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This time the Falcon goes Wild West, which was a nice change from the asphalt based crimes he usually dealt with – like a breath of fresh air. It's only a pity that cynical Cliff Clark and gorging Ed Gargan in their last Falcon film weren't given some horse riding to do too!

Tom Conway as Tom Lawrence doesn't want to get mixed up in a beautiful damsel in distress's marital problems but immediately takes over when the ex-husband is murdered by snakebite venom in a New York nightclub. The trail takes him – and all of the suspects too - back to the dead man's ranch and his Will, where the plot thickens. Favourite bit: the sudden late night poker game trying to hide the fact there was something to hide from the cops, to their disbelief. The barbecue evening was lovely with young Barbara Hale adding nicely to the scenery, Gargan concentrating on the food, Clark smoking in the background with the host and the Falcon concentrating on solving the crime – it only needed the Merry Mac's to round it off!

If you prefer serious meaningful modern films you sure wasted your time! It was a nice little unassuming atmospheric whodunit without being either heavy or too taxing of course, just how I like 'em in fact.

When Lyle Talbot rich Texas rancher dies of snake bite at a New York night club while he's celebrating his upcoming marriage to Carole Gallagher, that's enough cause for suspicion on its face. Tom Conway gets involved when the Talbot's ex-wife tries to hire him to break up the forthcoming nuptials. Conway says that isn't his line, but being on the scene of the murder he has to get involved if for no other reason than the cops in the persons of Cliff Clark and Edward Gargan. Whatever the answers are they're out west back at the ranch.

So all the suspects and the Falcon meet up at Talbot's ranch. They include Talbot's former business partner Minor Watson and his daughter Barbara Hale, lawyer Don Douglas, and of course the ex-wife Joan Barclay.

Barclay in fact goes west with Conway and the cops follow them. With all the Dramatus Personae in one spot the better for Conway to find the culprit.

The Falcon Out West is a decent enough entry in the Falcon series, in the middle of the pack. Fans of the series should approve.

Tom Lawrence aka The Falcon is out enjoying himself in a New York nightclub full of society types. Among them is a Texan playboy who suddenly starts complaining of a pain that feels like a snakebite, before dropping to the floor and dying. Investigating the body, Lawrence finds two marks indicating a snake had indeed bitten the man but soon finds that a minor detail as the man's fiancé flees the scene and catches a train back to Texas. Lawrence follows her and finds the police have already gotten to Texas via plane and are waiting legal papers to take her back. Lawrence investigates the murder with all the suspects on the victim's ranch in a case where he risks his own life.

By this stage in the series, things were looking like flagging and the location being built into the title (Texas and, later, Hollywood) suggested to me that the series wasn't relying on plotting and character to bring the audience in but seemed to be looking to the switching location to be enough to make the series suddenly feel fresh and interesting. In this regard the film fails because this is just the same formula but this time put into a setting that is poorly used and never really fits with the Falcon's style. The mystery story is still worth watching though because it is enjoyable in a b-movie sort of way. The setting is annoying and just seemed to be a way to drag in lots of western clichés into the film – Indians, shoot-outs, horse riding etc without really adding value at all. Fans will feel that this could have been better and they would be right because it is only average at best and isn't the best of the series by a long shot; meanwhile the causal viewer will probably not bother with this at all.

The cast are OK, filled as it is with the usual b-movie actors. Conway is a great Falcon and is the main selling point of the series with a smart performance that is lacking Saunders' rather snide edge. Hale was a nice surprise since I only know her from the Perry Mason series and she is interesting in her character. Gallagher is a bit bland and blonde and isn't very impressive. Without a sidekick for the Falcon, Gargan is the sole comic relief and he does it reasonably well without interfering with the main thrust of the film, meanwhile Clark delivers a much more serious performance as the Inspector. Talbot has a few seconds of screen time and the rest of the cast are pretty clichéd Texan role although the Indians have some minor revenge by mocking Detective Bates' assumptions of their intelligence! Overall this is an average entry in the series but it is still good enough for fans to consider it worth seeing. The location is a big distraction and isn't used very well at all but the plot is reasonably interesting and the playing is quite enjoyable for a b-movie. Like I said, worth seeing it for fans of the series like myself but I doubt that this will be the Falcon film that wins over the casual viewer.

