by Richard Harland Smith
The Lone Wolf Keeps a Date
Brief Synopsis
A reformed thief tracks down a missing stamp collection and a kidnapped businessman.
Cast & Crew
Read More
Sidney Salkow
Director
Warren William
Michael Lanyard [also known as The Lone Wolf]
Frances Robinson
Patricia Lawrence
Bruce Bennett
Scotty
Eric Blore
Jamison
Thurston Hall
Inspector Crane
Film Details
Also Known As
Alias the Lone Wolf, Revenge of the Lone Wolf
Genre
Suspense/Mystery
Release Date
Nov
23,
1940
Premiere Information
not available
Production Company
Columbia Pictures Corp.
Distribution Company
Columbia Pictures Corp.
Country
United States
Screenplay Information
Based on characters created by Louis Joseph Vance.
Technical Specs
Duration
1h 5m
Sound
Mono
Color
Black and White
Theatrical Aspect Ratio
1.37 : 1
Film Length
8 reels
Synopsis
Michael Lanyard, a reformed jewel thief known as The Lone Wolf, and his butler, Jamison, are on their way to the Havana airport for their trip back to Miami, where they intend to attend a stamp collectors' convention. Moments before leaving Cuba, however, Lanyard and Jamison witness Patricia Lawrence being forced into a car by two men. They come to her aid, but in the melee, the men steal Lanyard's valuable stamp collection and disappear. Patricia later tells Lanyard that the men were after the $100,000 ransom money she was carrying for the release of kidnapped millionaire Cyrus Colby. She also admits that she was planning to use the money to buy the testimony of an old Portuguese man who was going to identify the real kidnappers and thus exonerate her fiancé Scotty, who has been accused of the crime. After convincing Patricia to allow him to handle the case, and eluding Inspector Crane, who believes he is involved in the kidnapping, Lanyard, Jamison and Patricia visit the old Portuguese man. Just as he is about to utter the kidnappers' names, however, a shot rings out and he is killed. In the ensuing scuffle, Lanyard is captured by the kidnappers, but Jamison and Patricia escape unharmed. Taken to Big Joe Brady's casino, Lanyard offers to cut Joe in on the ransom if he allows Jamison to come and pick up Lanyard's stamp collection. When Jamison arrives, Lanyard instructs him to enter the stamps in the Miami convention, but to pay special attention to the Cuban stamps. Unable to find the convention, Jamison examines the Cuban stamps more closely and finds a secret message inscribed by Lanyard. On the stamp, Jamison reads that Colby is being held prisoner on Sandy Key, and that he is to decoy the police there. Jamison follows Lanyard's instructions and leads the police on a chase to the key, where they soon find and arrest Big Joe and his henchmen. The police find the ransom on Big Joe and immediately release Scotty.
Director
Sidney Salkow
Director
Cast
Warren William
Michael Lanyard [also known as The Lone Wolf]
Frances Robinson
Patricia Lawrence
Bruce Bennett
Scotty
Eric Blore
Jamison
Thurston Hall
Inspector Crane
Jed Prouty
Captain Moon
Fred Kelsey
Dickens
Don Beddoe
Big Joe Brady
Lester Matthews
Mr. Lee
Edward Gargan
Chimp
Eddie Laughton
Measles
Mary Servoss
Mrs. Colby
Jack Rice
First clerk
Jay Eaton
Second clerk
James H. Robinson
Black newsboy
John Allen
Black newsboy
Steve Benton
Motor cop
Leon Davidson
Motor cop
Gayle De Camp
Motor cop
Jay Gudelia
Motor cop
George Dobbs
Hotel clerk
Henry Herbert
Mr. Colby
Harry Strang
Gas attendant
Richard Fiske
Croupier
Herbert Ashley
Morgue keeper
Francis Mcdonald
Santos
Walter Baldwin
Night watchman
Charles Moore
Carriage driver
Albert Morin
Manuel
Dudley Dickerson
Waiter
Crew
Eugene Anderson
Assistant Director
Lionel Banks
Art Director
Irving Briskin
Executive Producer
Ralph Cohn
Associate Producer
George Cooper
Sound Engineer
Lynn Craft
Stand-in for Thurston Hall
Richard Fantl
Film Editor
Earl Felton
Screenwriter
I. Stanford Jolley
Stand-in for Warren William
Kalloch
Gowns
Barney Mcgill
Photography
Rae O'day
Stand-in for Frances Robinson
Paul Rochin
Stand-in for Eric Blore
Sidney Salkow
Screenwriter
M. W. Stoloff
Music Director
Film Details
Also Known As
Alias the Lone Wolf, Revenge of the Lone Wolf
Genre
Suspense/Mystery
Release Date
Nov
23,
1940
Premiere Information
not available
Production Company
Columbia Pictures Corp.
