I’m really excited for all of it, even Man in the Iron Mask. I’m such a WW newb, I’ve never seen any of them. I’m really enjoying all your stills. Keep ‘em coming!

I will have another WW review in my blog (Wives Under Suspicion) in the next week.

Thanks for the reply Jenny.

I’m definitely looking forward to the one I haven’t caught yet, and WW’s Philo Vance is just as much fun as his Perry Mason or Lone Wolf.

I own a copy of Wives Under Suspicion, maybe I’ll give it a viewing this week and try to come up with a complementary post either here or on the VintageMeld (or maybe something for each).

For those just browsing through be sure to check out Jennythenipper’s wide ranging film blog Cinema OCD which recently profiled Skyscraper Souls.

Thanks again,
Cliff

Hm. I had been hoping someone would comment on just why it is that WW’s Philo Vance WASN’T anywhere near as much fun as his Perry Mason (my WW first love) or Lone Wolf–aside, of course, from the obvious factor of the material he was given to work with. Now I’m hoping someone will point out what I’m missing! (Just imagine if they had livened up Vance for William as they did for Paul Lukacs–fencing with Eric Blore, romancing Rosalind Russell! Or even given him one of the better-plotted Vance mysteries to work with instead of the weakly-plotted later ones.) Much as I enjoy having the chance to see the WW Vance films, it’s hard to imagine anyone becoming HOOKED on WW on the basis of seeing them.

Hey Jeffers,

Okay, you might have me when I said “just as much fun,” perhaps I should have toned that down to “almost as enjoyable”?

For me, I like Lanyard best, and yes, Perry Mason is great too, but you’ve probably made it necessary for me to view The Dragon Murder Case again, because from my recollections I enjoyed his Vance about as much as Mason and Lanyard, with the edge to the others by virtue of having more to watch.

What I do recall is enjoying the story, including the pool effects, which while pretty lame on the whole caught me off-guard at first viewing. Also, always enjoy Eugene Pallette, when I see him in the cast of anything I’m likely to tune in (though I do seem to recall him being a little off here). And as I sit here typing, probably about 2 years from last viewing, I recall WW living up to my usual expectations and providing a good time.

Frankly I don’t think they’re going to be getting anyone hooked on Warren William with any of these flicks through May, unless someone bites on Dave the Dude, wondering what else he’s done.

I’ve noticed this next Forbidden Hollywood DVD collection (Volume 3, I think?) is pretty much owned by pre-code William Wellman. I’m really hoping WW gets similar treatment in a future volume, that would be the best way for him to find new fans.

Confession, by the way, never saw Lukas as Vance, but now you’ve given me another one to hunt down

Thanks, Cliff

Yes, Eugene Pallette is always a pleasure. When WW’s Vance unleashes, or seems about to unleash, a zinger at him, we have the one moment I can think of when it seems that WW himself is going to be unleashed. But this tendency may have been quashed because it was so established that (William Powell’s) Vance was also so diplomatic with Sgt. Heath, knowing that he was always going to have to be dealt with and it was better to befriend him as much as possible rather than make him a fixed adversary. That would be my contribution to a theory of why WW’s Vance comes across as so tame, but it doesn’t seem sufficient to account for it. But, I will certainly have to see The Dragon Murder Case again (though I just saw it the first time a couple months ago) to see if I’m in a more receptive frame of mind.

If I haven’t explicitly said so, let me state how immensely I appreciate what you are doing here. Until this year–January of 2009!–I had never seen Warren William in ANYTHING except the Mason movies, The Gracie Allen Murder Case, and (just in December) Counter-Espionage. At that point I decided for the first time to see if more of The Lone Wolf could be obtained from “unofficial” channels, and in the course of searching came across your WW website. Even just on the basis of the Mason movies and Counter-Espionage, your introductory remarks on the Home Page really struck a chord–if you even know who he was, you probably already love him; that was EXACTLY how I felt. At your prompting, I have now seen two of his more titanic roles in Skyscraper Souls and Employees’ Entrance, and also watched Under 18, Beauty and the Boss (don’t miss the viewer comments on the YouTube excerpt), The Dark Horse, Gold Diggers of 1933 (the Amazon customer reviews have some good comments), Goodbye Again, and Man in the Iron Mask; and will be soon seeing The Mouthpiece, Three on a Match, Lady for a Day, Smarty, Cleopatra, Don’t Bet on Blondes, Times Square Playboy, Satan Met a Lady, and more. (The Mind Reader, The Match King, and Bedside don’t seem to be out there right now, even on iOffer.) And I still have all his other Lone Wolfs to look forward to! (I have also been sidetracked by Philo Vance and Boston Blackie, which I got more or less at the same time but decided to watch first, saving the Lone Wolf for last.) So you have recruited a longtime WW-Perry Mason fan into a budding student of his wider oevre–though I do most enjoy the ones where you can like the character as well as stand in awe of the performance. Thanks a lot!