Nice idea - bringing the urbane Falcon (Tom Conway) out west to solve the murder of a rancher (Lyle Talbot) killed by a rattlesnake bite in New York City. The rancher had a fiancée (Carole Gallagher), an ex-wife (Joan Irwin), and helpers (Minor Watson and Barbara Hale as his daughter), all of whom seem to have something to hide. Once out west, the search is on for the rancher's will and deed to his house, and the Falcon finds himself in danger.

This is actually a pretty good mystery with some old-fashioned Indians and prejudices thrown in - this is pretty common in old films, and gives one a good idea of the sensibilities of the time. Barbara Hale, who went on to play Della Street on "Perry Mason" is the most familiar face here - young and pretty, she started out as an RKO starlet. Carole Gallagher, the fiancée, had the beauty of a Lana Turner but alas, none of the spark, and her career didn't amount to much. Tom Conway does a good job at the Falcon, but I admit that I prefer George Sanders in the role.

This is an okay entry into the series.

The Falcon films, both with George Sanders and Tom Conway in the lead role, are on the most part very enjoyable. There are some very good ones like the first two Sanders Falcon films and 'The Falcon Strikes Back', though also a few disappointments like 'The Falcon in Danger'.

While it is still very much watchable, 'The Falcon Out West' is one of the series' weaker outings. There is a lot to like still, the music is lively and haunting enough, and on the most part the production values are slick and atmospheric with particularly nicely done photography. William Clemens directs efficiently, and the story mostly is bright, breezy and diverting if a little short on suspense and surprises.

Conway evidently enjoys himself in the lead, sharing all the qualities that Sanders brought in his outings. Barbara Hale brings zest and allure to her role, while Edward Gargan is handles the comedy relief amusingly and Cliff Clark is pleasingly more understated and serious.

However, while the script has often been a strength in the Falcon films it's 'The Falcon Out West's' biggest faults. It does lack the crackling wit and playfulness of the best outings and instead feels lazy and tries to throw in too many western clichés that feel very ill-fitting. In fact, the setting and the story do feel too disconnected from one another and don't fit together, the Falcon feeling too out of place within such a rustic setting and the inclusion of the western genre clichés are clumsy and jarring rather than clever.

Carole Gallagher is also very bland in an underwritten role, and sometimes the film feels rushed in trying to cram in a lot in the short (too short?) running time.

Overall, watchable but a little disappointing and not one of the better Falcon films. 6/10 Bethany Cox

Wealthy Texas rancher Lyle Talbot dies of snakebite in a Manhattan night club. This sends Tom Conway out west, where he has blonde Carole Gallagher and brunette Barbara Hale to distract him from the corpses that pile up.

It's a settled and well greased series by this time, with lots of pretty girls, a decent mystery, and as a bonus, the process shots are not fouled up beyond belief. Even by RKO's fiscally responsible standards, this series never wasted money; likewise, it invariably ran on the diffident charms of Conway and cheesecake. Both are in evidence here.

Mrs. Irwin tries to recruit Tom "The Falcon" Lawrence (Tom Conway) to stop her ex-husband cattle baron Tex Irwin from marrying gold-digger Vanessa Drake. They are all at a New York nightclub. The Falcon turns down Mrs. Irwin. Tex dies mysteriously from an unseen rattle snake bite. Police Inspector Timothy Donovan is in disbelief and he starts investigating accompanied by the less than competent Homicide Detective Bates. They all head out west.

This is the 8th movie in the series. The Falcon has always been a light crime mystery franchise with a comedic touch. He does his 'work' with a smirk. In this one, the series is doing it with a cowboy motif. Instead of a mansion, it's a ranch. There are horses, Indians, and plenty of cowboy gear. There is even a piece of scalp. It is what it is. The best way to describe this is if a buddy cop comedic TV show does a case in a western-style fake town. It happens as old western sets get some use. No one expects greatness and non is found here.

