The Lone Wolf and His Lady

Columbia Pictures may have been one of the six major Hollywood studios, but when it came to their "B" level programmers there was not a lot of difference between them and Monogram, save better designed sets. "The Lone Wolf" was an early character from detective fiction whose exploits had been portrayed on film going back into the silent era, and had been best associated with actor Warren William, who of course by 1949 was deceased. This opened up the role to Australian actor and Errol Flynn lookalike Ron Randell, who gives his shot at The Lone Wolf the old college try without being terribly convincing at it; his reward would be roles in such films as "Omoo Omoo The Shark God." Alan Mowbray is the best part of "The Lone Wolf and his Lady;" the wit of his portrayal as The Lone Wolf's English sidekick Jamison -- not to mention the fact that he has the film's best lines -- help win the day for him. Lead actress June Vincent is appealing as The Lone Wolf's 'lady;' she comes off as a sort of poverty row Grace Kelly. William Frawley -- more than a year before he landed his signature role as Fred Mertz on television -- plays a hard-nosed police detective suited to his talents, but it is without much dimension; he is all bluster, stubborn and wrong about the case. "The Lone Wolf and his Lady" might play a bit better if you haven't seen other entries in the series, and it is really not as mediocre as some of the comments here state, though John Hoffman's paint-by-numbers direction is not a help and there are continuity issues galore. I found it reasonably entertaining by the end, though the second half of the film is clearly superior to the first; as short as it is, it still seems like it has a rather long and none-too-interesting set up.