Counter-Espionage *** (1942, Warren William, Eric Blore, Hillary Brooke, Thurston Hall, Fred Kelsey, Forrest Tucker) – Classic Movie Review 13,040

Edward Dmytryk’s neat and nifty 1942 American black and white mystery crime film Counter-Espionage stars Warren William William as The Lone Wolf, Eric Blore as Jamison the Butler, and Hillary Brooke.

Director Edward Dmytryk’s 1942 American black and white mystery crime film Counter-Espionage stars Warren William William as the jewel thief turned private detective Michael Lanyard, aka The Lone Wolf, Eric Blore as Jamison the Butler, and Hillary Brooke.

Counter-Espionage is a very neat and nifty, swift-moving and capably made Lone Wolf episode, directed niftily by the able Dmytryk and well shot in black and white by Philip Tannura.

It is a most enjoyable series entry, even if there are no particular surprises in the wartime story about William’s Lone Wolf combating German spies during the London Blitz. It is another strong episode from Dmytryk, following his Secrets of the Lone Wolf (1941).

Counter-Espionage is the ninth film in Columbia’s Lone Wolf series, and William William’s seventh.

Also in the cast are Thurston Hall, Fred Kelsey, Forrest Tucker, Matthew Boulton, Kurt Katch, Morton Lowry, and Billy Bevan.

Counter-Espionage is directed by Edward Dmytryk, runs 73 minutes, is made and released by Columbia Pictures, is written by Aubrey Wisberg, based on characters created by Louis Joseph Vance, is shot in black and white by Philip Tannura, is produced by Wallace MacDonald, and is scored by M W Stoloff.

Release date: September 3, 1942.

Warren William made two more Lone Wolf films: One Dangerous Night (1943), Passport to Suez (1943),

The Lone Wolf sound films:

The Lone Wolf’s Daughter (1929), Last of the Lone Wolf (1930), Cheaters at Play (1932), The Lone Wolf Returns (1935), The Lone Wolf in Paris (1938), The Lone Wolf Spy Hunt (1939), The Lone Wolf Strikes (1940), The Lone Wolf Meets a Lady (1940), The Lone Wolf Keeps a Date (1941), The Lone Wolf Takes a Chance (1941), Secrets of the Lone Wolf (1941), Counter-Espionage (1942), One Dangerous Night (1943), Passport to Suez (1943), The Notorious Lone Wolf (1946), The Lone Wolf in Mexico (1947), The Lone Wolf in London (1947), The Lone Wolf and His Lady (1949).

Warren William (born Warren William Krech; December 2, 1894 – September 24, 1948) was the first actor to play Perry Mason on the big screen, starring in four defence attorney mysteries: The Case of the Howling Dog, The Case of the Curious Bride, The Case of the Lucky Legs, and The Case of the Velvet Claws.

Hillary Brooke (born Beatrice Sofia Mathilda Peterson; September 8, 1914 – May 25, 1999) co-starred in three Sherlock Holmes films with Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce, Sherlock Holmes and the Voice of Terror (1942), Sherlock Holmes Faces Death (1943) and The Woman in Green (1945).

© Derek Winnert 2024 – Classic Movie Review 13,040

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Hillary Brooke in The Woman in Green (1945).