GREAT DETECTIVES & PEOPLE OF MYSTERY #11

THE LONE WOLF

The Lone Wolf was created by Louis Joseph Vance in 1914.  The Lone Wolf's real name was Michael Lanyard who was raised as a virtual slave in a disreputable Paris hotel where he was forced to lie, cheat, and steal at an early age.  Lanyard once tried to rob an accomplished thief named Bourke but failed in the attempt.  But Bourke took a liking to the darkly handsome youth and decided to teach him the skills necessary to become a master criminal.  In addition to schooling the lad in such practical subjects as mathematics, explosives, gem appraisal, art, and social graces, Bourke taught him the three cardinal principles of successful cracksmanship:  know your ground thoroughly before venturing upon it; strike and retreat with the swift precision of a hawk; be friendless.  "And the last of these is the greatest", Bourke told the young man.  Lanyard learned his lessons well and became the Lone Wolf - a respected, sophisticated gentleman by day; a brilliant, daring thief by night.  He became known for his prowess in engineering and executing daring jewel robberies.

All heroic thieves reform eventually (in the film versions, at least) but Michael Lanyard went straight in his first novel, changing for the love of a good woman and turning vigilante to destroy The Pack, an international crime ring who turned out to be puppets of Imperial Germany.  The members are resentful of the Lone Wolf's success and independence and threaten to reveal his identity unless he becomes a member of their organization.  His vows of solitude are in jeopardy when he meets and falls in love with the beautiful Lucy Sherman.  In the second novel the German's kill Lanyard's girl and he joins the Secret Service to use his outlaw skills against the foes of democracy.  Subsequent novels find Lanyard struggling with jewel thieves and godless communists, before settling down somewhat as a family man.  As a respectable middle-class citizen with vast experience in the world of crime and its methods, he is often called upon by those in a jam who know of his past reputation.  Likewise, the police instantly assume he is the primary culprit.  The books were popular enough that the term "Lone Wolf" was added to the language as an expression.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

1914 "The Lone Wolf";  1918 "The False Faces";  1921 "Alias the Lone Wolf"; 1921 "Red Masquerade"; 1923 "The Lone Wolf Returns"; 1931 "The Lone Wolf's Son"; 1933 "Encore the Lone Wolf"; 1934 "The Lone Wolf's Last Prowl".

Louis Joseph Vance was born in New York in 1879.  He initially intended to be an artist and illustrator and studied at the Art Student's League.  A hack writer for years, Vance produced hundreds of short stories and several adventure novels before achieving best-seller status with a trio of mysteries published 1907-1909.  Then came the success of The Lone Wolf series.  Vance wrote a total of 35 novels of adventure and mystery in his short life.  He died alone in his New York City apartment on December 16, 1933 in a fire that resulted from his falling asleep with a lit cigarette.

FILMS

"The Lone Wolf" Selznick, 1917.  Bert Lytell as Michael Lanyard, the Lone Wolf.

"The False Faces" Paramount, 1919.  Henry B. Walthall (Lanyard).

"The Lone Wolf's Daughter" Paramount, 1919.  First of several films to use Lanyard's motherless young offspring as a romantic subtheme.  Invented by the studio, Vance was so taken that he incorporated the character into subsequent novels.

"The Lone Wolf" Associated Exchange, 1924.  Jack Holt (Lanyard).  Lanyard is in Paris on orders from the American embassy, trying to steal plans on how to stop a plane in mid-flight.  A young woman he thinks is a crook turns out to be a Secret Service operative and they are married.

"The Lone Wolf Returns" Columbia, 1926.  Bert Lytell (Lanyard), Billie Dove.  Director: Ralph Ince.  Lanyard, a "silk hat" thief, falls in love with a girl he meets while burglarizing a house during a masked ball and he reforms.

"Alias the Lone Wolf" Columbia, 1927.  Lytell, Lois Wilson.  Director: Edward H. Griffith.  Aboard a ship Lanyard helps a French girl recover jewelry stolen by crooks, at the end he reveals that he is a Secret Service agent.

"The Lone Wolf's Daughter" Columbia, 1929.  Lytell, Gertrude Olmstead, Charles Gerrard.  Lanyard is detailed by Scotland Yard to watch a band of notorious jewel thieves.  The girl he loves sees him open a safe and mistakes his intentions.

"Last of the Lone Wolf" Columbia, 1930.  Lytell, Patsy Ruth Miller.  Director: Richard Boleslavsky.  This is a Graustarkian melodrama in which Lanyard helps a queen retain her crown jewels and throne in spite of sinister court intrigue.

"Cheaters at Play" Fox, 1932.  Thomas Meighan (Lanyard), Charlotte Greenwood, William Bakewell, Ralph Morgan.  Director: Hamilton MacFadden.  En route from Europe a reformed Lone Wolf discovers aboard ship that an old flame, who had married millions, has lost her jewels and that his long-lost son may have stolen them.

"The Lone Wolf Returns" Columbia, 1936.  Melvyn Douglas (Lanyard), Gail Patrick, Tala Birell.  Director: Roy William Neill.  Remake of the 1926 film.  About to steal some jewels, Lanyard meets a young lady (Patrick) at a costume ball, falls in love, and reforms.  Other thieves frame him for a robbery.

"The Lone Wolf in Paris" Columbia, 1938.  Francis Lederer (Lanyard), Frances Drake, Olaf Hytten, Walter Kingsford.  Director: Albert S. Rogell.  In his Paris hotel room Lanyard finds a princess who pleads with him to steal back her stolen crown jewels which she needs for a coronation.

