The Lone Wolf Strikes

"The Lone Wolf Strikes" from 1940 is a neat entry into the Lone Wolf series starring Warren William. William is delightful as Michael Lanyard, aka The Lone Wolf. His butler is played by Eric Blore, who has a large part in this and is very funny. In this story, Lanyard is asked by a friend to find pearls that were stolen from a friend of his, who was subsequently murdered - though the murder was called an accident.

Fake pearls and real pearls bounce back and forth, with William going to a gathering as Emil Gorlick, a diamond merchant. Gorlick is actually played by Montagu Love, but when William finds out that he has never met the thieves, he ties Gorlick up and impersonates him in order to re-steal the pearls.

Warren William was a wonderful, relaxed actor, an old-fashioned patrician type, who found humor in roles once the silents ended. In silents, he usually played the heavy. He played Perry Mason, Sam Spade, and Philo Vance, among other parts. He continued to play the occasional heavy, but he's best known for his precode work as a meanie. He died in 1948, only 53.

Very enjoyable.

Delightful entry in the Lone Wolf series starring WARREN WILLIAMS, this time with JOAN PERRY as the young woman seeking to find the killers who murdered her wealthy father. With a larger than usual role for valet ERIC BLORE, who makes the most of his comic abilities, this one gets off to a merry start and provides a good mix of laughs and shady bits of suspense.

The cast is in fine form--especially when MONTAGU LOVE turns up as a European diamond merchant with thick accent, bushy mustache and monocle. The story is all about the theft of a pearl necklace from the safe of Philip Jordan (Perry's father) and his murder. The Lone Wolf takes the case when the daughter pleads with him and from then on it's standard Lone Wolf fare with the plot leading to a satisfying capture of the killer thieves.

Summing up: Delightful entry in the series.

Trivia note: For awhile, I thought the actor playing Ralph Bolton was Craig Stevens, but it turns out it was RALPH WILCOX who was married, first to Florence Rice, and then to Diana Barrymore--who dedicated her book "Too Much, Too Soon" to Wilcox, with whom she went on alcoholic binges during their five year marriage. Very handsome actor who never made it to stardom in Hollywood, probably due to alcoholism.

Decent entry in The Lone Wolf series. The plot about a stolen pearl necklace and fake duplicates, along with two gangs of competing baddies, is pretty convoluted. In fact, you may need a scorecard to keep track of the disappearing necklaces. Holding things together, of course, is the commanding Warren William as the reformed jewel thief turned amateur sleuth. As the Wolf, he does the tongue-in-cheek part well, so we never take things too seriously—a requirement for the many amateur detectives of the time. But what's this about the Wolf ooing-and-aahing over his rows of aquariums. Something fishy going on here. There's also good humorous support from Blore as the butler, while the two well-upholstered girls, Perry and Alwyn, supply tricky eye candy.

Frankly, I would prefer a more streamlined plot, (do we really need a second jewel thief gang), but the basic premise is a good one, and I like that first bit of necklace trickery where Jordan gets fooled by a seductive Binnie. Note that the story is from the now legendary blacklisted Dalton Trumbo, still working the B-movie level. On the whole, it's an entertaining hour without being anything special.

The Lone Wolf Strikes (1940)

*** (out of 4)

Fun entry in the series has a young woman (Joan Perry) have her father murdered and some expensive pearls stolen so Michael Lanyard (Warren William), aka The Lone Wolf, takes the case and uncovers several bad guys all wanting the jewels. This certainly isn't going to be mistaken for a classic but I think there's enough good stuff going on here to make it worth viewing to anyone who enjoys these older mystery series. As you'd expect, William is pitch-perfect in the lead because he has no trouble playing tough and a he certainly has no issue playing laid back, cool and he can deliver a one-liner when need be. All of those years working in various pre-codes for Warner really set William up good for a series like this because he can pretty much play anything. If a scene needs charm then he can deliver. If he needs to be tough then he can deliver that. William is certainly the main reason to watch the film as he keeps it moving at a very fast pace. The supporting cast includes a nice bit by Joan Perry as the rather obnoxious daughter who can't stay out of trouble and we also get Eric Blore playing the butler. The story itself is a pretty strong one as we're given a couple mysterious to be solved. The film starts going down one track but quickly changes as a second mystery comes up. At 67-minutes the film moves at a very fast pace and keeps the viewer guessing along the way.

This is the second of the Lone Wolf series starring the roguish Warren William. While this film includes a positive cast change (Eric Blore is now the butler), the overall level of supporting acting is a big drop off from the last film. In the first one, Rita Hayworth and Ida Lupino were along for the ride as well as the Wolf's daughter (played very well by the excellent child actress, Virginia Weidler). Apart from Blore, the show is all Warren William and while he is very good, the film's chemistry is a bit lacking--making this a pretty ordinary B-detective film. While not quite as exciting or magical as a Sherlock Holmes or Charlie Chan film, it is roughly on-par with a Saint or Falcon film--and this isn't bad company for this film. A slightly better than average time-passer for fans of the genre--but unfortunately, not a lot more.