A Date with the Falcon (1942) User Reviews

What happened to Wendy?

[lindalinn28 · 7/10 · 2 November 2012]

I love these old Falcon movies--especially for the cad actions of George Sanders who made a career out of playing such characters. He was very comical or serious as needed which was a mainstay of movies of this kind in the 30s and 40s. These movies are definitely B-movies but do have an addictive nature to them. Perhaps we are not meant to watch them one after the other as I have recently done. Watching them in this way makes the continuity of characters and actions more noticeable.

My main complaint in this one is the total change in character the writers and/or director imposed on Wendy Barrie. Did they even watch the first movie in the series. In "The Gay Falcon"--the first Falcon movie--Wendy's Helen was sweet, helpful, and rather innocent. In this movie, she is dressed too sophisticated, acts too harsh, and has lost all of her sweetness that made her so appealing. (She even uses a different pitch of her voice.) This problem could have been avoided by just making her a different character rather than Helen Reed. After all, the Falcon had a variety of women after him throughout the series. Wendy was in lots of these Falcon and Saint movies and usually played a different character, and there was no quibble in that as we viewers--and probably the 30s and 40s audience did too--realize that these movies were full of character actors--not big stars--and consequently these actors could be plugged into a part as needed. They were probably standing around on the lot waiting to get a script. Just look at Hans Conreid in the 2 Falcon movies--completely different characters but a scene stealer in each.

Although many of complaints made by other posters are valid, this movie is a must see for those of us who love B&W B-movies from the past. ! The new Warner Brothers boxed set is very good--even though it lacks any frills, just the movies. A good way to spend about an hour.

A date with Homer Bilky was strenuously denied

[Spondonman · 7/10 · 8 January 2006]

This Falcon entry (2/13) was played mainly for laughs, sometimes bordering on slapstick. The puns and wisecracks come thick and fast between the leading characters, all of them doubting everyone else's intelligence or honour. Wendy Barrie is almost manic in her assumed jealousy, James Gleason as the police Inspector is perfect and always brings his performance in "Arsenic and old lace" to my mind whenever I see him. But it's George Sanders as the Falcon and Allen Jenkins as his sidekick Goldie that have the majority of the smart ass one-liners, Sanders' body language is sometimes Music Hall but always believable.

Scientist Alec Craig apparently murdered by a gang after his formula to produce perfect synthetic diamonds, the Falcon unwillingly pulled into the caper whilst urgently trying to get off to get married to the frothing Barrie. As usual the entire NY police force was alerted to apprehend him as a murderer that no-one ever believes he really is. And Barrie loves him with a passion even though she knows he'll always love nearly all women. And Goldie stays with him wanting an easy life but knowing he'll never be getting one.

Enjoyable film, 61 minutes short but a lot seems to happen. Ed Gargan as Bates even shone here with a supreme show of brainpower!

Second entry of the Falcon series

[blanche-2 · 6/10 · 22 November 2009]

George Sanders is the Falcon in "A Date with the Falcon," part of the enjoyable Falcon series, which was eventually taken over by Sanders' brother Tom Conway so that Sanders could appear in another series, "The Saint." In this one, a man disappears with his invention, simulated diamonds that pass for the real thing, which can be used in place of industrial diamonds in the manufacture of war weapons. The Falcon becomes involved in the case, even though he's supposed to be leaving town with his abrasive fiancée (Wendy Barrie) in order to meet her parents.

A little disjointed, and though others have complained about the Wendy Barrie character, I seem to remember the Falcon had an even more annoying fiancée in another film, "The Falcon in Danger," only this time, it was Gay's brother Tom who was now The Falcon. Why these women were written with such a heavy hand is beyond me, but they do distract.

Still, this film is entertaining - James Gleason is excellent as the harried head of the investigation, and Allen Jenkins is funny as Gay's assistant. Always a pleasant way to pass the time.

