The Lone Wolf Returns

When Louis Joseph Vance created the character The Lone Wolf he was a suave, ingenious jewel thief. Most of the films in the Lone Wolf series are `boiler plate' where Lanyard is a `run of the mill' reformed thief who the police are after regardless of how little evidence they have. In the Lone Wolf Returns, Douglas is a very credible Lone Wolf, suave, debonair, intelligent and everything else you would expect. There is sufficient intrigue to keep the viewer interested and a good deal of thought was put into the plot `twists' and the capture of the `bad guys'. Walburn is an excellent Jenkins, very subdued but also ingenious with a touch of larceny in his heart. Thurston Hall is an extremely capable Inspector Crane, crafty and fully aware of everything associated with the case as opposed to his bumbling Crane who needs no evidence at all in subsequent films in the series. One would think that after the Lone Wolf has been on the straight and narrow in seven or eight films and captures the actual `bad guys' in each Crane would finally get the message as he did in this film. I must admit I did have a little difficulty accepting Gail Patrick as the love interest if only because of the characters she played in My Man Godfrey, Stage Door and My Favorite Wife. She was much more acceptable the second time I saw the movie. If you are a fan of the mystery series of the '30s and '40s and do not expect to be culturally enriched by every movie you watch, this is a must see. Unfortunately, I am of the opinion that none of the films in the series made after The Lone Wolf Spy Hunt are worth either the time or the effort.

"The Lone Wolf Returns" is one of many Lone Wolf movies made during the 1920s-40s. The most successful string of Lone Wolf films starred Warren William but before and after he made these films, quite a few other actors tried their hands at the role. In "The Lone Wolf Returns", Melvyn Douglas played Michael Lanyard, or 'The Lone Wolf'....a charming crook who claims to have decided to go straight.

The film begins with Lanyard...not yet gone straight. He plans on stealing a valuable emerald pendant...but in the process he finds himself falling in love with the woman who owns the jewel. So, when a different thief lifts the emerald, Lanyard goes to work trying to expose the thieves...all during which, most of the cops seem to think he is the actual thief.

The best reason to watch this is because of Melvyn Douglas, a highly underrated actor. He brings a high level of class and fun to the role. While far from a must-see picture, for a routine B-programmer, it's awfully good.

Melvyn Douglas is suave, daring, and sometimes surprising as Michael Lanyard, the notorious but possibly reformed jewel thief known as the Lone Wolf.

Having stolen Gail Patrick's valuable pendant during a ritzy party, Douglas later sneaks back into her bedroom, replaces the pendant and steals her portrait instead. Was he just protecting the pendant from the real crooks, who are also lurking?

Raymond Walburn offers excellent assistance as the Lone Wolf's resourceful gentleman's gentleman. The always wily Douglas Dumbrille heads up the rival team of crooks, which includes dark and slinky Tala Birell. Gail Patrick is very good as the rich girl whom Douglas finds even more interesting than her jewels. Meanwhile, police inspector Thurston Hall knows that the Lone Wolf is in town and sees his chance to finally catch an old nemesis.

It's a pretty standard B mystery plot but has some fun dialog. (Douglas and Birell know that they have encountered each other somewhere before: "Did I catch you going through my desk or was it the other way around?")

The excellent cast and well-defined characters make this a high class entry in the series mystery genre.

Melvyn Douglas is Michael Lanyard, "The Lone Wolf" from Louis Joseph Vance's series about the elegant jewel thief. The police, in person of Thurston Hall, have him trapped at one crime site. He escapes and goes next door to a masquerade party thrown by Gail Patrick, where they flirt. He also identifies Tala Birell and Henry Mollison as thieves out to steal her family's collection. Later, under the direction of their boss, Douglas Dumbrille, they succeed, and plant evidence that he is the actual thief.

It's a lushly romantic movie, far removed from the decent but rote Columbia series, with Douglas at his most charming, and Miss Patrick her most beautiful. Little humorous bits creep in, with Hall a nut for raising orchids (which he calls 'posies'), and Raymond Walburn as Douglas' timid and fastidious valet.

Even more interesting, director Roy Williams Neill has DP Henry Freulich shoot the movie in low light, playing with Venetian blinds and shadows in a manner that looks like it is mocking the conventions of film noir years before it settled into its wonted styles.

Neill was one of the many A-list directors of silent movies who slid with the coming of sound. In 1928, he was directing at Metro. By 1932, he was directing at Columbia, programmers that showed some style and grace, particularly when he got an actor who had something and he could work with them, whether it was Jack Holt in WHIRLPOOL, or Rathbone and Bruce in the Sherlock Holmes movies he directed in the mid-1940s. He worked with the control of the camera and lighting that veterans of silent movies could exhibit. When film noir finally showed up, he handled it expertly, with his own particular touch.

It's possible that he would have made a full recovery to respectability and big budgets had he not died in 1946 at the age of 59. Or perhaps he was one of those talented directors who could make the most of limited resources, like Richard Thorpe. We'll never know.

I had read that this film was well done, but I was a little bit surprised at how well the cast really fitted the parts. Melvyn Douglas is superb as Michael Lanyard, the Lone Wolf. His assistant, played by Raymond Walburn, is excellent in an understated role, something Walburn doesn't usually do. He's much more like a Jeeves to a Wooster here. As Crane, the inspector, Thurston Hall gives an incredibly nuanced performance which at times is so like Lionel Barrymore as to be uncanny. Usually I find Hall over-the-top, but his performance here definitely is a climb way up above his normal outcome. Gail Patrick as the love interest is fascinating as a good girl, this in view of the performances by which she is most remembered, namely "My Man Godfrey", made the next year, and "Stage Door", made a year after that. She's good, and her restrained acting, but intense and telling eyes always have the viewer captivated. Tala Birell and Henry Mollison are just shady enough without being nasty - as in typical serial material - to add charm rather than detraction to the film. Douglas Dumbrille is Douglas Dumbrille, and when he's bad he's a pleasure to watch. Only vipers are more dangerous. I think what is disappointing to me is the fact that this cast was not used in sequel series fashion. It would have been a very formidable combination. No, it's not as good as "The Thin Man" series, but it's very watchable and worth an hour and a half.