The Lone Wolf in London * (1947, Gerald Mohr, Nancy Saunders, Eric Blore, Evelyn Ankers) – Classic Movie Review 13,049

The 1947 American mystery crime film The Lone Wolf in London is the last Lone Wolf film starring Gerald Mohr, in which his detective character Michael Lanyard tackles the mystery of missing priceless diamonds. 

‘HOW CAN THE LONE WOLF GO STRAIGHT…around these dangerous curves?’

Director Leslie Goodwins’s moderate 1947 Columbia Pictures American black-and-white mystery-adventure thriller film The Lone Wolf in London stars Gerald Mohr as the jewel thief turned private detective Michael Lanyard, Eric Blore as Jamison the Butler, Nancy Saunders, and Evelyn Ankers.

Michael Lanyard, the Lone Wolf (Gerald Mohr) is the number one suspect yet again when Scotland Yard investigates a gem theft, in this rather dull, sluggishly handled episode with an over-familiar, under-exciting plotline, recycling old ideas from better episodes. Plus, fatally, there is too much slack comedy and too little mystery, even straining the appeal of Eric Blore.

Denis Green plays Detective Inspector Garvey of Scotland Yard, who suspects Lanyard is behind the theft of the two priceless Eyes of the Nile diamonds  from a vault in Scotland Yard, but Lanyard says he was in New York when they were stolen and is in London with Jamison to write a book on the gems. Lanyard, who is otherwise engaged on a blackmailer case, uncovers evidence to find who stole the diamonds.

Sadly, there were no mohr from Gerald Mohr. It is the last Lone Wolf episode for Gerald Mohr, but one final film, The Lone Wolf and His Lady (1949), followed.

Also in the cast are Richard Fraser, Queenie Leonard, Alan Napier, Denis Green, Frederic Worlock. Tom Stevenson, and Guy Kingsford.

The Lone Wolf in London is directed by Leslie Goodwins, runs 68 minutes, is made and released by Columbia Pictures, is written by Arthur E Orloff (story and screenplay) and Brenda Weisberg (story), based on the characters by Louis Joseph Vance, is shot in black-and-white by Henry Freulich, is produced by Ted Richmond and Robert Cohn, and is scored by Irving Gertz (uncredited) and Mischa Bakaleinikoff (musical director).

It was shot in Columbia Pictures’ studio in two weeks from May 19, 1946 to May 29, 1947.

Times is ‘ard for The Lone Wolf. It was released in US cinemas on November 13, 1947, mainly as the second feature in a double bill. The writing was on the wall for Gerald Mohr as Michael Lanyard.

What’s in a name? The butler’s name is stated as Claudius Jamison but in Passport to Suez (1943) Jamison’s first name was Llewellyn.

English film director and screenwriter Leslie Goodwins (17 September 1899 – 8 January 1969 directed nearly 100 films between 1926 and 1967.

The cast are Gerald Mohr as Michael Lanyard, Nancy Saunders as Ann Klemscott, Eric Blore as Claudius Jamison, Evelyn Ankers as Iris Chatham, Richard Fraser as David Woolerton, Vernon Steele as Sir John Klemscott, Queenie Leonard as Kelmscott’s maid Lily, Tom Stevenson as Kemscott’s butler Henry Robards, Denis Green as Detective Inspector Garvey, Alan Napier as Monty Beresford, Frederick Worlock as Inspector Broome, Paul Fung as Bruce Tang, Guy Kingsford as Detective Mitchum, Charles Coleman as Cabby, Sam Harris as Airline Ticket Holder, James Logan as Airport Policeman, Frank O’Connor as Airport Security Guard, and Heather Wilde as Hotel Maid.

The Lone Wolf features:

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).

© Derek Winnert 2024 – Classic Movie Review 13,049

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