Las aventuras de el Halcón

I am watching this one right now on TCM. The Falcon's Adventure finds our hero helping Brazilian beauty Louisa Braganza (Madge Meredith) deliver her father's formula for making industrial diamonds. And she really needs the help after her father gets pistol whipped by a bad guy trying to steal the valuable piece of paper. The adventure takes Tom and Goldie to Miami where Professor Dennison is supposed to take possession of the formula. In addition to Madge Meredith, hard looking but gorgeous Myrna Dell has good role here after just having a bit part in the previous Falcon film, The Falcon in San Francisco. Carol Forman plays Helen Ray, Louisa's maid. Carol is best remembered for her villainous leading role in the 1947 serial, The Black Widow. Phil Warren and Steve Brodie are the hoods. Joseph Crehan and Harry Harvey play the bumbling cops. RKO churned out three more Falcon movies after this one with a different actor as The Falcon. Tom Conway didn't get away from a crime fighter, though. He played Bulldog Drummond in two 1948 movies. The Falcon's Adventure is fast paced with good dialogue and a story that's easy to follow. Watching it is a good way to spend 61 minutes on a summer Saturday morning.

BBC2 have been showing several Falcon movies recently in the afternoons and I have taped most of them. They are worth having as they are not available on VHS or DVD anywhere. The Falcon's Adventure was the 13th and final Falcon movie.

In this one, The Falcon rescues a woman from kidnappers who want her father's secret formula for making diamonds but he gets blamed for his murder. The pair of them then flee to Florida where he gets blamed for another murder! He is cleared at the end though.

Tom Conway plays the Falcon well and is joined in this one by Madge Meredith, Edward Brophy and Ian Wolfe.

Though not brilliant, This and all of the Falcon movies are worth watching and are not too long either.

Rating: 3 stars out of 5.

Routine Falcon entry with plenty of eye candy for the guys and a good look at high fashion, post-war style. There's some mystery in who's trying to get the stolen formula for industrial diamonds. But as in most Falcon entries, the emphasis is not on whodunit ( like Charlie Chan, for example). Instead, it's on the right mix of humor, action, and intrigue. Plus, there's Conway who unfortunately makes his last appearance as the incredibly smooth Falcon. Here, Goldie gets some amusing caustic lines; the Falcon has a heckuva scrap with a bigger guy and loses; while various shady characters maneuver to get who knows what. All in all, the 60-minutes amounts to a solid, if unexceptional, entry in the RKO series.

(In passing—too bad leading lady Meredith got mixed up in a bogus criminal conviction the year after this movie that knocked a big hole in her career. Judging from her work here, she had the looks and ability of an A-grade leading lady.)

The Falcon RKO film series is mostly very enjoyable, with both George Sanders and his brother Tom Conway who took over from him being great in the title role.

Reiterating somewhat what has already been said in my previous Falcon film reviews (due to that a fair few have similar strengths and flaws), admittedly, some are better than others. For examples there are some particularly fun entries such as 'The Gay Falcon', 'A Date with the Falcon', 'The Falcon Strikes Back', 'The Falcon and the Co-eds', 'The Falcon in Hollywood' and 'The Falcon in San Francisco', while others while still very much watchable disappoint a little such 'The Falcon's Brother', 'The Falcon in Danger', 'The Falcon Out West' and 'The Falcon in Mexico'.

On the most part, while not fitting among either extreme of whether among the best or weakest Falcon films, 'The Falcon's Adventure' is solid fun and works well. It is agreed that 'The Falcon's Adventure' does start off a little contrived and routine, that the ending is rushed and abrupt (not an uncommon problem in this series, due to the films being very short) and that the villains are not that memorable or interesting with little menace.

Much can be recommended however. The music is lively and haunting, and on the most part the production values are slick and atmospheric with particularly nicely done photography and eye catching fashions and cars. The script is humorous, there is a good deal of atmosphere and intrigue and the story is absorbing once it gets going with bright and breezy pacing and enough twists, turns and suspense to keep the mystery diverting. Direction is competent.

Conway, in his swansong performance in the title role, is dapper, suave and charismatic, uttering cutting lines with aplomb. Edward Brophy is amusing, and gives a performance not out of control or too low-key, while Madge Meredith allures in her charming if standard role. The cast generally are solid enough.

In summary, Conway's swansong in the Falcon series is a good, solid one. 7/10 Bethany Cox

This film is a fun little private eye detective story like they aren't made any more. It's all there: Tom Conway is the suave detective called The Falcon, Goldie Locke (what's in a name) is his wisecracking bumbling sidekick, Louisa Braganza is the damsel in distress, and of course there are the damsels maid, the professor with the secret formula, the bad guy that wants the formula, and the police inspector who's after The Falcon. There is a murder, and The Falcon gets implicated. The scenery is night clubs, expensive hotel rooms, a luxury train, the suburbs, and beautiful cars. Go watch this little gem when you see it pass by on afternoon TV!