Distribution Company
Columbia Pictures Corp.
Country
United States
Screenplay Information
Based on characters created by Louis Joseph Vance.
Technical Specs
Duration
1h 5m
Sound
Mono
Color
Black and White
Theatrical Aspect Ratio
1.37 : 1
Film Length
8 reels
Articles
The Lone Wolf Keeps a Date
Everyone loves a lovable rogue, whether the cad in question be Arsène Lupin, A. J. Raffles, Jimmy Dale (aka The Gray Seal), Simon Templar (aka The Saint) or Michael Lanyard, an urbane jewel thief created by novelist Louis Joseph Vance in 1914 and known to his moneyed victims and the authorities alike as The Lone Wolf. Hollywood was quick to jump on the cinematic possibilities of the character, with Bert Lytell playing Lanyard as early as 1917. Lytell would return to the role in several more silent outings, with Columbia Pictures ultimately purchasing rights to the material and hanging Lanyard's cutaway coat and celluloid collar on such actors as Henry B. Walthall, Melvyn Douglas, and Francis Lederer before giving the character his own film series. With the Second World War looming in Europe, Columbia drafted The Lone Wolf into the good fight by having star Warren William (a veteran of several Perry Mason and Philo Vance films) alternating grand larceny with spy smashing in The Lone Wolf Spy Hunt (1939). William would appear in a total of nine Lone Wolf films, of which The Lone Wolf Keeps a Date (1940) was his fourth. Co-written by director Sidney Salkow and studio scenarist Earl Felton (later author of the scripts for the film noir classics Armored Car Robbery [1950] and The Narrow Margin [1952]), The Lone Wolf Keeps a Date is among the better written films in the franchise, with Lanyard finding himself again caught between the law (personified by Thurston Hall and Fred Kelsey) and a gang of underworld cutthroats (led by Don Beddoe and Lester Matthews) when he comes to the aid of a beautiful lady (Frances Robinson).
by Richard Harland Smith
by Richard Harland Smith
The Lone Wolf Keeps a Date
Everyone loves a lovable rogue, whether the cad in question be Arsène Lupin, A. J. Raffles, Jimmy Dale (aka The Gray Seal), Simon Templar (aka The Saint) or Michael Lanyard, an urbane jewel thief created by novelist Louis Joseph Vance in 1914 and known to his moneyed victims and the authorities alike as The Lone Wolf. Hollywood was quick to jump on the cinematic possibilities of the character, with Bert Lytell playing Lanyard as early as 1917. Lytell would return to the role in several more silent outings, with Columbia Pictures ultimately purchasing rights to the material and hanging Lanyard's cutaway coat and celluloid collar on such actors as Henry B. Walthall, Melvyn Douglas, and Francis Lederer before giving the character his own film series. With the Second World War looming in Europe, Columbia drafted The Lone Wolf into the good fight by having star Warren William (a veteran of several Perry Mason and Philo Vance films) alternating grand larceny with spy smashing in The Lone Wolf Spy Hunt (1939). William would appear in a total of nine Lone Wolf films, of which The Lone Wolf Keeps a Date (1940) was his fourth. Co-written by director Sidney Salkow and studio scenarist Earl Felton (later author of the scripts for the film noir classics Armored Car Robbery [1950] and The Narrow Margin [1952]), The Lone Wolf Keeps a Date is among the better written films in the franchise, with Lanyard finding himself again caught between the law (personified by Thurston Hall and Fred Kelsey) and a gang of underworld cutthroats (led by Don Beddoe and Lester Matthews) when he comes to the aid of a beautiful lady (Frances Robinson).
by Richard Harland Smith
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
Working titles for this film were Alias the Lone Wolf and Revenge of the Lone Wolf. The onscreen credits read: "Based on a work by Louis Joseph Vance." For more information on the "The Lone Wolf" series, see the entry below for The Lone Wolf Spy Hunt and consult the Series Index.