While George Saunders originally starred as the Falcon in the first few films, brother Tom Conway took over the series as the original Falcon's brother - and made it his own. Although not as famous as his brother, Conway was perfect as the Falcon - being witty, urbane and sophisticated.

When a wealthy Texas rancher (Lyle Talbot) collapses on a dance floor and dies presumably from a snake bite - the Falcon takes a train ticket and follows the rancher's fiancée (Carole Gallagher) out west to the rancher's spread.

Mysterious things start happening - the Falcon finds an Indian scalp on his door as a death warning, someone takes a shot at him when he is out riding and lots of other things. Then Hayden (Tex's lawyer) is killed in the same puzzling way. It is all solved in 65 minutes and the Falcon finds another "lady in distress".

Barbara Hale is first introduced saving a runaway coach. She plays the independent daughter of Tex's partner (Minor Watson) who is soon to be a suspect.

Barbara Hale was one of RKO's promising young starlets of the 40s. She eventually found lasting fame as Della Street in the TV series "Perry Mason".

Joan Barclay, who played Tex's ex wife had a reasonable career, starting with a bit in "The Gaucho" (1927) and ending with "The Shanghai Cobra" (1945). Carole Gallagher had a short, lack lustre career.

When a Texas playboy is murdered in a New York City nightclub the Falcon investigates. When he learns that the victim was slipped rattlesnake venom, the trail leads to Texas, his own kidnapping and near death.

Tom Conway is his usual debonair and shrewd self as the Falcon, and this time he heads out west on a case, and there's a stagecoach on the rampage, Comanche scalp warnings pinned to the door, a knife attack and an ambush by gunshot- there's plenty of mystery and suspense as well. Nice relaxing entertainment.

The Falcon heads to Texas to solve a rancher's murder. In most of the classic film series from the '30s and '40s, detective or otherwise, it seemed mandatory that they put the main character in a western setting at some point. I'm not sure whether this was done because audiences loved cowboys or to get more use out of existing western sets, as well as easy on the writers to reuse tired plots and clichés.

This is the weakest Falcon movie up to this point. It isn't much fun despite some forced comedy and the mystery is pretty limp. The western stuff is more corny than exciting. When they found an excuse to add a runaway stagecoach gag, I knew it would be a long hour. Tom Conway and the regulars do their best, but they are out of their element with this setting. Sadly this is the last appearance in the series for both Cliff Clark and Edward Gargan. The obligatory lovely ladies this time are Carole Gallagher, Barbara Hale, and Joan Barclay. Lyle Talbot has a surprisingly small part, being killed off in the first five minutes of the picture. It's not a bad movie but a bit of a disappointment following the extremely enjoyable Falcon and the Co-Eds.

I am watching The Falcon Out West right now on TCM. It's one of the better Falcon movies with Tom Conway. This one features a Texas rancher/playboy dying in a New York night club of rattlesnake bite. How could that be possible? This interesting premise takes The Falcon to the rancher's Texas ranch where all the suspects are gathered. And there's no shortage of them. Cliff Clark and Edward Gargan are on hand as the bumbling police detectives trying to keep up with Tom Lawrence's shenanigans. Minor Watson is chief suspect Dave Colby. Lyle Talbot has a small role as victim Tex Irwin. Lovelies Carole Gallagher and Joan Barclay are the women in Tex Irwin's life. Barbara Hale appears in her second straight Falcon movie (she was also in The Falcon in Hollywood) as Marion Colby, Dave's daughter. Barbara didn't have many physical scenes when she was playing Della Street on Perry Mason, but in real life she was an expert horsewoman. Barb gets to demonstrate that here as she gets a closeup while riding at full gallop to catch up with a runaway stagecoach. After the closeup scene, the stunt person takes over the actual stopping of the runaway coach. The Falcon Out West is quite interesting with a good blend of action and witty dialogue. Just sit back for 64 minutes and enjoy this one. It's worth watching.

Not too much can be said for THE FALCON OUT WEST except that it moves swiftly to its conclusion after establishing a few red herrings that make the revelation of the real murderer a somewhat mild surprise.

