El Halcón en Hollywood

While on vacation on the west coast, the Falcon finds himself approached by Peggy Callahan – the girlfriend of criminal Louie Buchanan. Peggy leaves her bag behind in place of Lawrence's companion's bag. He pursues her in a taxi driven by gobby taxi-come-stunt driver Billie Atkins and gets onto a the grounds of a Hollywood studio. While looking for Peggy the Falcon and Billie stumble onto the body of actor Ted Miles. The police are called and, even on holiday, Lawrence finds himself investigating yet another crime.

After not thinking much of the Falcon being Out West and In Mexico during his last two films, I feared that him being in Hollywood would be another location gimmick replacing any actual substance or entertainment value. It may be because the Hollywood setting just meant that the production stayed at home and saved money on a lot of set design but this film was actually pretty good and used Hollywood well but as a backdrop to a solid mystery. It does take some work to get it started but once Lawrence gets onto the lot it livens up and keeps that pace well for the rest of the film. Unlike the last two films the mystery is actually pretty good and develops to a satisfying solution. Douglas uses the locations well (RKO itself being the main one) and the film has a great "off-set" feel to it that you don't always get with b-movies – nice to see compared to the gimmicky feel to the West and Mexico and it bodes well for San Francisco (which I have not yet seen).

Conway seems a lot more relaxed and more like himself than when In Mexico. While in Mexico we had a Mexican "Goldie" character and here we have a female wise-@ss, in the shape of Borg; she is sassy and fu in a very clichéd and obvious manner but it works well. Parnell and Jenks are a poor man's Clark and Gargan but don't have that much to do. Perry Mason's Hale is good, as is Brooks. Shayne is a bit hammy but effective while series regular Rita Corday turns up yet again early on in the film.

Overall then an enjoyable entry in the series that fans will enjoy and may be slick and enjoyable enough to suit newcomers looking for an easy b-movie to watch. The location is not obtrusive and the material is good, giving the actors more to work with than in the last two films.

Poor Tom Conway, he's in Southern California to enjoy himself and take in a few races at Hollywood and all kinds of people come out from his past. First Sheldon Leonard whom the Falcon put away with his testimony who would like to even the score. Secondly his former girlfriend Barbara Hale who's trying to make a fresh start in motion pictures only Leonard won't leave her alone. Two cops Emory Parnell and Frank Jenks are around as well. And where the Falcon goes, murders start happening.

The Falcon In Hollywood is blessed with one undeniable asset who makes any picture better by her presence. The ever brassy and buxom Veda Ann Borg who plays a cabdriver who kind of attachs herself to Conway and while her presence is a mixed blessing in solving the crime, she's always great to hang around. Between her and Iris Adrian they cornered the market on brassy dames when a film called for one.

Two deaths both connected with the filming of a motion picture that John Abbott is producing and Konstantin Shayne is directing happen before the Falcon resolves it. Here's a hint, the plot of this may have been what inspired Mel Brooks to create one of his best films.

A great tour of the RKO backlot. Tom Conway suave as ever gives us a turn around the streets of 1940's Hollywood, including a trip to the Hollywood Bowl. Barbara (Della Street) Hale is on hand again as are the fabulous Sheldon Leonard and Robert Clark(I) in his second film role. Veda Ann Borg is brash and funny, Konstantin Shayne mutter Shakespeare with panache, and Jean Brooks(II) adds her charm to an early send up of Edith Head. And take a look at that lovely underrated under used Rita Corday. It all starts at the Hollywood race track, a mad dash around street cars down the Boulevard and ending up at the RKO gate. Prop rooms, prop building, soundstages, costume shop, the RKO stock swimming pool and finally the loft of the soundstage. It's fast, funny and an exceptional tour of a working studio. There is even a charming Arab actor Useff Ali as the "I can play any ethnic" in what is only one of his two film roles. Too bad he didn't have a longer career.

The B pics at RKO had a great family of ensemble players..........Enjoy them.

Fast paced mystery, surprisingly unpredictable. It's nice to see so many locations in Los Angeles of the mid 1940's. Much of the film gives you studio backlot scenes, and behind the camera context, within a Hollywood soundstage. Even so, the story draws you in, and the characters are believable. The film moves at a good pace, and keeps you guessing. Thoroughly enjoyable.

A welcome return to form for the Falcon series -- having run out of ideas for the standard city-based plots, the studio evidently tried putting the Falcon into unaccustomed environments to try to milk a few more scripts out of the formula, and oddly enough it actually tends to work quite well. In these later films ("The Falcon and the Co-Eds", "The Falcon Out West", "The Falcon in Hollywood") the focus seems to swing back onto the actual crime rather than the amiable surrounding tom-foolery, and the comic relief -- being more sparingly employed -- is more successfully funny.

"Hollywood" is in my experience the best of the films mentioned above, with a really quite ingenious plot and some interesting characters. Of course we've all seen "The Producers" now... but the cast of Hollywood 'types' -- from the Germanic martinet director to the playboy leading man, the distrait Shakespearean Englishman, the costume diva, the exotic star with a villa and swimming-pool and the gangster's moll trying to make her big break in the movies -- still has its own charms to offer, not least in watching the film subvert the stereotypes! (There's also a nod to a famous Sherlock Holmes case in there, for the alert.)