A great detective movie

[rupert-felsing · 26 August 2004]

Sanders plays Gay Lawrence, The Falcon, who has at last been lured into marriage by his fiancé, Helen (played by Wendy Barrie). Just before he goes off to get married though, he gets mixed up in a case where a reclusive scientist who has created a formula to make fake diamonds that are indistinguishable from real ones get kidnapped by crooks and forced to spill the beans. As usual, the relationship between the falcon and the Law is pretty borderline at best, the keep on trying to arrest him on suspicion of being involved in the plot, murder and anything else they can pin on him. Needless to say he leads the police to the gang, and makes the 'plane to fly off with his fiancé. This is a great movie, and Sanders plays it with an insouciance that is quite invigorating: you cannot decide whether he is in his heart laughing at the whole film in its simplicity. The gangsters are almost a parody of gangsters, the police are bumbling goons, and his fiancé increasingly jealous and frustrated as he keeps on tripping over beautiful women who have known him in the past (but a few loving words and a kiss from him always seems to calm her down - what luck!). A great lark, and great to watch just for Sander's voice!!

"That thing you feel in your ribs ain't my finger, so let's go quiet."

[utgard14 · 7/10 · 26 October 2015]

Second in RKO's fun series of B mystery films about a suave detective named Gay Lawrence (aka The Falcon). In the first few movies in the series, the Falcon is played by the great George Sanders. Here the Falcon investigates the disappearance of an inventor who has discovered how to create synthetic diamonds that are identical to the real thing. Sanders is terrific in this role -- charming, witty, and flirtatious. It's a shame he didn't do more than the few he did. But his brother Tom Conway was a fine replacement so I can't complain. Wendy Barrie returns as the Falcon's love interest. Allen Jenkins steals the show as the comic relief sidekick, Goldie. The rest of the solid supporting cast includes James Gleason, Mona Maris, and Edward Gargan. Hans Conreid has a funny bit as a hotel clerk. In the previous Falcon movie, he played a police sketch artist. The Falcon series was admittedly formulaic, and this whole business about a kidnapped inventor is definitely nothing new, but it was undeniably entertaining. The brisk pace, short runtime, and healthy amounts of comedy help a lot. It's lighthearted fun for anybody looking to kill an hour and change.

fun 2nd in franchise

[SnoopyStyle · 7/10 · 25 October 2021]

Waldo Samson has perfected the manufacturing of synthetic diamonds. Criminals kidnap him for his secrets. New York Police Inspector Mike O'Hara recruits Gay "The Falcon" Lawrence (George Sanders) to find the missing scientist. He has to delay his planned wedding. He gets pulled in by jewel thief Rita Mara.

I enjoy George Sanders' devil-may-care cavalier attitude and Goldie's silliness. It's fun. It's a little ridiculous for a crime thriller. It's the second in the franchise and it has set up the pattern with these well-defined characters.

The second film in the Falcon series, features George Sanders in the title role

[jacobs-greenwood · 6/10 · 18 December 2016]

In this film, the Falcon (George Sanders) is about to travel on a trip to be married to his fiancé Helen (Wendy Barrie), a woman who has finally "caught" him. James Gleason plays the police inspector, Edward Gargan is his detective, and Allen Jenkins is Goldy (perfect for this type of role, and Sanders' sidekick in all but his last in the series). Helen is naturally "on edge", apparently the Falcon has been this far (engaged, ring and all) three times previously. Goldy's job throughout the film is to keep this fiancé from running away, as well as to help Sanders out of a "jams".

The story is about a scientist who has discovered a way to create diamonds so well that jewelers, who loaned him a $1,000 one to copy, can't tell the difference. His goal, however, is to help government and industry by making commercial grade diamonds for $25, and not to collapse the retail market. The police inspector naturally wants to protect the scientist, but before the detective "bodyguard" arrives, criminals kidnap the scientist and his formula.

To keep the Falcon from helping the police, the criminals decide to neutralize him. An old female acquaintance (Mona Maris, also providing a jealousy plot-line for the fiancé of the Falcon, associated with the criminals, attempts to persuade him to join them. When he refuses, they kidnap him. However, he escapes by making faces at police in a passing squad car, pretending to be drunk. The cops pull over the car and relieve the criminals of their prey.

Another slapstick scene follows the Falcon's discovery of the scientist, who has apparently overdosed on sleeping pills in his hotel room. When the police arrive, summoned by a suspicious hotel employee, the Falcon escapes out the window onto the fifth floor balcony. His fiancé, who had been waiting in a cab below, sees him up on the balcony and starts yelling, causing the gathering crowd to think it's witnessing a potential "jumper". When the police discover him, he's arrested. However, he escapes in a rather amusingly well choreographed scene I won't spoil.