Hi Jeffers,

Oh thanks, glad you found me, definitely sparked some energy in me towards keeping this site going!

I saw a seller on iOffer with The Match King, but he only has a feedback rating of “1,” so I’d probably wait. You’re right though, I don’t see the source I picked up all of those through. Unfortunately, they are 3 of my favorites, and worse for me is the audio seems to have died on my copy of Bedside which I’m dying to watch again (Got to try another DVD player).

Of those you’re primed to watch, I love The Mouthpiece, it’s awesome (try not to read the page I posted on it here, it pretty much details the entire movie); Satan Met a Lady is under-rated I think by Maltese Falcon elitists. What surprised me is contemporary reviews ripped Satan too. I thought it was fun, obviously he carries the movie, he’s over the top, but I found him hilarious. Times Square Playboy was kind of lame if I remember correctly (Gene Lockhart right, if so, not the best), while I have both Smarty and Don’t Bet on Blondes I need a refresher before commenting.

The others are all kind of in that “movies with Warren William” category instead of “WW movies.”

Three on a Match is just an awesome flick, so much packed into its 62 minutes or so–actually I just reviewed it on another site of mine, here, trying not to give too much away, but still you may want to avoid my write-up for now–but Three on a Match is an Ann Dvorak movie.

Lady for a Day is classic WW, but you want more of him as the tender Apple Annie story overtakes his presence. Still very strong though.

He’s Caesar in Cleopatra, so I’ll just say he doesn’t last too long, but while he’s on screen I imagine it’s about as close as we’re going to get to a stage performance out of him.

Thanks, as always, Cliff

I have heard that iOffer/Warner is “slowly but surely” forcing out all sellers, whatever that means. In any case, most iOffer sellers I have dealt with regarding old movies seem to have just one copy to part with, rather than stocking them for repeat sales.

Now that I have gathered a WW non-series starter collection from far and wide, the seller known on eBay as truth3152 (mentioned by mean in a previous comment as a source for Lone Wolf, Perry Mason, Boston Blackie, the Falcon, Philo Vance, etc.) has 3 four-disc WW non-series sets, though I don’t see them on eBay at this point. Alas, I have almost all of the titles included, and none of them are the “big three” I still want (Mind Reader, Match King, Bedside). But maybe by the time they show up again I’ll again have the funds available to afford them!

Jeffers, I wish this was something I knew how to do for you, though my disc being copies themselves would likely come out pretty lousy even if I could figure it out. If that doesn’t bother you and you know of any easy and free program just let me know. I think I actually had one on this computer at one point, but it really sucked up my resources. Otherwise keep looking, because I know someone must have them.

Thanks,Cliff

Oh, I’m sure they’ll turn up again, and I’m not in a desperate hurry by any means. Actually, I just watched The Mouthpiece and Times Square Playboy as a homemade double bill because I sort of need lighter, shorter fare to clear my mood after seeing the heavyweight stuff; and, on that basis, while Times Square Playboy is hardly a landmark or important film, I really did enjoy it at least as much! As for Three on a Match, I knew WW’s was not the focal role in that “heavyweight” feature, but I might not have seen it if he wasn’t in it, and I’d hate to have missed Ann Dvorak’s performance–wow! Smarty and Don’t Bet on Blondes are worth seeing if they come your way but not worth staying up all night for (to hark back metaphorically to the days before VCRs when that was the only way to see late late late movies). Part of my interest was to see if there were any other movies besides the Perry Mason ones where Claire Dodd plays a sweet ingenue type–if so, it’s not in these, but she and Frank McHugh and Edward Everett Horton are all enjoyable company in Smarty.

I forgot to mention, I watched The Dragon Murder Case again and WW’s Vance is indeed more witty in his initial scenes in that than I remembered, though completely solemn later on, and, I still think, not likely to win over any new fans on the basis of his Vance portrayals alone.

I didn’t get back to The Dragon Murder Case yet, but your description makes me wonder if I dozed off at the end last time (entirely possible!). I did watch The Mind Reader again today and posted a little bit on it here.

Glad you enjoyed Ann Dvorak in Three on a Match, she was amazing!