The Lone Wolf Takes a Chance

THE LONE WOLF TAKES A CHANCE is another in the long-running series and pretty much par for the course as these things go. Our hero (with his trusty sidekick in tow) takes a challenge that he'll stay out of trouble for 24 hours, except that trouble soon comes knocking in the form of some stolen printing plates and a whole host of murder. This has the usual lightness of touch which makes it a watchable little movie, even if it is brimming with cliche and contrivance. Moviegoers may enjoy spotting Lloyd Bridges in a tiny bit part that marks his first screen role. The flirtations with noir, including a femme fatale, are adequate.

Another good Lone Wolf entry, maybe only marred by too many slapstick moments at the beginning - but I never expect anything less from Fred Kelsey! The handsome young couple in here were Lloyd Bridges in his 1st credited film and June Storey who was managing without Gene Autry for a change.

Warren William again plays Michael Lanyard the Lone Wolf, ex-jewel thief who has minded his own business for 10 minutes when a man is murdered by gangsters outside his 9th floor apartment window. His inadvertent help in the incident doesn't seem to faze him one bit, it's something that would definitely bother me! He and his ever effervescent butler Eric Blore are instantly mixed up and while they're chasing the baddies who've kidnapped an inventor the police are chasing them for the homicide. There's some nice scenes on a train pre North By Northwest where the Lady Vanishes becomes the Inventor Vanishes before the film swerves into an crumbly old dark house setting.

With a continuously "inventive" storyline and fast pace it was one of the better and longer LW's and well worth watching for those of us who like b&w comedy mystery b pictures from the '40's.

I'm a big fan of Warren William and Eric Blore, as well as mystery/comedy movies of that era, so my 9 star rating may be a tad prejudiced by that...still, the movie is one of the best entries in those early Lone Wolf films.

The plot at times is rather silly with the Lone Wolf and Jamison trying to save the life of an inventor (Lloyd Bridges)...what did he invent?...a railroad car that couldn't be broken into...if a criminal tried, bells & whistles would sound, and poison gas would fill the car...Huh?...what if some poor hobo, looking for a ride and a place to sleep happened upon that car?...Llyod would have got his butt sued...

But the movie chugs along the rails at a fast pace, plenty of laughs and an enjoyable way to spend a little over an hour of one's time...

I keep this movie on my cluttered DVR...it's a comfortable movie for me...when sleep comes slowly, I just turn this on and within 30 or 40 minutes I'm fast asleep...

This Lone Wolf adventure starts out with a bet between Michael Lanyard, the Wolf (Warren William) and Inspector Crane (Thurston Hall) that Lanyard can't stay out of trouble for 24 hours. Guess who wins. A private detective (Regis Toomey) falls nine stories outside Lanyard's hotel room.

The detective was working on a case involving a special train car designed by Johnny Baker (Lloyd Bridges) that is holding treasury plates and can't be broken into.

Everyone, of course, thinks Lanyard is the bad guy though he's on the side of right as he and his butler Jamison (Eric Blore) enter the case, which involves murder and kidnapping. The film has a neat sequence on a train as Lanyard works to save the day.

Nice entry into the series, with Warren William his usual laid back self and Eric Blore adding a lot of humor. Recommended.

Michael Lanyard -aka the Lone wolf - is a reformed jewel thief but inspector Crane doesn't think so, and that view is exacerbated when Lanyard and his valet ( played by Eric Blore) is trapped behind bars of a bank when following a cat who has a necklace on it. Lanyard is soon proven innocent, but the inspector wages that he won't be able to keep out of trouble, and he is right. It's not too long before our hero ends up rescuing an inventor of special currency engraving plates from the forgers attempting to steal them.

Exciting Lone Wolf mystery with touches of A lady Vanishes and old deserted house story. The plot fires on its cylinders, adeptly moving on to each scene; there's a lively train sequence where Lone Wolf is trying to prove that the inventor is kidnapped, but that backfires, and a race to find the inventor ensues, and it rounds up with a nail biting climax. An enjoyable gem.