A twist is revealed which begs the question as to how the criminals knew of it. The Falcon is captured again by the criminals and is later arrested again by the police. The whole mystery is wrapped up rather quickly and conveniently in the end in at least two ways: how all the criminals are rounded up, and the recovery of the missing formula.

It ends with the Falcon and his fiancé (and curiously, Goldy) finally leaving on their trip to be married when, of course, another of the Falcon's many female acquaintances shows up.

Familiar cast lend charm to familiar story

[csteidler · 7/10 · 18 September 2013]

George Sanders is back as Gay Lawrence, the suave and mysterious figure known as the Falcon. The emphasis is on comedy in this second series entry, with Gay alternately seeking a kidnapped inventor and scrambling to keep various female acquaintances apart.

Wendy Barrie is fast-talking and quick-tempered as Helen, the Falcon's fiancée, at least for the moment. Allen Jenkins is "Goldy" Locke, the Falcon's right hand man and provider of smart comments.

Between Barrie and Jenkins, the wisecracks fly pretty fast throughout the picture; Sanders does his best to keep up the suavity, but even he is reduced to uncharacteristic comic exasperation ("Just as I was getting everything to run nice and smooth," he complains, upset with his romantic complications).

The plot centers around a synthetic diamond formula. Its inventor wants to save it for American defense industry use, but spies are after it—and him. Sure enough, the Falcon gets involved…. The story is hardly unique but it's solid enough, and is really only an excuse for these characters to have something to work on, anyway.

Among the cast of pros in familiar roles, James Gleason is steady as always as a police inspector and Edward Gargan is funny as a dumb assistant cop.

Jenkins and Sanders click especially well and trade lines flawlessly. Jenkins: "Who was that dame?" Sanders: "A very fascinating woman." Jenkins: "Every time you say that, we get into trouble."

Good fun for us fans of the detective-comedy genre.

Wittier than ever

[robert-temple-1 · 9/10 · 4 July 2007]

This is the second of the Falcon films starring George Sanders. The dialogue crackles with even more electricity than in the first. This film has more substance and plot than its predecessor, but is even funnier, with both sight gags and witty remarks throughout which are often hilarious. Who can ever forget George Sanders standing and smoking a cigarette nonchalantly on a window ledge of a New York hotel, while the crowd below gasps and take bets on whether he will jump. When a policeman forces him inside the window at gunpoint, the street crowd sighs in disappointment, and one man says: 'I figured him for a phoney.' When Sanders goes into a florist shop to buy roses for his (new) fiancée, the woman running it is an old girl friend. She is surprised and disappointed that he is getting married: 'You're much too undependable to be taken out of circulation. It's a crime.' He drolly replies: 'Yes, and I can't solve it. It's a perfect crime.' Hans Conreid, who stole scenes in the previous Falcon film as a police artist, really runs away with his scenes in this one as a hotel clerk. Wendy Barrie scintillates as much as ever, sometimes ferocious, at other times gentle, but always on fire. What a cracker! They don't make 'em like this any more. And all that on a low budget, with a couple of cars and a few cheap sets. Today's directors with their hundred million dollar budgets ought to take a look at some of these old cheapies and learn how to make real movies. Then we would not all be so bored by their silly special effects and exploding cars which they substitute for acting and witty dialogue, and we could enjoy a film again like people could in 1941.

Lots Of Jokes

[boblipton · 6/10 · 10 December 2022]

In the second episode of the Falcon series, Wendy Barrie's efforts to get George Sanders to march down the aisle are frustrated when inventor Alec Craig is murdered and his formula for creating artificial diamonds disappears.

This one is pretty heavy on the jokes, with sidekick Allen Jenkins providing an endless series of malapropisms, and police detective James Gleason trying to solve the problem by alternately asking Sanders for help, and trying to put the handcuffs on him. There's also another appearance by Hans Conreid. Mona Maris, Eddie Dunn, and William Gargan show up in small roles.

Sanders seems very unnatural with American slang coming from his mouth.

She is a "skinny old hag?"

[Jim Tritten · 4/10 · 25 September 2004]

Rather lackluster entry in the George Sanders "Falcon" series. Rather than charming his fiancé, the Falcon appears to be intimidated by her - which appears to be out of character. Wendy Barrie as the fiancée spends the entire movie trying to get the Falcon to leave town on a trip -- was this an overnight trip before they were to be married? James Gleason is excellent, as always, as the police detective. Allen Jenkins is good as sidekick Goldie but appears insufficiently on screen to carry the comic side of the story. The two females (Mona Maris is characterized by the Falcon as a skinny old hag) appear on screen too much and simply do not work. The writing, music, and gowns (by Renie) are the best part of this film. Not much here to be recommended.

