Since TCM hasn't run a Thin Man marathon in at least two weeks, we'll stick with The Lone Wolf. This Lone Wolf guy knows a lot of women with fine taste in furs, it seems. This is the first time I've reviewed a sequel right after the original. Now, if they'd just made a series of 20 films about Melsa Manton…
The Lone Wolf Strikes – The Film
I digress. The Lone Wolf Strikes is the follow-up to last week's The Lone Wolf Spy Hunt. If you thought The Lone Wolf and Val Carson lived happily ever after at the end of that film, well, sadly, they did not. Single, and, apparently not grieving the loss of his child either, Mike Lanyard (Warren Williams) is hired to retrieve an expensive pearl necklace. In the process, he's framed for murder and has to use all his Lone Wolfy skills to prove his innocence and bring the guilty to justice, gentleman detective style.
The Lone Wolf Strikes – The Furs
It was released in 1940 but costumed like it's 1939; this film is long on big fox furs. Probably because they were filmed back to back with access to the same wardrobe department, perhaps? Though not quite as packed as the first Warren Williams Lone Wolf outing, this film has two very nice fox coats, and it completely inverts the good girl/bad girl fur rules! Shocking, I know.
Here we have a character named Binnie Weldon, played by the actually alliteratively named Astrid Allwyn. Yes, she's not Rita Hayworth, but she nicely fills out a full-length white fox fur coat.
This is a classic white fox from the period. Huge wide fox pelts create a very full coat. It's virtually identical to the coat worn by Ida Lupino in the last film… and may well be the same coat.
My only quibble with foxes like this is the lack of any collar and cuffs, but that is a minor quibble indeed, considering the high wattage of the forerunner of every 80's mega fox coat.
Binnie steals the pearl necklace that will later involve the Lone Wolf by nefariously dating jeweler Philip Jordan (Roy Gordon) to do a switch, then turns it over to her boyfriend.
Yes, this white fox is on the bad girl this time. The fur is well documented in the film's early sequences as we get to see it from all angles.
Phil was planning to give the pearl necklace to his daughter for her wedding, which brings us to Joan Perry playing Delia Jordan and supplying the “madcap girlfriend” role for this film. For part of the film, she's wearing this fine silver fox bolero jacket.
I like big fox bolero jackets, and this is a nice one. Joan Perry isn't Ida Lupino, just like Binnie Weldon isn't Rita Hayworth, but Joan looks fine in the fox jacket.
A few nice closeups of Joan framed perfectly by the silver fox jacket.
We even get to see the silver fox jacket from behind, so obviously, the director of photography was on the ball for this film.
The Lone Wolf eventually recovers the stolen merchandise, but sadly, we never see either fur in the film with a pearl necklace. Everything from the wattage of the star power to the amount of fur screen-time is slightly toned down in The Lone Wolf Strikes compared to The Lone Wolf Spy Hunt. Still, a fine outing for furs and a 10% on-screen fur ratio is enormous by any standard.
Fur Runtime: approx 7 minutes
Film Runtime: 67 minutes
On-Screen Fur Ratio: 10%
Speaking of comparisons, The Lone Wolf Spy Hunt and The Lone Wolf Strikes were probably filmed very close to one another, and they both feature very similar white fox fur coats. So, what do you think? Did bad girl Binnie Weldon steal good girl Val Carson's white fox coat?
Val:
Binnie:
I must have watched this film as i thought exactly the same about the white fox coat. I am sure i have seen the identical coat in other films.
I suppose that some film companies just did not have large budgets for extravagancies like furs so maybe they were hired from dress agencies.
I read yesterday that the oufit that Irene Dunne wore as she decended the stairs at the end of Roberta cost the equivalent of $100,000 at todays prices. (Just out of my price range.)
Mine as well. Sadly no one seems much interested in making that kind of massive fox wrap these days even if I had the money to buy it, heh.
I have just noticed a slight error in your information; it is actually Bille Weldon played by Astrid Allwyn and not vice versa. I appreciate your site and in no way mean to offend.
I’ve caught myself doing that a few times on other updates, so it’s not surprising one slipped though. I guess the actress’s name seemed so “well-crafted” (and it probably was) that it worked better for the character. Binnie isn’t much of a bad-girl name… Astrid on the other hand…
I’ve updated the post with the correct name.