TOM CONWAY plays the suave detective who happens to be present when LYLE TALBOT (as a wealthy Texan) suddenly is struck by a snakebite poison and collapses. His death immediately throws suspicion on several shady characters who might have profited by inheriting his wealth.

The Falcon goes west to a ranch run by MINOR WATSON, Tex's former partner and his daughter BARBARA HALE, where mysterious attempts on his life make it clear that someone wants him out of the way before he solves the crime.

Hale is her usual charming self but her role is very underwritten. CAROLE GALLAGHER, as the young blonde fiancé of the wealthy Texan, looks like a double for the young Lana Turner but lacks the Turner charisma and seems no more than a bland beauty.

Nothing special, but it passes the time pleasantly with Conway doing an excellent job as the Falcon.

Average Falcon entry, with several notable touches. A wealthy Texan in a sophisticated New York nightclub dies suddenly on the dance floor. Okay, that's fairly standard B-movie plotting, except Tex dies from a rattlesnake bite of all things. Now last time I checked, rattlesnakes were not accepted on New York dance floors. Maybe they're found among celebrity gossips, but not between sashaying couples. So the unusual mystery deepens, taking Falcon and company out West to figure things out. Happily there're better humorous touches than usual, especially a twist on the stereotyped Indian use of "How". Still, Hollywood's version of Texas West means the rocky hills of greater LA, familiar from hundreds of cowboy matinees. Not that scenery really matters since plot and humor remain uppermost.

Then too, it's a good chance to catch Della Street, oops!, I mean Barbara Hale on horseback stop a runaway stagecoach and save our hero the Falcon from an untimely crack-up. And here I thought it was supposed to be the other way around—hero saving girl, not girl saving hero. But never mind, the suave Falcon takes it all in stride. Note too that the 1944 movie was circulated among overseas GI's. The guys may not have cared who killed Tex, but for darn sure, I'll bet they liked the three shapely ladies who are a part of it.

Anyway, it's an entertaining hour, courtesy RKO's slickly done detective series.

Tom Conway was still "the Falcon" in this one. Filmed during WW II. Co-stars Lyle Talbot (Tex, the cowboy), Carole Gallagher ( Vanessa). Cliff Clark and Ed Gargan as the coppers. When people start dying from a snake bite, the Falcon (Conway) and the cops get involved. It turns out, there's a missing ring, which may or may not be involved in the thefts... and the murders. It's a western, so of course there's bad guys and the good guys. And a stagecoach! Keep an eye on dusty (Lee Trent)... he seems to pop up everywhere! Lyle Talbot didn't win any oscars, but was in just about everything under the sun, from the beginning of talkies. Sadly, Gallagher died young at 43, unknown cause of death; had been married to Dick Foran, huge film star. Directed by Bill Clemens. He only directed 35 films... a bunch of nancy drews and falcon films. From the stories by Michael Arlen. Pretty good stuff!

The Falcon goes west to investigate the death of a Texas cattle baron - who was murdered by rattlesnake venom in a New York City nightclub.

This was a really enjoyable entry. Tom Conway was great as usual, Carole Gallagher was good as the main suspect and Barbara Hale has a small part as a cowgirl. Edward Gargan was annoying as usual. The mystery was quite good as well.

The character of the Falcon, an amateur gentleman detective similar to Leslie Charteris' "the Saint", was created by Michael Arlen, a Bulgarian-born British writer of Armenian descent, and was then taken up by Hollywood in a series of crime dramas. Arlen's hero was named Gay Falcon, but in the films he was, for unknown reasons, renamed Gay Lawrence, "the Falcon" being a nickname. (Arlen's choice of a forename for his hero was a strange one. I am well aware that in the thirties and forties the word "gay" did not carry its modern meaning of "homosexual", but even then "Gay" was well-established as a feminine Christian name). In the first four films the Falcon was played by George Sanders, who had also played the Saint in a series of films based on Charteris' books. Feeling that he was becoming typecast, Sanders dropped out of the series after the fourth film in which a new Falcon was introduced, Gay Lawrence's brother Tom. This character was played by Sanders' real-life brother, Tom Conway. (His real name was Tom Sanders; "Conway" was a stage name).

