The Notorious Lone Wolf (1946) User Reviews

Welcome back Mike, the War didn't age you a bit

[Spondonman · 7/10 · 3 March 2007]

This was Gerald Mohr's first crack at Michael Lanyard the Lone Wolf, 2 sequels followed. His valet Jamison meets him ecstatically at the airport where he's returning to New York after 4 years away fighting the War, and with lots of "You haven't changed a bit" the film launches into 20 minutes of comedy. He brought his own style to the role played previously by William, a more youthful and ... amorous attitude coupled with his fine radio voice and very white teeth that worked fine by me.

Back for a few hours Lanyard is suspected of stealing a rather valuable sapphire from a museum, then on the run for murder - don't touch that gun, Doh! The plot was thickened with the original royal Indian owners also after the gem, only legally, and a continually thwarted love interest - after all he and his girlfriend had been waiting 4 years. The usual entertaining chase ensued, Lanyard/Jamison (trying to clear themselves) for Blackie/Runt and Crane for Farraday - Inspector Crane even used Farraday's police office in here. Rigging Jamison up with a walkie-talkie when he was disguised as one of the Indians was very contrived but worth watching for Blore's facial convulsions alone.

Well made albeit slightly farcical at times and competently acted - but ultimately throwaway of course - I've always enjoyed this one, it's certainly on a par with with all of the previous entries in the series.

Minor but entertaining Wolf

[dcole-2 · 7/10 · 9 March 2005]

This Lone Wolf entry introduces Gerald Mohr in the title role... and that's part of the problem. It labors for so long to set up that "this new guy" is the Lone Wolf that it takes a while for the plot to kick in -- it's like they felt they had to convince us that Mohr really is the Wolf, honest! Forget about that Warren William guy! So the first ten to fifteen minutes are rather slow. And Mohr is no Warren William. But he's competent enough and once the story gets going, it's amiable and breezy and fun. All about -- of course -- a stolen gem and the Wolf's attempts to find the real thief (he's blamed, as always). So it's not as good as some of the earlier Warren William Wolfs, but it's not bad, either. Moves along a quick clip and wraps it all up neatly, with some good fun as Mohr and sidekick Blore pretend to be Arab Royalty as they try to find the lost gem.

Back From The War

[bkoganbing · 5/10 · 21 January 2012]

The Notorious Lone Wolf has returned from the war. Indeed cinematically the last couple of Warren William Lone Wolf features had to do with wartime plots. Now Michael Lanyard has returned and he's now being played by Gerald Mohr.

In fact he's looking for a nice romantic evening with Janis Carter. But trusty valet Jameson first brings in Inspector William Davidson of the NYPD who always suspects The Lone Wolf when a big caper happens and the Shalimar diamond has been stolen from a visiting Indian potentate. In real life these guys would shortly be giving up their thrones so maybe the maharajah was in the USA looking for new digs.

The Carter's sister Adelle Roberts shows up asking Mohr for some help with her love life as Mark Roberts has been spending time with an exotic dancer. Wouldn't you know it, the stolen jewel and the dancer are connected and when the dancer gets shot very dead, the police as always suspect The Lone Wolf. So Mohr as per the usual Lone Wolf plots has to recover the diamond to prove his innocence.

Mohr is a rougher Lanyard as opposed to the dapper Warren William. Eric Blore is back as Jameson and a couple of times these two almost devolve into an Abbott&Costello routine. The slapstick was a bit out of place, you wouldn't have seen Warren William doing that.

Still The Notorious Lone Wolf is not a bad film, just a different loner.

The Notorious Lone Wolf

[CinemaSerf · 6/10 · 30 November 2023]

This might be my favourite of the "Lone Wolf" adventures as it frequently reminded me of one of the Rathbone/Bruce "Sherlock Holmes" stories. This time, "Lanyard" (newcomer Gerald Mohr) and his reliable sidekick "Jameson" (Eric Blore) find themselves embroiled in their usual gem-snatching scenario. Also, as usual, "Insp. Crane" (William B. Davidson) is keen to get the cuffs on our reformed jewel thief without really investigating the crime. It now falls to our sleuthing duo to resort to some impersonating - of a visiting Maharajah and his aide, no less - and exercise of their grey cells to save the damsel "Carla" (Janis Carter) from the evil clutches of their nemesis and return the sapphire - without paying the huge ransom - to the Prince before they both end up in San Quentin. Ian Wolfe ("Wheelright") delivers reliably and there is some enjoyably quick-witted dialogue between Mohr & Blore as we race through an hour towards the predictable, slighly slapstick, conclusion. An easy hour to watch, this.

