Counter-Espionage (1942)

Director:

Edward Dmytryk

Writers:

Louis Joseph Vance (story)
Aubrey Wisberg (screenplay)

Release Date:

3 September 1942 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Mystery | Romance | War

Tagline:

THE LONE WOLF IS BACK AGAIN (original poster - all caps)

Plot:

The Lone Wolf tracks down Nazi spies in London during the German bombing. |

Plot Keywords:

Lone Wolf | Nazi | Spy | Musician | Bomb

Cast

Warren William	...	Michael Lanyard
Eric Blore	...	Jamison
Hillary Brooke	...	Pamela Hart
Thurston Hall	...	Insp. Crane
Fred Kelsey	...	Detective Wesley Dickens
Forrest Tucker	...	Anton Schugg
Matthew Boulton	...	Inspector J. Stephens
Kurt Katch	...	Gustav Soessel
Morton Lowry	...	Kurt Weil, alias Kent Wells
Leslie Denison	...	Harvey Leeds
Billy Bevan	...	George Barrow
Stanley Logan	...	Sir Stafford Hart
Tom Stevenson	...	Police Sergeant Hopkins
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Lloyd Bridges	...	Waiter-Spy (uncredited)
Clyde Cook	...	Hot Chestnuts Huckster (uncredited)
Robert Hale	...	Newspaper Vendor (uncredited)
Eddie Hall	...	Bombing Fire Spectator (uncredited)
Keith Hitchcock	...	Air Warden Williams (uncredited)
Eddie Laughton	...	Heinrich - Orchestra Leader (uncredited)
Wilbur Mack	...	Man in Air Raid Shelter (uncredited)
Wyndham Standing	...	The Maitre d' (uncredited)
Wilhelm von Brincken	...	Von Ruhoff (uncredited)
Heather Wilde	...	Gertie Barrow (uncredited)
Eric Wilton	...	First Air Warden (uncredited)
William Yetter Sr.	...	German Telegrapher (uncredited)

Directed by
Edward Dmytryk

Writing credits
Louis Joseph Vance		(story)
Aubrey Wisberg		(screenplay)

Produced by
Wallace MacDonald	....	producer

Cinematography by
Philip Tannura

Film Editing by
Gene Havlick

Art Direction by
Lionel Banks

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
George Rhein	....	assistant director

Art Department
Robert Peterson	....	associate art director

Music Department
Morris Stoloff	....	musical director (as M.W. Stoloff)
Ben Oakland	....	composer: stock music (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Columbia Pictures Corporation

Distributors

• Columbia Pictures
• Stokey Video (video)
• Teakwood Video (2004) (USA) (DVD)

Runtime:

73 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)

Certification:

USA:Approved

Company:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Goofs:

Factual errors: At the beginning of the film the streets are shown as being lit up, the lights only going off as the sirens went off. In fact there was a total blackout on the streets during the war so that no lights were supposed to show. Each day the newspapers published a time by which all streets were to be blacked out.

Movie Connections:

Followed by One Dangerous Night (1943)

Lanyard Against Germany

Counter-Espionage (1942)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Nice entry in Columbia's The Lone Wolf series has Warren William back as Michael Lanyard and this time in Britain working undercover to stop some spies from getting their hands on some valuable information that could help them win the war. It doesn't take long for the police to think that Lanyard is working with the spies so he must clear his own name while stopping the evil ones. COUNTER-ESPIONAGE is a pretty good entry in the series that at least offers us a new look at the character as we're treated to some new material but sadly there's a tad bit too much of the familiar stuff that creeps itself into the film but more on that in a bit. For the most part fans of the series should enjoy the fact that Lanyard is battling someone other than jewel thieves or counterfeiters. Just about every Hollywood series was transforming their mystery characters into Nazi-fighters so it was only a matter of time before Lanyard entered the match. Overall this is a good entry because it was fun seeing the character out of his normal surroundings and we're treated to some very good direction by Edward Dmytryk. As you'd expect, William has no problem in his role as he's certainly grown quite comfortable in the part. Eric Blore returns as the butler Jamison and we've got Thurston Hall and Fred Kelsey back as the thorns in Lanyard's side. Hillary Brooke does a nice job as the lead female and Morton Lowry is fun as the lead villain, constantly chewing up the scenes. We even get brief parts from Forrest Tucker and Lloyd Bridges. The one problem I had with the film was the all-too-familiar "comic relief" with the American cops once again thinking that Lanyard is guilty of a crime. This hampered the Boston Blackie series as well but it seems after suspecting something a dozen times and be proved wrong each time that the police would believe Lanyard when he told them he didn't have anything to do with it.