"The Falcon Out West" (aka "The Falcon in Texas") is one of Conway's contributions to the series. The Falcon is called in to investigate when Tex Irwin, a wealthy Western rancher, collapses and dies in a New York nightclub. The cause of death is established as rattlesnake venom, and as New York nightclubs are not the natural habitat of the rattlesnake the Falcon correctly suspects foul play. The action then moves to the Irwin ranch in Texas where the Falcon has no shortage of suspects- Irwin's ex-wife, his gold-digging fiancée Vanessa Drake, his business partner Dave Colby, his foreman Dusty and Colby's beautiful daughter Marion.

The film rather incongruously combines the conventions of the detective murder mystery with those of the Western. The film was made in 1944 and the action is supposed to take place in that year, but the Falcon seems to travel backwards in time, from a 1940s New York to a Texas that does not appear to have changed much since the Wild West of the 1870s or 1880s. It incorporates what have been described as all the "standard horse-opera clichés", including ambushes, shootouts, stage coaches and Indians. As in many standard Westerns of the period the portrayal of the Indians is rather stereotyped and condescending.

I preferred Tom Conway's interpretation of the Falcon to that of his brother, who struck me as being just a little too laid back, even when serious matters like murder were at stake. Conway manages to achieve the necessary lightness of touch without descending into frivolousness. As a murder mystery, however, this is not a very interesting one; I could spot who the murderer was a mile off, long before the solution to the crime was officially announced. The Western setting adds little of interest; trying to cross the whodunit with the horse-opera was not a great success. 5/10

This is the eighth of the Falcon series. At this point, the series gets a bit silly. Perhaps inspired by The Marx Brothers Go West (1940), this misguided attempt to combine a detective thriller with a stagecoach (still used by an eccentric) and men riding around with six-shooters on their hips (although it is 1944), seems a bizarre attempt to import an urban thriller into a Roy Rogers movie. The rocks and trees are the very same ones remembered from childhood, past which all the cowboys rode in all those black and white Westerns. There are even morose Indians, useful for a few gags, since when a white man says 'How' to one of them, the Indian answers: 'Very well, thank you.' There is a lot of humour, and some lively lines are spoken. The plot is sound, with some interesting twists like a ring containing rattlesnake venom with two sharp spikes, which can be jabbed into someone to simulate a rattlesnake bite. If some restraint had been shown (but none was, and all was thrown to the winds), this thriller-out-west could have worked, cowboys and all, with Tom Conway wryly observing the quaintness of Texas customs. However, all the good points of this Falcon thriller are drowned in a sea of Western silliness, like a gun floating in a bowl of mush. Falcon fans will want to watch it anyway, because they are forgiving souls.

While the film began in the big city, it soon changed venues to the American West and naturally involved an unsolved murder. Changing the locale to the West was certainly unusual and the lead seemed very out of place in such a rustic setting. However, while the locale changed, the overall story is just a typical Falcon mystery.

When the series began, the Falcon films were exceptional for the genre with wonderful acting and a freshness that set them apart from the typical B-detective series films. However, as time passed and George Sanders left the series to pursue other acting opportunities, the series began to wane. While Tom Conway (Sanders' real life brother) was excellent and bore a close similarity to Sanders, he wasn't quite as good and he was also saddled with scripts that simply lost their zip and seemed more formulaic. As a result, this film was something that previous Falcon films were not--a tad dull.

Falcon Out West, The (1944)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

A Texas millionaire is murder with rattlesnake venom so the Falcon (Tom Conway) heads to Texas to investigate. This film is a tad bit better than the previous two films due mostly to having a Western location, which adds a different touch to the typical murder mystery. Conway is more energized here and delivers a fine performance and even the supporting players are a step up from previous films with Cliff Clark stealing the show as the dimwitted but tough trying Detective. The mystery itself is pretty good with a lot of decent plot twists and even some stuff dealing with Indians who work on the ranch.