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| Ron Randell as the Lone Wolf |
"Stealing a diamond is the farthest thing from my mind." -- Lanyard.
"Yes, about as far as I can throw St. Paul's Cathedral. -- Jamison.
John Murdock (Douglas Dumbrille), the new publisher of the Daily Tribune, is so stupid that he doesn't know what a newspaper morgue is, but he wants the paper to sensationalize the news in order to increase circulation. Fisher (Arthur Space) is made the new editor and Grace (June Vincent), who worked on obituaries, is promoted to reporter. She importunes Michael Lanyard, the infamous "Lone Wolf" (Ron Randell) to sell his memoirs to the papers and also go to work for the Tribune, covering the exhibition of a fabulous diamond called the "Tahara." Naturally, Lanyard is the chief suspect when the diamond disappears. Randell makes an acceptable Lone Wolf, but he isn't as good as other actors who've played the part. As the leading lady, June Vincent gets a larger role than usual and is excellent. For added support we've got William Frawley [East Side, West Side] as the cop investigating the case; Alan Mowbray [Dante] as Lanyard's valet, Jamison; and Steven Geray as diamond expert Van Groot. Still, this is not an especially memorable Lone Wolf move. Randell and Vincent also appeared together in Counterspy Meets Scotland Yard. Not to be confused with The Lone Wolf Meets a Lady. From Columbia studios.
Verdict: The Lone Wolf's "lady" helps this quite a bit but not quite enough. **.
The only "Lone Wolf" I remember seeing was The Lone Wolf Spy Hunt, which I believe had Warren William in the title role. I remember because the femme fatale of the movie was an exotic girl named Rita Cansino, soon to be--never mind, Bill, you know!!! :-)
ReplyDelete-Chris
Yep, and "Spy Hunt" was the first of the Lone Wolf movies, and as you noted a while ago, the last of Hayworth's "B' movies before hitting major stardom. Hayworth certainly had star appeal!
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