La Relève du Faucon

George Sanders makes his last appearance as Gay Lawrence, aka the Falcon, in this fun if fairly standard B mystery. There's a corpse in an ocean liner stateroom; the victim is apparently Tom Lawrence, the Falcon's brother; Gay Lawrence goes aboard and quietly identifies the body. Not surprisingly, it's not as simple as all that.

A clever shot introduces Tom Conway as the Falcon's brother: First we watch the Falcon, just off of the ship, race off in a taxi following another taxi as the cops hop into their car to follow him. Then, over in a shadow, we see a dark figure strike a match and light a cigarette, his face lit up just for a moment before the match goes out and he is in darkness again. It's the Falcon's brother—not so dead—watching it all from the shadows.

Eventually we learn that the plot involves Nazi espionage, some South American spies, and a fashion magazine. The cast of characters includes the usual grumpy police inspector (Cliff Clark, this time, as an Inspector Donovan) and dumb assistant detective (Edward Gargan back as Detective Bates, always saying "Sorry, Chief").

Jane Randolph is lively and funny as the usual spunky girl reporter who sticks her nose in and helps out: "Well, I'm only a fashion reporter," she admits early on, "but I'll get a police beat someday!"

Conway is good as the new Falcon, stepping into the role quite confidently. Sanders, on his way out of the series, is perhaps a little less interested…but fun to watch nevertheless, especially in the couple of scenes he shares with brother Conway.

Fast-moving espionage mystery, last for George Sanders, in the Falcon series. Plot include a fairly neat transition to real-life and character brother to take over and continue the fight against Nazi Germany. George is suave with the ladies (because he knew it was his last film in the series?). Lots of twists and turns as we weave our way through poisoned cigars (La Prima Donna), break ins, impersonating an officer, clues that disappear, house of fashion and a fashion magazine. In the end, the Falcon takes the shot meant for a Latin American diplomat and brother Tom Lawrence accepts the challenge from a foreign voice on the phone who warns him that he will get what his brother did if he doesn't leave well enough alone. Well, it was 1942 and no self-respecting producer wasn't going to have his hero support the war effort. Not a great movie, but enjoyable and about as good as these ever got. Recommended.

This is the fourth of the Falcon films, in which both George Sanders and his real life brother Tom Conway appear. It was the occasion for the handover of the role. Sanders and Conway have many scenes together, and vie to out-do each other in suaveness and urbanity, and it is a tie. Then Sanders is knocked unconscious and spends much of the film in bed, which he doubtless found restful. At the end, Sanders sacrifices his life in the struggle against Nazism (it is after all 1942 and the plot deals with German agents) and presto, Tom Conway is and for the remaining series of films will be the Falcon. This film has a higher budget than the preceding ones (there is even a ship), the plot is complicated, it is all more solid and convincing. In fact, it is a very entertaining tale. Keye Luke has now become the falcon's butler, adding his own charm and wit to the team, and doing amusing impersonations of pidgin English (he was Chinese) when he wants to put off 'dames' who phone too often. The falcon's sidekick is now played by Don Barclay, which like the addition of Keye Luke is a great improvement. This film was edited by Mark Robson, later to be a famous director, and the improved editing shows. However, because the screenwriters have changed, all the great gags and one-liners have disappeared, there is no more crackling dialogue, and the Falcon series is no longer a laugh a minute.

George Sanders plays The Falcon for the last time in "The Falcon's Brother," a 1942 programmer starring Sanders, Tom Conway, and Jane Lawrence. The intricate plot focuses on a fashion house and a fashion magazine, poisoning with cigars, mistaken identity, and lots of other things in a mere 1 hour and 10 minutes or so. It's 1942, so you can also expect Nazis to be involved. "Something changed after Pearl Harbor," a character tells Gay (Sanders). "Most things," he agrees.

This film was the transition so that Sanders' real-life brother, Tom Conway, could take over the series. Sanders was somewhat smoother than his brother, more suave and handsome, but Conway was a serviceable actor, and their speaking voices were somewhat close. There was just something about Sanders that made him so good as the Falcon and the Saint - panache maybe. Both Gay and Tom go after the women like crazy in this one. Always fun and light entertainment.

'The Falcon's Brother' is most notable for being George Sanders' last outing as the Falcon and his real life brother Tom Conway debuting and taking over nine more times subsequently. Having really enjoyed the first three films, 'The Falcon's Brother' was decent enough but somewhat of a disappointment at the same time.

Of the four Falcon films with Sanders, to me it's the weakest, with a lot of merits but also some glaring flaws. While Sanders is underused and it is somewhat obvious that he had tired of the role (having performed with more enthusiasm in the first two films) he is charismatic and suave enough. Conway is a strong presence, making a more than credible role debut.

Mostly the supporting cast were underwhelming, but Jane Randolph was suitably sprightly and spunky with great rapport with Conway (it is their scenes where the film particularly comes alive) and Keye Luke is very amusing and brings a real charm to a character that could easily have been annoying and out of place.

'The Falcon's Brother' looks just fine, with a lot of elegance and atmosphere in the settings and the film is shot with style and class as well as a real sense of genre. The music is lively and haunting, and the story is mostly suspenseful and engrossing, going at an efficient pace, faring stronger in the mystery elements than the comedy. It's complicated but it doesn't feel jumpy or rushed, which is remarkable for a film that is not that long.

However, Stanley Logan's direction while efficient is unimaginative while the ending does feel rushed and abrupt. The comedy is amusing and light enough, but doesn't crackle as much as the previous three films and some of it veers on the repetitive, while the patriotic elements are laid on too thick and don't really fit very well.

Particularly disappointing is the notable and deeply lamented absences of James Gleason and Allen Jenkins, scene stealers in the previous films. The replacement characters/actors are not only not as good, they don't even come close and are vastly inferior. Saw no point to the character of Lefty, and the film even fails to provide a reason for Goldy's absence which harms the continuity somewhat, and Don Barclay plays him witlessly and all annoyance and no sense of fun or charm. Cliff Clark resorts to buffoonish mugging, and Edward Gargan is particularly hampered by repetitive material (particularly the patter between him and Clark) and struggles to bring freshness to it.

In conclusion, decent if disappointing. Good for curiosity value but there's better in the series. 6/10 Bethany Cox