The Lone Wolf Keeps a Date (1940)

User Rating:

6.2/10   

Director:

Sidney Salkow

Writers:

Earl Felton (story) &
Sidney Salkow (story) ...

Release Date:

23 November 1940 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Crime | Thriller

Tagline:

Fiction's slickest scoundrel in his latest adventure!

Plot:

Complicated plot involving missing stamp collection and kidnapped businessman, with the Lone Wolf keeping...

Plot Keywords:

Police | Frame Up | Fire Hydrant | Philately | Ransom

Cast

Warren William	...	Michael Lanyard
Frances Robinson	...	Patricia Lawrence
Bruce Bennett	...	Scotty
Eric Blore	...	Jamison
Thurston Hall	...	Inspector Crane
Jed Prouty	...	Captain Moon
Fred Kelsey	...	Detective Dickens
Don Beddoe	...	Big Joe Brady
Lester Matthews	...	Mr. Lee
Edward Gargan	...	Chimp
Eddie Laughton	...	Measles
Mary Servoss	...	Mrs. Colby

Runtime:

65 min (TCM print)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)

Certification:

USA:Approved (PCA #6657) | USA:TV-G (TV rating) | USA:Passed (National Board of Review)

Company:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Trivia:

Walter Baldwin is in studio records/casting call lists for the role of "Night Watchman," but he did not appear or was not identifiable in the movie.

Movie Connections:

Followed by The Lone Wolf and His Lady (1949)

Soundtrack:

Down Argentina Way

Overly busy plot line puts damper on this entry...

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.