Secrets of the Lone Wolf

Sadly I saw a bad print of this, so it was difficult to make out some of it.

In Secrets of the Lone Wolf, the title is correct for this 1941 film, directed by Edward Dmytryk. The police want to know how Lanyard (Warren William) would steal jewels off of a ship!

The jewels are none other than the amazing Napoleon jewels, stolen by resistance fighters who plan to sell them to aid in their quest for freedom.

However, there is great fear that people will try to steal them. Since Lanyard has supposedly gone straight, the police bring him in as a consultant.

The potential thieves need him as well. After receiving a plea from a damsel in distress, with Lanyard tied up with the police, Jamison (Eric Blore) goes to meet the woman instead. Believing he's Lanyard, the thieves demand Jamison work out a plan to steal the jewels.

Fun movie, with Jamison calling his butler and having a coded conversation with Lanyard.

I love Warren William. He was a great Wolf, and his chemistry with Eric Blore's Jamison is wonderful. William gave the Wolf a light touch as well as sophistication.

Entertaining.

One of the few entries never aired on Turner Classic Movies, this average feature was helmed by Edward Dmytryk, who followed it with another Wolf "Counter-espionage" (1942), "Confessions of Boston Blackie" (also 1942, with Chester Morris), "The Falcon Strikes Back" (1943, with Tom Conway), and "Captive Wild Woman" (also 1943, with John Carradine). A topical story with Inspector Crane (Thurston Hall) guarding gems that will help pay for a foreign nation's fight for liberty, and asking Michael Lanyard (Warren William) for his expertise on methods of theft that could possibly be used. Aboard the ship being guarded, there is a spy (John Harmon) who tips off his confederates as to what's going on. The entire gang kidnap Lanyard's manservant Jamison (Eric Blore), believing him to be the Lone Wolf and expecting him to aid them in pulling off the heist. Some amusing byplay with Lanyard pretending to be Jamison, and the police always on the wrong trail. A rather dull cast this time around, with Victor Jory a standout as the gang leader, 'Dapper' Dan Streever, and unbilled Ian Keith in a miniscule part as another gang member, Six O'Clock Sam. From 1939-1943, Warren William would appear in nine Lone Wolf entries (only three left after this one) with seven features remaining overall (including his next "The Wolf Man") before he died of multiple myeloma in 1948 at the youthful age of 53.

In the late 30s and into the 40s, Warren William found new life in films after a few years of complete obscurity. It seems that in the days before the new Production Code, he was VERY popular because he had a wonderful way of playing amoral cads. But, with the tough Code, the lecherous and wicked persona was perhaps too much for films...and William had a tough time getting work until he found the Lone Wolf series. "Secrets of the Lone Wolf" is an average entry into the series.

A foreign nation has collected jewels in order to afford munitions to fight their oppressors. Now it's interesting to note that although it seems obvious they are talking about the Nazis, who by 1941 controlled most of Europe. But, like many Hollywood studios, they were loathe to offend the Germans...lest they refuse to put American films in their theaters!

Now back to the jewels, as you'd expect, they soon disappear and, as you also would expect, the police begin blaming Lanyard. Now this is odd, since up until then the police inspector had actually hired Lanyard to protect the jewels. In the meantime, a gang thinks that Lanyard's butler IS Lanyard...and they abduct him and push him to join their gang! So, with missing jewels and poor Jamison missing, it's up to Lanyard to, once again, save the day.

This film is enjoyable, never slow and kept my interest. While not among the very best of the Warren William Lone Wolf films, it is a worthy installment and if you like B-mysteries, give this one a try.

Warren William is Michael Lanyard, the Lone Wolf in his sixth appearance in the role. He's been called in to help out the authorities safeguard a trove of pricey jewelry aboard a ship in the harbor, and comments on the simplicity with which he could steal them if he were still in the business. Soon he is approached by a bunch who want to steal them, but switches roles with manservant Eric Blore.

William is playing with the fumes of time as King Rotter of the Pre-Codes, although he is now a reformed character. Edward Dmytryk directs this in a rather off-handed manner, probably because he had five other movies to helm that year. There's fun supplied by a supporting cast that includes Ruth Ford, Victor Jory, Thurston Hall, Fred Kelsey, and Victor Kilian, but the net effect is slight.

"Haven't you ever heard of ricochet?" "Yeah, it's a Chinese taxi"... Poor old "Dickens" (Fred Kelsey) is just as hopeless as usual in this outing for "Lanyard" (Warren William) and his loyal and engaging factotum "Jamison" (Eric Blore). To his credit, this time "Insp. Crane" (Thurston Hall) decides to get in front of a crime by engaging the services of the "Lone Wolf" to anticipate the theft of the famous "Napoleon" collection of priceless gems and so help prevent any such pinching. Of course, nothing goes to plan and when the stones are stolen in a version of the fashion outlined by "Lanyard", the police conclude that it has to be him! Now he has to prove his innocence and track down the true culprit before the inspector blows a gasket or two and he ends up in Sing Sing. It's all a bit formulaic, this one - but it does benefit from the only sparing interventions of Ruth Ford's "Helen" and from a decent pace set aboard a yacht usually smothered in dense fog (or just badly lit?). The ending is busy and entertaining and I actually found this to be one of the better adventures for our duo.