For this genre, this is excellent, excellent stuff

[planktonrules · 8/10 · 28 June 2007]

In the 1930s and 40s there were a ton of B-detective series films, such as Charlie Chan, Sherlock Holmes, Boston Blackie, The Lone Wolf as well as The Falcon. All these movies shared some common traits--the movies were short (only about an hour in length), were very quickly made, had rather formulaic plots, featured stupid cops and were a lot of fun to watch but also tend to blend together in your mind because the stories are all so similar. I like these films a lot and have probably seen more of them than a person should! Of these series, The Falcon may be my favorite due to the excellent dialog and better than average supporting characters. It's really a shame George Sanders only made a few, though his brother (Tom Conway) continued the series with about nine of his own. It's also a shame that as the series continued, the films became less and less interesting--perhaps due to the frequency of their being produced (six in a two year span alone).

As I mentioned above, The Falcon series had good supporting characters. In this case, the Inspector was played very capably by veteran character actor James Gleason. Unlike most cops in other series, Gleason wasn't particularly dim. He did have a dim assistant (Leo Cleary), but despite Brody's lower than normal I.Q., he did manage to catch the criminals single-handedly. All this was such a relief to me--finally cops in a detective film that weren't total buffoons! In addition to these actors, George Sanders' assistant is the old reliable character actor, Allen Jenkins--who is always great for a laugh.

The plot is about a synthetic diamond formula that is so good that even experts can't tell these fakes from high quality originals. Not surprisingly, the inventor and his formula are kidnapped (after Gleason does about the only bone-headed thing in the movie--leaving the scientist alone in his lab to wait for a bodyguard to arrive). Now that I think about it, the plot itself really isn't all that important--it's the characters and Sanders' witty comments he made throughout this breezy little gem.

Very disappointing!

[JohnHowardReid · 5/10 · 11 August 2017]

Producer: Howard Benedict. Copyright 20 November 1941 by RKO Radio Pictures, Inc. New York opening at the Rialto: 24 November 1941. U.S. release: 16 January 1942. Australian release: 16 March 1942. 5,833 feet. 64 minutes.

NOTES: Number 2 of the 16 "Falcon" pictures. "The Gay Falcon" (sic) was number 1.

COMMENT: One or two bright moments — Hans Conried playing an inquisitive desk clerk without his usual accent; Allen Jenkins listening to a soap opera on his car radio — cannot lighten an elephantine script and heavy-handed acting, particularly from Gleason, Jenkins and Barrie. Dull direction doesn't help either.

The script's humor is aimed at four-year-olds. Aggressively bombastic acting from Gleason and Jenkins, makes it even less tolerable.

No wonder Sanders appears so understandably bored stiff. The scene with him on the ledge, and the crowd urging him to jump, foreshadows "14 Hours", and may excite sociologists. Unfortunately, this entry is not content to be just of peripheral interest — or even just plain dull — but determinedly tedious. Only Mona Maris as a fairly agreeable femme fatale can partly save the day.

Production values are no more — and sometimes less — than adequate.

Average 'dame trouble' stuff takes the lead over the actual plot to the detriment of the film

[bob the moo · 26 August 2004]

Samson is a hard working scientist who has developed a technique for developing synthetic diamond for the purposes of tooling and industrial use.

However the synthetic diamonds are so realistic that even experts cannot tell them apart – making Samson a target for criminals. When Samson goes missing, Inspector O'Hara turns to Gay Lawrence for help. Despite having woman troubles with his fiancé, Helen, the Falcon finds himself in the middle of the investigation and pursued by the gang, who are understandably keen to get such a keen mind off the case before he makes progress.

With a pretty standard (and unlikely) set up, it is not long before the Falcon is drafted onto the case. The plot is not great though and isn't as focused on the actual investigation as I would have liked. Instead it mixes it with the side kick of Falcon's fiancé and, while I can see what they were trying to do with it, it doesn't really work awfully well at all. Indeed it would have made a nice play with Helen being the sidekick that the Falcon has in other films but here this aspect and the actual plot mix about as well as oil and water and, sadly, the investigation into Samson's disappearance occasionally plays second fiddle to Lawrence having woman troubles.

