Los diamantes del halcón

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.