A game try but where's Warren William when you need him

[blanche-2 · 5/10 · 28 January 2012]

The Lone Wolf, Michael Lanyard, is back from the war and has turned into Gerald Mohr in "The Notorious Lone Wolf," released in 1946.

Poor Lanyard - he's back for hours and he's suspected of stealing a rare sapphire from a museum, and then he's accused of murder. And all he really wants to do is make up for lost time with his girlfriend, played by Janis Carter. Lanyard spends the rest of the film trying to clear his name. One way he does it is to detain the Indians who have come for the gem and impersonate one of them, with Jameson (Eric Blore) his butler impersonating the other.

All in all, very pleasant. Mohr is attractive but here's my problem with him. He's not the same type as William, obviously - he's less sophisticated, there's more emphasis on the romance, and he seems younger. That would have all been great if Mohr had just played that. Instead, to me, he's trying to be smooth and sophisticated and it's coming off as artifice. He needed to play to his own strong qualities.

Entertaining.

New Direction for the Series

[Michael_Elliott · 21 May 2012]

The Notorious Lone Wolf (1946)

* 1/2 (out of 4)

The war is over so Michael Lanyard (Gerald Mohr) returns home where he plans on spending time with his woman (Janis Carter) but he ends up accused of stealing a priceless jewel so he must try to clear his name and catch the real villain. THE NOTORIOUS LONE WOLF was the first film in the series after Warren William left. You'd think that that would be the real negative aspect but it's actually not. While Mohr doesn't come close to the same type of performance as William, I at least give him credit for not trying to copycat the performance and instead he takes the character into a new direction. Mohr's Lone Wolf is a lot more in-your-face, a lot more upbeat and he just comes across as the polar opposite of William's. That's certainly a good thing because you at least know you're watching a new type of character and I think this approach worked. What doesn't work is the lackluster story and boring direction. The story itself is just one cliché after another including some incredibly bad comic moments. It seems like the screenwriter was going to have the girlfriend be just as important as Lanyard but thankfully it never reached that level. What it did leave us with was some really embarrassing comic moments including a long running one early on when Lanyard and the girl simply want to kiss but they keep getting distracted. Outside of Mohr the performances aren't all that memorable either. Carter is OK as the love interest but in the end forgettable. Eric Blore is back with the comic stuff and John Abbott is also here but doesn't do too much. THE NOTORIOUS LONE WOLF just doesn't have enough going for it to make it entertaining.

Not terrible!

[planktonrules · 5/10 · 9 May 2016]

I have long loved Warren William and his incarnation of 'the Lone Wolf'. However, following an absence of a few years, the character's back but played by Gerald Mohr. He's certainly NOT Warren William...but is the film worth seeing? But, at least Jameson is still played wonderfully by Eric Blore!

When the film begins, you hear that the patriotic Michael Landyard (the Lone Wolf) is returning from his stint in the military. Yet, despite serving his country and constantly proving he's a law- abiding guy, the police immediately assume he's up to no good. And, when a gem is stolen, they insist Landyard is the man behind the robbery.

The overall film is pretty silly and easy to forget. After all, imagine Landyard and his man servant spending much of the film dressed up like extras from "Kismet". It seems that the clues lead to some mythical Muslim land where folks in charge STILL dress up in ridiculous 15th century garb! That's what makes the film a bit funny but also a bit stupid. Not a terrible film...just not at all like the Lone Wolf of old.

The Not-So-Comical Lone Wolf

[profh-1 · 4/10 · 23 December 2022]

Back from 4 years of fighting in WW2 for a few hours, and Michael Lanyard is immediately suspected of stealing a rare & valuable gem. Next thing, he winds up accused of murder, and has to find the real culprits to clear himself. So what else is new?

