Counter-Espionage

Columbia Pictures was in the second tier (the Little Three) of the major Hollywood movie studios of the golden age, and it put out just a few B level war films during World War II. "Counter-Espionage" of 1942 is one of those. It has a more prominent cast than many Columbia films of the time and genre.

Warren William stars in this film that is as much a crime-mystery film as it is a war film. Espionage is the matter that links the two subplots. William plays Michael Lanyard, a character who appears in a number of mystery films of the period under the alias, "The Wolf." William was a very good actor who played some of the best villain roles in the early years of sound pictures. He was versatile and played a number of romantic leads and then played a dashing, debonair and sophisticated crime-stopper in various roles that were serialized over time. Philo Vance was one, Perry Mason was another, and Michael Lanyard is his most well-known. William may have been better known today, but he died of blood cancer (multiple myeloma) in 1948 at age 53.

An additional trademark of the crime-stopper films was comedy. Sometimes it came through a sidekick, often through dumb or inept police detectives, and sometimes with both. In this film, we have both. And a big plus is the presence of Eric Blore as his servant-sidekick, Jamison. Blore was English and played supporting heavier roles as butlers, valets, etc. That were much meatier and with great humor. I always have some good laughs from Blore's roles in movies.

The rest of the cast are OK, including a number of well-known actors. Forrest Tucker plays a German thug, Anton Schugg. The plot is a simple and familiar type of story about Nazi spies trying to get hold of plans for a secret weapon. What elevates the movie are the film clips and/or segments of the London bombing. Columbia must have gotten its hands on some actual newsreel film from London to intersperse with its story. It gives a very real sense to the film, where some of the rest of it seems a little hokey.

This is a typically suspenseful and well-made Ed Dmytryk film, starring the urbane Warren William as 'the Lone Wolf'. It is the ninth in that series. As usual, William is accompanied by his butler Jameson, played by the truly wonderful Eric Blore, who is such a delight to watch as he camps up his subservience. The script is well done, the tension is there. Scenes where William has to retrace his steps through the London streets blindfolded, counting how many steps after each turning, and listening for key sounds, are very ingenious. The villains are villainous, as they should be. (One is an early appearance by Forrest Tucker.) Those dastardly Nazis, they are always trying to destroy London, but William will stop them, if the police would only leave him alone and stop trying to arrest him for something he hasn't done. Being a double-agent is no fun, especially when your 'control' has been killed in the Blitz and there is not even anybody left to 'deny' you. Good stuff, really good stuff. Oh yes, and there's Hilary Brooke as the looker, not bad!

Counter-Espionage (1942)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Nice entry in Columbia's The Lone Wolf series has Warren William back as Michael Lanyard and this time in Britain working undercover to stop some spies from getting their hands on some valuable information that could help them win the war. It doesn't take long for the police to think that Lanyard is working with the spies so he must clear his own name while stopping the evil ones. COUNTER-ESPIONAGE is a pretty good entry in the series that at least offers us a new look at the character as we're treated to some new material but sadly there's a tad bit too much of the familiar stuff that creeps itself into the film but more on that in a bit. For the most part fans of the series should enjoy the fact that Lanyard is battling someone other than jewel thieves or counterfeiters. Just about every Hollywood series was transforming their mystery characters into Nazi-fighters so it was only a matter of time before Lanyard entered the match. Overall this is a good entry because it was fun seeing the character out of his normal surroundings and we're treated to some very good direction by Edward Dmytryk. As you'd expect, William has no problem in his role as he's certainly grown quite comfortable in the part. Eric Blore returns as the butler Jamison and we've got Thurston Hall and Fred Kelsey back as the thorns in Lanyard's side. Hillary Brooke does a nice job as the lead female and Morton Lowry is fun as the lead villain, constantly chewing up the scenes. We even get brief parts from Forrest Tucker and Lloyd Bridges. The one problem I had with the film was the all-too-familiar "comic relief" with the American cops once again thinking that Lanyard is guilty of a crime. This hampered the Boston Blackie series as well but it seems after suspecting something a dozen times and be proved wrong each time that the police would believe Lanyard when he told them he didn't have anything to do with it.

Enjoyable wartime mystery featuring the Lone Wolf as a double agent in London. Ninth in the series, and written in 1942, this entry is directed by Edward Dmytryk (his second in the series). The plot revolves around the theft of plans for a beam device and whether they will be sent to Berlin by a new radio photo transmitter. The Lone Wolf uses sound as the means to learn the secret hide out of the spy ring and scenes of the Blitz are used to show audiences the devastation being doled out on America's British allies. Despite the predictability of the story line, the film is more than a bit enjoyable, and one of the best of the series.

Warren William stars as the suave former jewel thief Michael Lanyard with his faithful sidekick and butler, Eric Blore. Also features Hillary Brooke as the love interest and Forrest Tucker as one of the Nazi spies. Although not credited, it certainly appears that a young Lloyd Bridges also appears albeit with a mustache. If true, he would have had a busy year since he also appears to be listed in over twenty other movies in 1942.

Warren William is the Lone Wolf, Michael Lanyard, in "Counter Espionage" from 1942.

Michael has the difficult assignment of stopping German spies from stealing valuable information from the British government. That's the Mcguffin, of course.

The police suspect Lanyard of actually working with the Nazis.

Eric Blore provides the comic relief, and Hillary Brooke is the suspicious daughter of a murdered man who had these important plans in his safe.

I love Warren William, so it's always great to see him. Look for Lloyd Bridges in an uncredited role as a waiter, and Forrest Tucker has a small role.