that it takes a while for the plot to kick in -- it's like they felt they had to convince us that Mohr really is the Wolf, honest! Forget about that Warren William guy! So the first ten to fifteen minutes are rather slow. And Mohr is no Warren William. But he's competent enough and once the story gets going, it's amiable and breezy and fun. All about -- of course -- a stolen gem and the Wolf's attempts to find the real thief (he's blamed, as always). So it's not as good as some of the earlier Warren William Wolfs, but it's not bad, either. Moves along a quick clip and wraps it all up neatly, with some good fun as Mohr and sidekick Blore pretend to be Arab Royalty as they try to find the lost gem.