Meeting Jamison at the airport, Lanyard says, "Jamison, you haven't changed a bit!" That's clearly to comment on the fact that while Eric Blore returned as Jamison, Warren William has been replaced by Gerald Mohr-- younger, rougher & more romantic. But also more comical-- or, he would be if the writing in this one wasn't so AWFUL. There's a running gag about Lanyard & his (apparently) serious girlfriend (since when?) Carla Winter being continuously interrupted when they're trying to get romantic, Lanyard & Jamison at one point doing a bad impression of an Abbott & Costello routine, and overall, the entire film somehow looking and feeling like a 3 STOOGES short, except without the Stooges, and with most of it just NOT being funny. Three writers worked on this thing, and it seems it was the only "Lone Wolf" film for any of them. In my book, that was one film too many.

William B. Davidson replaces Thurston Hall as Inspector Crane, and manages to be far less stupid, despite the dodgy material he's given to work with. His career goes back to 1915, but the only things I've seen him in were bit parts in SCARFACE, THE DRAGON MURDER CASE, MAN-MADE MONSTER, MY DARLING CLEMENTINE, DICK TRACY'S DILEMMA.

Meanwhile, Eddie Acuff plays cop sidekick "Inspector Jones", a HUGE upgrade from the terminally brain-dead Sgt. Dickens (Fred Kelsey). I've seen him in a pile of movies, including THE CASE OF THE VELVET CLAWS (he was a terrible "Spudsy"), THE PHANTOM CREEPS, CHARLIE CHAN IN PANAMA, BUCK BENNY RIDES AGAIN, THE BOYS FROM SYRACUSE, THE GREEN HORNET STRIKES AGAIN, HIGH SIERRA, LADY IN THE LAKE, and he was in a regular in the DR. KILDARE / DR. GILLESPIE film series. Oddly, he has virtually no lines in the film at all, and, Crane & Jones did NOT return in the follow-ups!

Don Beddoe makes his 6th appearance in the series, this time as shady nightclub owner Stonley, having previously been in ...SPY HUNT, ...STRIKES, ...MEETS A LADY, ...KEEPS A DATE, ...TAKES A CHANCE, making that 3 different cops and 3 different baddies he's played.

Peter Whitney is Harvey Beaumont, Beddoe's sidekick. Despite a long career, crazy enough, the only 2 things I remember him for was a deputy in IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT (1967) and a Mexican bandito in an episode of THE MONKEES!

Janis Carter is Carla Winter, an apparently serious girlfriend of Lanyard's who waited 4 years for him to come back from the war, yet oddly is never seen in the series again. This entire film gives me the impression that somebody at Columbia wanted to revive the series, but didn't actually put much thought into how to go about doing it.

John Abbott has a fun but brief role as the aide of a foreign dignitary. He always stands out, whether he in a SAINT film, or an episode of STAR TREK or LOST IN SPACE.

Ian Wolfe is Adam Wheelright, a legitimate jeweler who acts more suspiciously than he should. In a long career including multiple Basil Rathbone SHERLOCK HOLMES films and 2 episodes of STAR TREK, I'll always most remember him as Lillian Carlson's delightfully-difficult butler, "Hirsch" on WKRP IN CINCINNATI.

And that brings me to Gerald Mohr, who played a number of baddies in the 40s, including CHARLIE CHAN AT TREASURE ISLAND, ADVENTURES OF CAPTAIN MARVEL, JUNGLE GIRL (I really wanted him DEAD in that one!), and ONE DANGEROUS NIGHT (an earlier installment in this series). But he's probably better-remembered for THE ANGRY RED PLANET, episodes of VOYAGE TO THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA and LOST IN SPACE, and as the voices of Green Lantern & Reed Richards in THE SUPERMAN-AQUAMAN HOUR OF ADVENTURE and FANTASTIC FOUR cartoons. In recent years, he also became my favorite actor to play PHILIP MARLOWE, on the radio series. Ever since, I've felt it was a real crime that he never played Marlowe in a movie or on TV. He blew Humphrey Bogart out of the water! If memory serves, his LONE WOLF films got better as they went. It's just a shame he started with one this bad. At a mere hour and 4 minutes, it felt a lot longer.