The Falcon Strikes Back

While the Falcon nurses a monumental hangover, a beautiful woman arrives in his room. All she wants is help from the suave detective. And the Falcon is never one to refuse a beautiful girl anything. Soon he is investigating murder and a forgery racket with the aid of a glamorous reporter and his side-kick Goldy.

Starts with the Falcon having a hangover and a damsel in distress and he ends up with a sore head and the bumbling police after him. He heads to a resort where he gets involved with a dodgy hotel owner, a puppeteer, a murder and almost gets run down - all par for the coarse for our suave hero. A standard tale, diverting enough, though it meanders a little. Nice rooftop finale.

First in the series in which Tom Conway stars fully on his own as the Falcon. Tom starts and ends this movie by being dragged into danger by a beautiful damsel in distress – Rita Corday starts her appearances in the series with this film. Some good comic bits include two tramps telling Tom the time by an improvised sundial (and then commenting on how fortunate they are for their state of affairs compared to Tom). The basic plot involves a war bond theft, a murder at a swimming pool, and Tom's relationship with Jane Randolph (who swoons to his kiss). Cliff Edwards' only appearance as Goldie Locke (better portrayed in later films by Edward Brophy). Edwards does much better later as the voice of Jiminy Cricket. Edgar Kennedy seems miscast but the introduction of a puppeteer as a character is interesting. An early Harriet Hilliard as a resort manager will be more remembered in the Ozzie and Harriet TV series. The Falcon and his cronies always seem to outmaneuver and yet assist the bumbling policemen. The past is too fast for much character development. Good directing saves this entry into what is otherwise only a fair series.

That Harriet Nelson (aka Hilliard) could even be suspected of murder seems sacrilegious. What would Ozzie Nelson say or David and Rickey. After all, her sweet tempered, sensible mother was one of the iconic moms of the 1950's (1). Oh well, she does show an edgier side here as the hotel manager. All in all, results look like she was a fine actress whose all-around talent was seldom tapped.

The movie itself is a fairly routine Falcon. Seems a war bond scam is going on at the hotel, but who's behind it and how does it tie in with a series of murders. Leave it to the Falcon to sort out, along with his humorously dim-witted sidekick, Goldie (Edwards). There's plenty of eye candy for the guys. And since this is in the middle of the big war (1943), I expect the girl- heavy cast was for the guys in uniform. In fact, Erford Gage (Rickey) was killed in action near war's end. Note too that the director is Ed Dmytryck who went on to direct such noir classics as Murder, My Sweet (1944) and Crossfire (1947). Catch some of that style in the shadowy lighting and odd camera angle.

Anyway, the plot's pretty convoluted, but that's not the main draw, for me at least. Instead, it's the suave Conway, snappy throwaway lines, and, of course, the comely girls, which makes this latter a special treat.

(1) The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet, (1952-1966)

This is the fifth Falcon film, the first with Tom Conway in the role, and the first with a major director, Ed Dmytryk. Consequently, artistic shots begin to appear: when someone pulls a gun on one occasion, Dmytryk cuts to a dramatic closeup of the gun barrel pointing at the camera. An ingenious tracking shot of Conway walking along the edge of a swimming pool talking to a woman who is swimming was replicated in 1985, 42 years later, in 'The Sure Thing' directed by Rob Reiner. The screenwriters of the previous film have been dumped because they did not provide enough humour, and this time humour is back, and plenty of it. Dialogue crackles again in top form. Unfortunately, Keye Luke as the butler is gone, so a lot is lost in that department. There are some splendid villains, and it is a good solid wartime espionage thriller, excellent B movie stuff. Conway is as urbane and smooth as his brother, and just as compulsive a girl-chaser. There are some wonderful gags, and the women swooning as Conway kisses them, or flocking to his arms asking for his help, are played for all they are worth. Wonderful fun and an intriguing mystery tale done with style.

Tom Lawrence gets off to a good start on his own as he wakes up with a hangover but with a sexy Latino lady standing over his bed. Mia Bruger is her name and she tells the Falcon of her concern for her missing brother. He meets her later to discuss the matter but someone knocks him out. He wakes up later on a country road in the backseat of his car with little knowledge of where he is. When he is arrested for a bank robbery and a murder, Lawrence works put that he has been set up and goes on the lamb to solve the crime and why he was set up.

In his first film on his own, Tom Conway opens with a typically suave turn in bed, hungover from his night on the town and waking with a beautiful woman in his room. From here the plot moves well to set up the mystery. It isn't a gripping thriller but it holds the interest by having enough going on and sufficient plot twists occur to help keep the pace up throughout. Much more enjoyable than the previous entry (Falcon's Brother) in this regard, the film is well written and well delivered.

After a so-so start in the last film, Conway seems like he was made for the role and within a few seconds of the first scene he is into it and great fun. His detecting skills are on show and he mixes them well with a debonair delivery and screen presence – the memory of Sanders slipped from my mind. Hilliard works well alongside him but, unusually for the series, there are quite a few strong female performances from Randolph, Gibson and Corday. After Lefty in the last film we get Goldie returning but this time played by Edwards. It is a basic turn and not as funny as I would have liked. Better comic support value comes from the pairing of Clark and Gargan (straight man and stupid man respectively); the simple comic scenes involving them are not imaginative but they do provide a few laughs.

Overall then a good entry in the series that is much more assured than The Falcon's Brother had been the year before. Consistent and with a good pace the film benefits from solid characters and good performances to produce a typically enjoyable film in this famous b-movie series.