However most viewers of this series will have gotten used to the fact that the crime plots are never the strongest here but often this is covered by some good humour. While there are quite a few nice touches to this material, the film is not nearly as amusing as it should be. The Falcon himself has a certain swagger to him but too much of the film is him looking flustered and frustrated by trying to balance his couple of women. The script does throw out some good material for minor roles and has some funny set ups (playing drunk to escape the baddies is a good moment) but generally it isn't funny enough to cover the fact that the plot can't even manage to stretch to an hour. As a result the cast don't do as well as they could have. Sanders is very good in some scenes but then in others he is very poor and not anything like the cool, crisp mind that I expect him to be. Jenkins is poorly used considering how funny he can be when used sparingly in support – but here he is far too sparingly used and has nothing to do until late in the day. Gleason's inspector is good but Barrie is annoying and Maris is nowhere near the femme fatale she was clearly trying to be.

It is still an OK little film but not one of the better in the series even if fans still enjoy it for what it is. The film gets better as it goes but too much in the first half is poorly judged and the actual case/plot mostly plays as second billing behind some flat comedy involving a couple of 'dames' and several misunderstandings.

One of the best outings in a very enjoyable series

[TheLittleSongbird · 8/10 · 10 November 2016]

The Falcon film series is generally a lot of fun to watch, with many of the films very enjoyable and all worth watching at least once. The second outing 'A Date with the Falcon' is one of the better ones.

Not perfect by all means. 'A Date with the Falcon' did feel a little too short, if it was 10 minutes longer it would have given the mystery aspects a little more explanation instead of a few parts being hastier and not as easy to follow as others. Wendy Barrie was very likable and entertaining in 'The Gay Falcon' (the first and very enjoyable outing in the series), but here she is in a more brashly written role and the performance feels overdone and annoying.

When it comes to the production values, while not among the most visually stunning films ever made (then again 'A Date with the Falcon' is not that kind of film), 'A Date with the Falcon' is very meticulously filmed and lit with sets that are elegant and atmospheric. The music is lively and haunting, while the direction solid, the script is witty and smart (even more so, and more electrifying than that of 'The Gay Falcon') and the story a vast majority of the time very engrossing and never incoherent or a test for endurance. The characters are also a lot of fun with the only exception being Barrie's.

As said with 'The Gay Falcon', George Sanders is a truly great lead, he was never less than watchable and magnificent when at his best, and he looks so relaxed and at ease here and plays with his usual suave and imposing manner while also with an elegance, cutting aplomb and charm. James Gleason is also excellent.

Hans Conried steals scenes gleefully, and while he doesn't have as much to do Allen Jenkins is still enormous fun and also a scene stealer. Mona Maris is an alluring femme fatale.

In conclusion, one of the best outings in a series of films that are most enjoyable. 8/10 Bethany Cox

Comedy-Mystery Mish-Mash

[ilprofessore-1 · 2/10 · 19 November 2007]

This comedy-mystery stars suave and sexy George Sanders as the Falcon who may very well be the prototype for the OO7 character that Ian Fleming was to introduce many years later in the James Bond series. Directed with a heavy-hand by Irving Reis, this fast paced B-picture is an embarrassment: Alan Jenkins overacts, Wendy Barrie tries to be funny, and only such stalwarts as the great James Gleason as Inspector O'Hara and Hans Conried as the Desk Clerk seem to have any idea how to pull off this weird combination of slapstick, wisecracks and a plot so full of holes you could drive a truck through it. The film was made at RKO in 1941, a year or so after the same studio made "Citizen Kane," but you'd never know it.

a good series, and a good film

[guenzeld · 10/10 · 2 December 2008]

It would be hard to praise too highly these "Falcon" (and "Saint") films of the 30s and 40s, for in them was contained all the enjoyable trademarks of that fine era of movie making.

These films all had good writing, good directing, good acting, good photography, crisp editing and fast action. What more would you want? They also had plenty of charm and plenty of style.

A DATE WITH THE FALCON is one of the best of the bunch with a neat plot and some delightful set pieces. George Sanders and Wendy Barrie are fun to watch, and to listen to, but the supporting performances of folks like the great Allen Jenkins, James Gleason and Ed Gargan are just as entertaining. RKO had always made the best "B" pictures in town and for their production values alone it would hard to fault them. And a special "hats off" must go to director Irving Reis for some extremely amusing sequences very professionally staged.

