A Date with the Falcon

The Falcon film series is generally a lot of fun to watch, with many of the films very enjoyable and all worth watching at least once. The second outing 'A Date with the Falcon' is one of the better ones.

Not perfect by all means. 'A Date with the Falcon' did feel a little too short, if it was 10 minutes longer it would have given the mystery aspects a little more explanation instead of a few parts being hastier and not as easy to follow as others. Wendy Barrie was very likable and entertaining in 'The Gay Falcon' (the first and very enjoyable outing in the series), but here she is in a more brashly written role and the performance feels overdone and annoying.

When it comes to the production values, while not among the most visually stunning films ever made (then again 'A Date with the Falcon' is not that kind of film), 'A Date with the Falcon' is very meticulously filmed and lit with sets that are elegant and atmospheric. The music is lively and haunting, while the direction solid, the script is witty and smart (even more so, and more electrifying than that of 'The Gay Falcon') and the story a vast majority of the time very engrossing and never incoherent or a test for endurance. The characters are also a lot of fun with the only exception being Barrie's.

As said with 'The Gay Falcon', George Sanders is a truly great lead, he was never less than watchable and magnificent when at his best, and he looks so relaxed and at ease here and plays with his usual suave and imposing manner while also with an elegance, cutting aplomb and charm. James Gleason is also excellent.

Hans Conried steals scenes gleefully, and while he doesn't have as much to do Allen Jenkins is still enormous fun and also a scene stealer. Mona Maris is an alluring femme fatale.

In conclusion, one of the best outings in a series of films that are most enjoyable. 8/10 Bethany Cox

This Falcon entry (2/13) was played mainly for laughs, sometimes bordering on slapstick. The puns and wisecracks come thick and fast between the leading characters, all of them doubting everyone else's intelligence or honour. Wendy Barrie is almost manic in her assumed jealousy, James Gleason as the police Inspector is perfect and always brings his performance in "Arsenic and old lace" to my mind whenever I see him. But it's George Sanders as the Falcon and Allen Jenkins as his sidekick Goldie that have the majority of the smart ass one-liners, Sanders' body language is sometimes Music Hall but always believable.

Scientist Alec Craig apparently murdered by a gang after his formula to produce perfect synthetic diamonds, the Falcon unwillingly pulled into the caper whilst urgently trying to get off to get married to the frothing Barrie. As usual the entire NY police force was alerted to apprehend him as a murderer that no-one ever believes he really is. And Barrie loves him with a passion even though she knows he'll always love nearly all women. And Goldie stays with him wanting an easy life but knowing he'll never be getting one.

Enjoyable film, 61 minutes short but a lot seems to happen. Ed Gargan as Bates even shone here with a supreme show of brainpower!

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.

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.

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.