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The Lone Wolf And His Lady brings the Lone Wolf movies to a conclusion, with another new actor (Ron Randell) playing jewel thief Michael ``The Lone Wolf'' Lanyard, and Eric Blore replaced by Alan Mowbray as gentleman's gentleman Jameson. William Frawley at least is thrown in as Inspector Crane, so he's familiar, though not as Crane. Mowbray looks kind of like Blore, but there's just not the good cheer in his performance.

Mostly, though, there's not enough of the wit and bounce that made the earliest entries fun. There's a scene near the climax where Lanyard uses his understanding of how jewel cutters work to see through one of those double-crosses which come in scenes near the climax in this sort of film, and if there were more thoughts like that then maybe the movie would be more compelling. As it is, this was the last of the Lone Wolf movies (there was a TV series) and it's not making a case that it should've had more chances.

Trivia: In 1629 investors Sir Fernando Gorges and Captain John Mason divided the region of the Province of Maine which they hoped to colonize between them, using the Piscataqua River as the boundary. Mason named his portion, to the west, New Hampshire; Gorges named his, to the east, New Somersetshire. Source: How The States Got Their Shapes, Mark Stein. (And I just learned from Pomfret's Colonial New Jersey: A History of the connection this makes to the towns along the Raritan!)

Currently Reading: Before The Fallout: From Marie Curie To Hiroshima, Diana Preston.

Also, for those interested in the progress of Project Gemini, fifty years ago saw a big decision about the ejection seats, and the first launch schedule, which got kind of near the actual schedule in that eventually, yes, Gemini did launch.

The Notorious Lone Wolf resumes the Lone Wolf series with a four-week-long scene at the airport in which Jameson (Eric Blore), Inspector Crane (William Davison), and supernumeries explain how even though it's been four years absolutely nothing has changed about former jewel thief Michael Lanyard, which should make clear to anyone who missed it that they changed the actor for the Lone Wolf. Up till now he's been played by Warren William; now, it's Gerald Mohr. That name may not mean much to non-old-time-radio fans, but Mohr played about half of all the detectives in the golden days of radio, so he can step into this part and be tolerably convincing. There's also a lot of talk about how Lanyard and Jameson haven't seen one another in four years and he's been out of the country, which seems inconsistent with earlier entries in the series.

Trivia: The United States vs Forty Barrels and Twenty Kegs of Coca-Cola was the second court case to open under the pure food and drugs laws of 1906. It opened in court 13 March 1911. Source: The World of Caffeine: The Science and Culture of the World's Most Popular Drug, Bennett Alan Weinberg, Bonnie K Bealer.

Currently Reading: In The Country Of Brooklyn: Inspiration To the World, Peter Golenbock.

Counter-Espionage is a curious entry in the Lone Wolf series: it takes Lone Wolf Michael Lanyard and Sidekick Jamison and drops them off in London mid-Blitz. Why? Well, I guess he wanted to hang around with naturally long-lived Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson or something. Look, it's a series of B-movie detective pictures and the Blitz was hot, that's all.

Trivia: During its five years of life, the National Association (baseball's first major league) had 26 different teams in 17 cities, 11 of which failed to last one season. In 1872 five of the eleven teams folded before playing all their scheduled games. Source: Labor and Capital In 19th Century Baseball, Robert P Gelzheiser.

Currently Reading: The Pine Barrens, John McPhee.

PS: Little Enough Differences ... I plunge, maybe unwisely, into a key piece of analysis, because I want to talk about something different from this, but need this to go ahead.