The Lone Wolf Keeps a Date

The Lone Wolf Keeps A Date must have had a few showings at the White House. After all in FDR the most important and prominent stamp collector there ever was happened to be the current resident.

Warren William and Eric Blore as The Lone Wolf and his factotum Jameson are back again and this film for a B picture is rather complicated in terms of plot. It also has more comedy in it as Warren William and Eric Blore look like they're having a great old time overacting outrageously. Catch William in the scene with chief villain Don Beddoe and henchmen.

The story involves The Lone Wolf's stolen stamp collection and the kidnapping of a millionaire in which once again the cops in the person of Thurston Hall and sidekick Fred Kelsey suspect William is involved in the plot when he's really trying to help.

You have to love Kelsey who came from the Keystone Police Academy as a graduate and who is the butt of everything. The Lone Wolf Keeps A Date will give you some suspense and tickle your funny bone even more than most in the series.

The Lone Wolf Keeps a Date (1940)

** (out of 4)

Michael Lanyard (Warren William), aka The Lone Wolf, is in Havana trying to complete his stamp collection when he runs into a woman (Frances Robinson) who needs his help since her fiancé was convicted of a murder he didn't commit. That's the basic storyline here but it must be noted that there are at least four other stories going on as well and it really doesn't take too long to get confused on what's happening and then once you notice the screenplay isn't going to bother sorting any of it out, it's easy to just turn your brain off and get bored with the film. THE LONE WOLF KEEPS A DATE has a charming title and a good lead performance but that's pretty much all. I'm really confused as to what the film was trying to do unless there was some major studio editing going on before the thing was released. I say that because the actual mystery in the story seems to take a backseat to some silly comedy but what's most confusing is the way that so many subplots are thrown at us and for no apparent reason. Eric Blore as Jamison, Thurston Hall as Inspector Crane and Jed Prouty as Captain Moon are in charge of the comedy and I will admit that some of the banter early on was funny but after a while this too dries up and you're left with a bunch of comedy with no laughs. As you'd expect, William has no problem with his part as he can play cool and laid back in his sleep. Robinson makes for a good female lead but the screenplay doesn't do much for her. Fans of the series might want to check it out but everyone else should just stay clear.

A very enjoyable Lone Wolf movie, "The Lone Wolf Keeps a Date" finds Michael Lanyard (The Lone Wolf, played by Warren William) and his butler Jameson (Eric Pangborn) in Havana for a stamp convention. Well, the best laid plans -- Lanyard, a former jewel thief, soon finds himself without his collection and involved in a kidnapping, the young man who is accused sitting in prison, and his fiancé trying to pay the ransom.

This is the outrageous and sophisticated Warren William at his best, with lots of comedy contributed by Pangborn. The two of them worked so well together.

Though a B movie, this series was a lot of fun. Before William the role was played by Frances Lederer, Melvyn Douglas, and several other actors. After William departed the series in 1946, Gerald Mohr and Ron Randell played him. It was also a TV series starring the smooth Louis Hayward. I hope to see more starring William.

THE LONE WOLF KEEPS A DATE is so heavily pulled down by too many sub-plots that it becomes exceedingly hard to follow as it goes on and on with devious twists and turns. Suffice it to say, you can watch it at your own discomfort.

He's in Havana this time, coming to the aid of a damsel in distress (Frances Robinson) and keeping one step ahead of the police with his valet ERIC BLORE, again on hand to supply the comic interest.

THURSTON HALL is enjoyable as a harried police inspector and there are plenty of references to the dumb cops in his employ. None of them are clever enough to deal with WARREN WILLIAMS as The Lone Wolf.

It chugs along at a fast pace with, as Williams says, "no time for explanations." BRUCE BENNETT is the heroine's boyfriend, mixed up somehow in a kidnapping plot and needing help from The Wolf, who's mixed up in something about a valuable stamp collection. Bennett has only one brief scene in jail at the beginning.

Whatever humor there is comes from police bungling and the antics of Eric Blore as Williams' faithful valet--and always a welcome presence in these things.

Summing up: A jumbled trifle easily forgotten and not one of the best in the series.

This was Warren Williams's 4th Lone Wolf outing to Eric Blore's 3rd as the adventurous master and butler Michael Lanyard and Jamison. The entire cast were dapper in the Hollywood sunshine but Blore outshone them all, he was never more snazzily dressed than in here.

The plot has it that Lanyard lets himself become embroiled in a rather nasty kidnapping affair after the baddies steal his precious stamp album mistaking it for their pay off of USD 100,000. And as usual he was helping out a damsel in distress. Amidst some fine comedic banter between the leads, slapstick, the baddies being hunted down by Lanyard and vice versa with the cops after Lanyard it can all get can pretty complicated and surreal at times, especially when the yacht makes an appearance so I recommend attention. Favourite bits: The amusing opening and chase scene in Havana; Lanyard feigning utter horror at the mess his stamp collection had got into in baddie Ed Gargan's none-too-delicate hands; whenever 53 yo zooty Blore had to run - what a sight!

All in all another nice entry in the series (by my count no. 6/15), for those of us who like the genre.