Thu 13 Aug 2009
Peeking ahead at next November’s schedule, I found a bonanza of “Falcon” movies coming up on Turner Classic Movies. Synchronize your calendars!
Friday November 20
6:00 AM Gay Falcon, The (1942)
A society sleuth tries to break up an insurance scam. Cast: George Sanders, Wendy Barrie, Gladys Cooper. Dir: Irving Reis. BW-67 mins, TV-G, CC
7:15 AM Date With The Falcon, A (1941)
The gentleman detective postpones his wedding to find a cache of stolen diamonds. Cast: George Sanders, Wendy Barrie, James Gleason. Dir: Irving Reis. BW-63 mins, TV-G
8:30 AM Falcon Takes Over, The (1942)
A society sleuth and a lady reporter try to track down a murderous thug’s lost girlfriend. Cast: George Sanders, Lynn Bari, Ward Bond. Dir: Irving Reis. BW-63 mins, TV-G
9:45 AM Falcon’s Brother, The (1942)
A gentlemanly detective calls on his brother to help him stop the Nazis from assassinating a key diplomat. Cast: George Sanders, Tom Conway, Jane Randolph. Dir: Stanley Logan. BW-63 mins, TV-G. [Screenplay by Craig Rice and Stuart Palmer.]
11:00 AM Falcon Strikes Back, The (1943)
A society sleuth is framed for murder by criminals running a war-bond racket. Cast: Tom Conway, Harriet Hilliard, Edgar Kennedy. Dir: Edward Dmytryk. BW-66 mins, TV-G
12:15 PM Falcon In Danger, The (1943)
A society sleuth tracks a lost plane carrying $100,000. Cast: Tom Conway, Jean Brooks, Elaine Shepard. Dir: William Clemens. BW-70 mins, TV-G
1:30 PM Falcon And The Co-Eds, The (1944)
A society sleuth investigates murder at a girls’ school. Cast: Tom Conway, Jean Brooks, Isabel Jewell. Dir: William Clemens. BW-68 mins, TV-G
2:45 PM Falcon Out West, The (1944)
A society sleuth turns cowboy to investigate a Texas murder. Cast: Tom Conway, Carole Gallagher, Barbara Hale. Dir: William Clemens. BW-64 mins.
4:00 PM Falcon In Mexico, The (1944)
A society sleuth travels South of the border to investigate an art dealer’s murder. Cast: Tom Conway, Mona Maris, Martha MacVicar. Dir: William Berke. BW-70 mins, TV-G
5:15 PM Falcon In Hollywood, The (1944)
A society sleuth tours the movie capital, where he uncovers an actor’s murder. Cast: Tom Conway, Barbara Hale, Sheldon Leonard. Dir: Gordon Douglas. BW-67 mins, TV-G, CC
6:30 PM Falcon In San Francisco, The (1945)
A society sleuth enlists a little girl’s help in nabbing a mob of silk smugglers. Cast: Tom Conway, Rita Corday, Sharyn Moffett. Dir: Joseph H. Lewis. BW-66 mins, TV-G.
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These, of course, have played many times over on TCM, but if you’ve never seen or taped them before, here’s a great chance to obtain them all at once. There are two more in which Conway appeared, followed by three starring John Calvert. You may have to hunt a while on the collector’s market for some or all of these.
THE FALCON’S ALIBI. (1946, RKO) Tom Conway, Elisha Cook, Jr.
THE FALCON’S ADVENTURE. (1946, RKO) Tom Conway.
THE DEVIL’S CARGO. (1948, Film Classics) John Calvert, Rochelle Hudson, Roscoe Karns, Lyle Talbot, Tom Kennedy, Theodore Van Eltz, Paul Regan
APPOINTMENT WITH MURDER. (1948, Film Classics) John Calvert, Catherine Craig, Lyle Talbot, Jack Reitzzen, Peter Brocco
SEARCH FOR DANGER. (1949, Film Classics) John Calvert, Albert Dekker, Myrna Dell, Douglas Fowley, Ben Welden
August 13th, 2009 at 6:02 pm
A couple of things to watch for. The Falcon and the Co-Eds is one of the best in the series and keep an eye out for the young Dorothy Malone among the co-eds. The Falcon in Mexico is also one of the better entries and contains footage from Orson Welles’ film It’s All True. Of course Takes Over is based on Raymond Chandler’s Farewell My Lovely.
Veda Ann Borg is good as a cab driver in The Falcon in Hollywood, and The Falcon Out West is another good one (one of two with Barbara Hale) with Lawrence Tierney as a band leader. The Falcon’s Brother contains a bit of a surprise at the end. Sanders seems to have wanted to make certain he was never tempted back. Over all it’s one of the best series and holds up better than most.
August 13th, 2009 at 8:56 pm
The Falcon In San Francisco was directed by the great Joseph H. Lewis. It’s a surprisingly good mystery film. It is more “serious” than many of the Falcon films, lacking their trademark humor.
The Falcon In Hollywood takes us backstage at RKO Studios. It’s not great art, but there is fun for movie fans, seeing where movies were made. I love the room with the model props.
August 13th, 2009 at 9:50 pm
Gordon Douglas and Edward Dmytryk both directed films in the series too, though I agree the under rated Lewis did a better than average job for what proved to be the last film in a long running series (well, I know there were the Calvert films, but I don’t really count them).
Still, I can never think of the Falcon films without thinking of Leonard Maltin’s great line that sometimes the films needed some mystery relief from all the comedy relief.
August 14th, 2009 at 6:23 am
The Falcon films (like the Saint films before them) have a few interesting angles, but I always found them somewhat soporific. Sanders’/Conway’s low-key walking through the films (I wouldn’t call it acting) didn’t help the pace any, either.
August 19th, 2009 at 2:53 pm
The Falcon Takes Over was adapted (loosely) from Chandler’s Farewell My Lovely. The Falcon replaces Marlowe, of course, but Moose Malloy is around and nicely done by Ward Bond.