Wolf of New York
Directed by William G. McGann
Written by Gordon Kahn and Lionel Hauser; story by Leslie T. White and Arnold Belgard
1940/USA
Republic Pictures
First viewing/Streaming on Amazon Instant Video
[box] A hundred times have I thought New York is a catastrophe, and fifty times: It is a beautiful catastrophe. — Le Corbusier[/box]
This is an entertaining “B” picture with some “A” list actors.
Chris Faulker (Edmund Lowe) is a clever defense attorney, sometimes known as “The Wolf of New York” for his prowess. One of his clients is Hiram Rogers (James Stephenson – The Letter), a financier, though it was unclear to me in what context he represented Rogers. We learn early on that Rogers is behind a series of robberies of financial institutions. When the Police Inspector gets too close to the case he is murdered and Rogers’ assistant, a young man with a criminal record, gets the blame. Faulkner defends the assistant but a critical alibi witness is also murdered before he can testify. The assistant is convicted and Faulkner is so demoralized by the loss that he accepts a job as District Attorney so he can find the real killer. With William Demerest as Faulkner’s wise-cracking factotum.
New York City 1940sThis is generally about on the level of a very good episode of Perry Mason. James Stephenson makes a fascinating villain. It’s such a shame that his film career ended before it had fairly begun with his death in 1941.
I couldn’t find a bit of media on this movie so readers will have to settle for generic material on 1940s New York.
“New York: Vacation City” short circa 1940
That sounds like my kind of film, Bea. There are so many little gems out there in the “B” category that we have never heard of that are worth watching. I’ll be looking for this one.
I never knew how many movies were made in the classic era until I started this exercise.