For the next 9 films in the series Warren William would appear as Michael Lanyard and would be most associated with the role.  Born Warren William Krech in Aitkin, Minnesota on December 2, 1895, he was the son of a newspaper publisher.  He died September 24, 1948 of multiple myeloma which had curtailed his film career for the previous five years, or William would probably have continued playing the Lone Wolf.  Thurston Hall was Inspector Crane of the police who refused to believe that the Lone Wolf was retired but constantly failed to catch him in the slightest misdemeanor.  Another continuing character is Lanyard's valet Jamison who misses the old days and is always trying to manipulate his employer (like an inept and crooked Jeeves) into returning to a life of crime.

"The Lone Wolf Spy Hunt" Columbia, 1939.  Warren William, Ida Lupino, Rita Hayworth, Ralph Morgan.  Director: Peter Godfrey.  Remake of "The Lone Wolf's Daughter" with a screenplay by author Jonathan Latimer.  Retired in Washington, a widower with a young daughter (Virginia Weidler) and courted by the daughter (Lupino) of a senator, the Lone Wolf is forced by spies to steal government anti-aircraft plans.  In this urbane, witty film version, the obligatory masked ball has a surrealistic motif.

"The Lone Wolf Strikes" Columbia, 1940.  William, Joan Perry, Robert Wilcox.  Director: Sidney Salkow.  Lanyard helps recover the famous Jordan necklace for the daughter of a murdered friend.  The Lone Wolf's hapless manservant Jamison (Eric Blore) becomes a regular in the series.  Story written by Dalton Trumbo.

"The Lone Wolf Meets a Lady" Columbia, 1940.  William, Jean Muir, Victor Jory, Warren Hull.  Director: Salkow.  A troubled girl begs the Lone Wolf for help.  Not only has a priceless heirloom been stolen but her husband, whom she thought dead long ago, has been found murdered in her apartment.  Naturally Lanyard is soon suspected of being the killer.

"The Lone Wolf Keeps a Date" Columbia, 1940.  William, Frances Robinson, Bruce Bennett.  Director: Salkow.  On a flight from Cuba, the young woman sitting next to Lanyard reveals to him that she is carrying $100,000 in ransom money.

"The Lone Wolf Takes a Chance" Columbia, 1941.  William, June Storey, Henry Wilcoxon.  Director: Salkow.  The inventor (Lloyd Bridges) of a burglar-proof baggage car used by the government to ship currency plates has been kidnapped by a gang of counterfeiters.  Inspector Crane (Thurston Hall) suspects the Lone Wolf is involved.

"Secrets of the Lone Wolf" Columbia, 1941.  William, Ruth Ford, Roger Clark, Victor Jory.  Director: Edward Dmytryk.  Story and screenplay by author Stuart Palmer.  A group of French patriots have arrived in the U.S. by private yacht with the famed Napoleon jewels which they plan to sell to raise money for the Resistance.  Lanyard must make the yacht burglar-proof.

"Counter-Espionage" Columbia, 1942.  William, Hillary Brooke, Forrest Tucker.  Director: Dmytryk.  In wartime London, Lanyard rescues the daughter of the head of British Intelligence from a Nazi spy ring.

"One Dangerous Night" Columbia, 1943.  William, Marguerite Chapman, Mona Barrie, Tala Birell, Margaret Hayes, Ann Savage.  Director: Michael Gordon.  Valet Jamison's light-fingered ways (he has stolen a purse to keep in practice) lead Lanyard to the body of a blackmailer who had several women victims.

"Passport to Suez" Columbia, 1943.  William, Ann Savage, Sheldon Leonard, Lloyd Bridges.  Director: Andre de Toth.  Arriving in spy-filled Alexandria, Lanyard discovers that Jamison's son, a young Lieutenant, has become involved in the theft of defense plans for the Suez Canal.

"The Notorious Lone Wolf" Columbia, 1946.  Gerald Mohr (Lanyard), Janis Carter, John Abbott.  Director: D. Ross Lederman.  Upon his return home from military duty overseas (explaining a three-year absence from the screen) Lanyard is accused of stealing a sapphire from a museum and two Indian potentates are offering a huge reward for its return.

"The Lone Wolf in Mexico" Columbia, 1947.  Mohr, Sheila Ryan, Jacqueline de Wit, Nestor Paiva.  Director: Lederman.  Lanyard becomes involved in jewel theft, blackmail, and murder at a luxurious Mexico City casino.

"The Lone Wolf in London" Columbia, 1947.  Mohr, Nancy Saunders, Evelyn Ankers, Queenie Leonard, Alan Napier.  Director: Leslie Goodwins.  Scotland Yard suspects Lanyard of the theft of two jewels known as the Eyes of the Nile.  His investigation leads to a musical comedy star.

"The Lone Wolf and His Lady" Columbia, 1949.  Ron Randell (Lanyard), June Vincent, Alan Mowbray (Jamison), William Frawley (Inspector Crane).  Director: John Hoffman.  Lanyard is promptly arrested when the world's third-largest diamond is stolen from an exhibit he is covering on special assignment for a newspaper.

RADIO

"The Adventures of the Lone Wolf" appeared on radio in 1949, and starred Gerald Mohr and later Walter Coy, and that's all I can tell you.  Only one known show is still in existence.

TELEVISION

Louis Hayward starred in the 1954 series "The Lone Wolf" that produced 39 half-hour episodes.  The show had a budget of $35,000 per episode, which was pretty good for that time period.  The opening scene featured the Lanyard crest, a wolf's-head medallion.  The show was later syndicated as "Streets of Danger".