Don't be put off by the one or two supercilious remarks by some of the above reviewers. Just go watch these films and have yourself a very good time doing so. You will quickly notice a brand of film-making vastly superior to what is being done today.

Synthetic diamonds

[bkoganbing · 4/10 · 21 September 2015]

A Date With The Falcon finds George Sanders as the smooth gentleman crook getting himself involved with a kidnapping plot. The victim in this case has developed a process to manufacture synthetic industrial diamonds. Remember this was the time when American ingenuity developed synthetic rubber so the concept was not that far fetched to 1942 audiences.

In any event the crooks kidnap the guy who invented the synthetic diamond and Sanders has to convince the authorities he's not in on the plot. He also has to convince Wendy Barrie that he's not two timing her with femme fatale Mona Maris. I leave it to you which is tougher.

This one really developed into more comedy than a serious B film drama with the hero himself taking over from Allen Jenkins as sidekick Goldie Locke and James Gleason as the police inspector. Even Barrie with her jealous antics was mugging for the camera.

Not the best of the Falcon series.

Excellent story to start off on

[thordwolf · 9/10 · 1 January 2007]

After suffering a night of lack luster sleep I turned on the television to see what could send me to sleep. After putting on BBC2 I happened on the Movie "A date with falcon", and was hooked from the start. I've been a fan of the genre and enjoyed the mix of comedy and adventure the story portrayed. The cast are charming, suave and full of quips. I loved it and recommend it to people who want to see a action show with a little intelligence, it might be old black and white, but it doesn't effect it one bit. Worth a nights lack of sleep.

The future stories are OK but the first three in the series are the better of the series, and include the original cast of characters, future stories have some of the cast switched due to people going off to other projects.

Good Entry

[Michael_Elliott · 28 February 2008]

Date with the Falcon, A (1941)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Second film in the series has the Falcon (George Sanders) leaving on his honeymoon but at the last minute he finds himself caught up with diamond thieves. This sequel is pretty much on the same level as the first film as it contains a small group of laughs, a so-so mystery but it does go by very quickly making it a mildly entertaining film. Sanders once again is good in the role but he seems a little bored compared to the first film. Allen Jenkins isn't given as much to do, which is a shame because he comes off very good in his few scenes here.

The Diamond Formula Caper

[profh-1 · 5/10 · 11 February 2023]

A scientist who's developed a method for creating artificial diamonds for industrial use that are indistinguishable from real ones is kidnapped. While Gay Falcon plans to elope with his fiancee Helen Reed, his old pal Detective Mike O'Hara wants his help solving the case. When the crooks, led by unscrupulous femme fatale Rita Mara (who Gay knew years before in Europe) see him chatting with O'Hara, they mistakenly believe he knows more about what they're up to than he does (or wants to). Next thing, he's repeatedly dragged against his will (often at gunpoint) into the case, the cops believe he's involved in a murder (or at least, pretend to), and his fiancee repeatedly goes ballistic and full-on bipolar, not being able to decide if she wants to leave him, kill him or kiss him. And while this is going on, sidekick Goldy just tries to keep up, while Detective Bates actually does better figuring things out than his boss!

What a crazy film. Part detective mystery, part slapstick romantic comedy. Lots of fun, provided you're not too particular and don't try to think too much.

The 2nd of RKO's "FALCON" series based on Michael Arlen's one-and-only "Gaylord Falcon" novel sees 4 of the regulars from the 1st film returning, while a 5th actor (Hans Conreid) returns to play his 2nd of 3 different characters in 3 films.

George Sanders is "Gay Lawrence", now out of the brokerage business and engaged, determined to put his adventuring and crime-investigating (and womanizing) behind him, but being thwarted at every turn. Any hint at the sort of "class" he brought to the role in the previous film (left over from his 5 films playing "Simon Templar") has vanished here, as he seems alternately relaxed, bored, or outright silly.

Allen Jenkins is sidekick "Goldy", still trying to stay away from trouble but stuck between his boss, his boss's fiancee, the crooks and the cops.

Wendy Barrie is "Helen Reed", who seems to have lost her brains and her mind since the previous film, and is so manic I can't imagine anyone ever wanting to be involved with her, let alone engaged!

