The Falcon is approached by a college girl at the beginning of the film. A professor died recently and she knows it's a murder even though they say it was a natural death. Before he has a chance to investigate, the impulsive and annoying girl steals his car--forcing him to go to the school to retrieve it (and thus get pulled into the investigation).
As the film unfolds in a rather unremarkable and far-fetched plot, we meet a set of characters who all could have killed the professor--who, it turns out, did NOT die due to natural causes. When one of the suspects is then clearly murdered, the police become involved as well--and as usual, they are about as much help as a pilot's license to a fish! In the end, through some spurious reasoning, the Falcon figures out the murderer--leading to a very cool scene at the edge of a cliff.
While this is not a bad detective film, it did seem that since the earlier Falcon films (with George Sanders, actor Tom Conway's real-life brother) that the series went into a bit of a decline. Part of it might be because I miss Sanders in the lead role, though Conway looks and especially sounds so much like him I doubt this is the main reason. I think the problem is that the original formula is gone. There is no great sidekick (such as Allen Jenkins), no fiancée and no glib remarks by the Falcon. In fact, it's the glibness that I think sets the earlier films apart from the later ones, as the earlier films had lots of wonderful lines--full of sarcasm and zip. This was especially noticeable since I had watched Sanders' second Falcon film and then this one just a few hours later. Still, despite its deficiencies, it is a worthwhile B-detective series film--just don't expect any spark to set it apart from the many rival series at the other studios.
By the way, the psychology professor says of himself "I am a medical doctor and a psychologist". Actually, if he were an MD, then this would make him a psychiatrist--a distinction that should have been noted by the script writer. Psychiatrists don't like to be referred to as psychologists and vice-versa, plus their jobs are often quite different (psychiatrists generally use medication to treat mental illnesses, psychologists cannot legally do this and use counseling to treat problems).
Oh, and one last thing. While the Falcon was sorely missing his usual sidekick and flustered fiancée, I did like the three young triplets. They were pretty amusing in a "huey, Dewey and Louie" sort of way, plus their brief song was a nice and enjoyable piece--certainly much more so than the other needless songs placed into the film.
Competent overall but still somewhat lacking. Perhaps this was due to their being three Falcon films in 1943 and three more in 1944, and so with all these films a bit less care was being taken in production.
As the film unfolds in a rather unremarkable and far-fetched plot, we meet a set of characters who all could have killed the professor--who, it turns out, did NOT die due to natural causes. When one of the suspects is then clearly murdered, the police become involved as well--and as usual, they are about as much help as a pilot's license to a fish! In the end, through some spurious reasoning, the Falcon figures out the murderer--leading to a very cool scene at the edge of a cliff.
While this is not a bad detective film, it did seem that since the earlier Falcon films (with George Sanders, actor Tom Conway's real-life brother) that the series went into a bit of a decline. Part of it might be because I miss Sanders in the lead role, though Conway looks and especially sounds so much like him I doubt this is the main reason. I think the problem is that the original formula is gone. There is no great sidekick (such as Allen Jenkins), no fiancée and no glib remarks by the Falcon. In fact, it's the glibness that I think sets the earlier films apart from the later ones, as the earlier films had lots of wonderful lines--full of sarcasm and zip. This was especially noticeable since I had watched Sanders' second Falcon film and then this one just a few hours later. Still, despite its deficiencies, it is a worthwhile B-detective series film--just don't expect any spark to set it apart from the many rival series at the other studios.
By the way, the psychology professor says of himself "I am a medical doctor and a psychologist". Actually, if he were an MD, then this would make him a psychiatrist--a distinction that should have been noted by the script writer. Psychiatrists don't like to be referred to as psychologists and vice-versa, plus their jobs are often quite different (psychiatrists generally use medication to treat mental illnesses, psychologists cannot legally do this and use counseling to treat problems).
Oh, and one last thing. While the Falcon was sorely missing his usual sidekick and flustered fiancée, I did like the three young triplets. They were pretty amusing in a "huey, Dewey and Louie" sort of way, plus their brief song was a nice and enjoyable piece--certainly much more so than the other needless songs placed into the film.
Competent overall but still somewhat lacking. Perhaps this was due to their being three Falcon films in 1943 and three more in 1944, and so with all these films a bit less care was being taken in production.