The Lone Wolf in Mexico

Gerald Mohr returns in his second of three appearances as Michael Lanyard, former jewel thief, accused of crime any time one happens in his vicinity. Now that the War is over, he and vacationing manservant Eric Blore travel down to Mexico, where they are promptly accused of stealing some jewelry and smuggling it to the US, so he has to clear things up himself. With Sheila Ryan, Nestor Paiva, and Chris-Pin Martin.

Mohr, alas, was born a bit too late to prosper with a pencil-thin mustache, a cultured speaking voice, and dark good looks. He mostly played villains in the movies, although he had a wider range on the radio. A thorough professional, he worked steadily through his death in 1968 at the age of 54.

This is the 20th Lone Wolf movie from Columbia out of the 22 they made from 1917 to 1949. The Lone Wolf character is a retired jewel thief played here for the second time by Gerald Mohr. I think he plays well off Eric Blore as Jamison the manservant. At the beginning we see that Lone Wolf and Jamison have just booked into a hotel in Mexico City as they begin their vacation. Jamison is in a mutinous mood as he declares that it will not be a working holiday for him for their fortnight stay. They make a good pair of rogues as it never seems clear by their banter whether their professional relationship is based on crime detection or skulduggery. Eric Blore with his trademark petulant pout steals every scene with his roguish manner. He eyes Mrs Van Weir's rahjput stone pendant with longing as they sit together at a dining table at the El Paseo nightclub. Mrs Van Weir, played in great dowager style by Winifred Harris, is part of the select clientale who indulge in illegal gambling at the rear of the premises. She turns out to be heavily in gambling debts and the nightclub owner has a safe full of jewels that his indebted clientale are giving him to keep their gambling addictions alive. The murder of the roulette wheel croupier and the secret shenanigans of the clientale make for a good lively mystery for the Lone Wolf to investigate.

One of the few entries that has never aired on Turner Classic Movies, "The Lone Wolf in Mexico" (1946), like the Monogram Charlie Chan entry "The Red Dragon" (1945), features a studio-bound Mexico City with no interesting exteriors (1944's "The Falcon in Mexico" at least was partially shot outdoors and has the look of authenticity). The budgets for Columbia's Lone Wolf were about the same as RKO's Falcon but this latter entry suffers from overly familiar territory. On vacation south of the border, Michael Lanyard (Gerald Mohr) visits a shady gambling casino run by Henderson (John Gallaudet) which substitutes fake diamonds for the genuine article. He meets up with a former flame (Jacqueline De Wit), her croupier husband (Bernard Nedell), and a debt-ridden beauty (Sheila Ryan) who wants our hero to recover some gems that she'd hocked. A decent cast enlivens the proceedings, especially the welcome return of Eric Blore as faithful manservant Jamison. Nestor Paiva (Lucas in "Creature from the Black Lagoon") plays the police inspector and Chris-Pin Martin has an unbilled part as an amusing taxi driver who sleeps on the job. After Warren William exited the series with 1943's "Passport to Suez," Columbia revived it in 1946 with "The Notorious Lone Wolf," bringing back Eric Blore but replacing William with Gerald Mohr, who played the unbilled murder victim in a previous Wolf, 1942's "One Dangerous Night." Following the release of "Mexico" in Jan 1947, Mohr made one final appearance in "The Lone Wolf in London," easily the best of the three, with a standout performance from Universal beauty Evelyn Ankers playing a femme fatale in one of her last roles. A very busy actor, especially on television, Mohr has perhaps been unjustly maligned for his three Wolf entries, all of which ploughed the same material that audiences had grown tired of (he died in 1968). Columbia tried once more with "The Lone Wolf and His Lady" (1949), which sat on the shelf for a full year before it was released. Ron Randell replaced Gerald Mohr while Alan Mowbray replaced Eric Blore. The 1954 TV series which followed featured former Saint Louis Hayward in the title role.

A croupier is murdered in a Mexico City gambling casino and the Lone Wolf is suspected. Sharon Montgomery, wife of diamond merchant Charles Montgomery, becomes involved in a jewel heist, in which again the Lone Wolf is a suspect.

Gerard Mohr stars as the Lone Wolf, and despite Warren William being hard to replace, he does a competent job, and is a little tough. He lacks the natural charm that William had but Mohr does have his own style. As for the film, it's rather average but still enjoyable and the locale is quite good. It does lack action and loses some steam towards the end. The plot can be a bit muddled at times, too.

Unlike some B-mystery series, there never was a consistent actor to play in all or even most of the Lone Wolf movies. Instead, ten different actors ended up playing this reformed criminal and crime fighter. Warren William played him most often but he was eventually replaced by Gerald Mohr...probably due to William's battle with cancer.

Despite this change, Eric Blore continued playing the Lone Wolf's butler and sidekick, Jamison.

At a Mexican casino, a croupier is murdered. The local police immediately assume the Lone Wolf did it...which is a bit odd since just before this the police Captain was making nice with Lanyard. Additionally, there's a jewel theft...and Michael Lanyard is once again suspected.

Gerald Mohr is decent in the lead, though I prefer Warren William a bit more, as he had a more roguish quality about him. Also, this film didn't work as well for me because it could have used a bit more action. Still, any Lone Wolf film is worth seeing for a nice escapist 60 or so minutes.