Eddie Dunn returns as "Detective Grimes", who's so dim in this he's interrogating Goldy at one point and seems to have no idea that the two have ever met before. (Was anybody involved in these pictures paying any attention to continuity at all?)

James Gleason is head cop "Inspector Mike O'Hara", clearly a good friend of Gay's, who's known him long enough to respect his talents and ask for help, but also eager to have fun at Gay's expense by accusing him of murder, having him arrested, slapped in handcuffs, and so on. Gleason replaces Arthur Shields from the previous movie, and it's a toss-up for me who did the better job. There's just one thing. It's VERY obvious both actors played the same character-- so WHY did his name change from "Mike Waldeck" to "Mike O'Hara" between pictures? Gleason is so good, he's usually one of the best things in any film he's in, and I've seen him in a few, including HERE COMES MR. JORDAN, ARSENIC AND OLD LACE, and THE NIGHT OF THE HUNTER. He'd return in THE FALCON TAKES OVER, a major step up from this one.

Edward Gargan is "Detective Bates", who on the surface looks like the typical "dumb sidekick cop", but in this case, ISN'T. Like Gleason, he replaced Edward Brophy from the previous film, and, again, is so good, you'd almost think he was here all along. Perpetually typecast as cops, I've also seen him in CRIME SCHOOL, THE SAINT STRIKES BACK, THE SAINT'S DOUBLE TROUBLE, CHARLIE CHAN IN PANAMA, BUCK BENNY RIDES AGAIN, THE LONE WOLF KEEPS A DATE, ELLERY QUEEN AND THE MURDER RING, and MIGHTY JOE YOUNG. After this, he would return as "Bates" for 6 more FALCON films!

Mona Maris is "Rita Mara", the femme fatale who first offers Gay a piece of the crime she's involved in, then decides he knows too much and needs to be bumped off. Which is a shame, as, if she'd left him alone, she "might have gotten away with it". I've also seen her in THE DEATH KISS, WHITE HEAT, and THE FALCON IN MEXICO (one of my favorite of the Tom Conway installments).

I'd say this was a step down after the previous film, but would rank it somewhere between the best and worst of Sanders' 5 "SAINT" films. So it goes.

The Onesmedia box set copy of this film has mostly crystal-clear picture & sound, though it seems to fade out a bit too quickly right at the end. Oh well. For the price I think it beats out the Warner Archive box, especially as it's got ALL 16 films in one set. HOW can you beat THAT?

George Sanders was a great Comic in this Film !

[whpratt1 · 10/10 · 16 February 2005]

Years ago I must have taped this film which was shown on TCM and it sure was an eye opener. George Sanders,( Gay Lawrence/Falcon),"Solomon and Sheba",'59, played a role quite similar to the "Thin Man" series with Dick Powell. The Falcon was about to get married to Helen Reed,(Wendy Barrie),"Peter Pan",'50 Broadway Theatre, NYC, and suddenly was caught up in a great mystery concerning diamond dealings and plenty of gangsters. James Gleason,(Inspector Mike O'Hara), tried to keep up with the Falcon and was even forced into arresting him quite often through out the picture. This was really a slap stick Comedy, Drama "B" picture and George Sanders did a great job playing the Major Comic. If you are a fan of George Sanders, you will never believe the way he acted in this picture, entirely different than "The Lodger" or "Hangover Square".

Lively Installment

[dougdoepke · 7 September 2016]

Good lively installment in the Falcon series. Gay Lawrence (Falcon) gets mixed up with gangsters trying to take over a synthetic diamond invention. This, of course, leads to a lot of mock run-ins with the law and the crooks. Despite the programmer status, the cast is really motivated, showing more than an ordinary amount of spirit. Sanders especially is looser than I've ever seen him, even making little-kid faces at the cops. He seems to be having a good time throughout. There's also a number of good touches from director Reis— the humorously coordinated crowd scenes, the snappy dialog delivery, Goldie (Jenkins) tap-dancing his way up the sobriety line. And catch cat woman Elizabeth Russell in the very last scene, several years before scaring the pants off us in the great Val Lewton horror series. And on a more somber note, gangster Max is played by Victor Killian, himself a 1979 victim of an unsolved murder. All in all, it's a rousing little hour with the Falcon and company, sure to keep you entertained.