The Gay Falcon

This is a pleasant B-film from The Falcon series with (by today's standards) a misleading title.

GEORGE SANDERS is the woman-chasing sleuth who always manages to get involved in a crime the police cannot solve without his help. WENDY BARRIE is the flirtatious woman who goes along with him on a series of adventures that have them on the hunt for the murder of a woman wearing a very expensive diamond. ALLEN JENKINS is Sander's side-kick, amusing as usual in a supporting role.

The cast is full of surprises--never expected to see GLADYS COOPER as a rich society dame with a key role in the mystery, TURHAN BEY (a rising young star at the time), and EDWARD BROPHY and ARTHUR SHIELDS as baffled police officers.

Sanders says every line in that dryly sarcastic manner he would use as Addison deWitt in ALL ABOUT EVE years later, but he seems to be enjoying his role. There's nothing very ingenious about the plot, but it does come up with a surprise toward the end because Sanders has information withheld from the viewer.

I haven't seen any of the other Falcon films, so I have the benefit of seeing this and not knowing what comes afterwards. Quite frankly, having watched I can't guess what comes next - whether Gay Lawrence (the Falcon) stays with his fiancée and an impending marriage that never quite comes off becomes some kind of running joke like John Howard's Bulldog Drummond of the late 30's, or if Wendy Barrie's character Helen Reed becomes the Falcon's new girl, or if the Falcon has no girl or another girl entirely in the coming entries, but the ending had me wanting to see the next one.

Of course the wit and wisdom of George Sanders is a plus in any film, and as The Falcon it is unclear what his background is in this entry. The Falcon seems to be a man of means, but he doesn't seem to have a profession nor does he seem to be a reformed criminal either. At the beginning of the film he has set up shop as a broker on Wall Street to satisfy his fiancée that he is through with "crime detecting" as she calls it and wants to settle down, although when she drops in to visit both The Falcon and his assistant Goldy Locke are dead asleep at their desks. She has come to ask him to a society party, the idea obviously bores him, and he declines. Later, though, the personal secretary of the society woman giving the party shows up (Wendy Barrie as Helen Reed) and pleads with the Falcon to attend the party, as jewelry has been stolen at all of the woman's recent parties, and another robbery will ruin her reputation. Suddenly the Falcon is interested in attending, but doesn't tell his fiancée why.

Jewelry is not stolen at this party, but one of the guests in attendance slips the Falcon an expensive ring while they are dancing - she has no explanation as to why she does this and seems to have the Falcon confused with someone else. A few minutes later she is found shot dead. Worse, Goldy is held as a material witness to the crime, so now the Falcon is involved and must solve the crimes. Meanwhile he has both an angry fiancée on his hands and the society lady's swooning secretary, who loves the adventure of tracking down criminals alongside the Falcon.

This is a very good entry that has a very interesting supporting cast. Allen Jenkins is a natural and in good contrast to the suave Sanders as the Falcon's assistant. Edward Brophy is cut from the same cloth as Jenkins and is good as a police detective. Turhan Bey shows up outside of a Universal film for a change as an exotic and mysterious suspect. Arthur Shields, brother of Barry Fitzgerald and a dead ringer for him, seems a bit out of place as Inspector Mike Waldeck, whom the Falcon is more than ready to give credit to for solving the crime.

Recommended as a fast paced good start to the series.

This 60-minute programmer shows just how efficient and entertaining Hollywood's little films could be during its so-called Golden Age. It's the first of the Falcon series, at a time when amateur sleuths (Boston Blackie, The Saint, et al.) were popular movie fare. Here, the great George Sanders plays Gay Lawrence aka "the Falcon", and an imposing presence he is both physically and intellectually. No wonder the ladies line up. So what's going on at old lady Gardner's swanky parties where expensive jewels seem to disappear as part of the festivities. And guess who is intrigued enough to get on the case. Then too, he's got help from an array of lively supporting players.

I love these 40's films where the women's styles are fancy and eye-catching, like the hats that sometimes resemble alien life forms and the dresses that hike up when they sit. No wonder Lawrence is often distracted. He's got two lovelies, Vale and Barrie, giving him the eye, and maybe more if he'd just slow down a bit. The plot doesn't really matter, convoluted as it is. Instead there's enough character color, snappy dialog, and lively pacing to more than compensate. However, put the writers ahead 60-years to our time. What would they think of having macho Sanders utter their innocent line, "Just call me Gay". Sometimes, I guess, changes over time are not always for the better.

I have seen this movie several times (months ago), and kept it on my DVR, meaning to write a review. Don't miss this movie. I have seen most of the Falcon series films (both with Sanders and Conway), and this (which happens to be the first Falcon film) is by far the best. It is excellent in its own right.

Everything about it is great -- the writing, direction and acting. Nina Vale, the Falcon's fiancée, comes off very well; I wonder why she made so few films. I particularly liked Wendy Barrie; I think this is her best performance. No need to mention all the other great well-known supporting cast.

There isn't a wasted scene in the movie. It was meticulously made. Wonderful dialog and gibes. Very logical screenplay.

One perplexing thing about the move, and it doesn't bother me much: throughout the movie, the Falcon (Sanders) is saying that he loves Elinor Benford (played by Vale) and wants to marry her. Yet in scene after scene he is constantly flirting with Helen Reed (played by Barrie) and other women, in front of Elinor. And the women return the favors.

This was the first of the Falcon films starring George Sanders, based on a story by Michael Arlen. Sanders is compulsively watchable, indeed mesmerising, as the smoothie amateur detective. He persuades his fiancée not to force him to go to a boring party by saying: 'Well, if you really want to be surrounded by a lot of people while I'm telling you I love you.' So many crisp one-liners in this film. Even one of the villains approaches a woman to dance with the line: 'Will you teach me to dance?' This was when Hollywood writers knew how to write crackling dialogue. Sanders plays along with the fun with such insouciant perfection that he is a marvel of the screen. One could watch this film a dozen times and still be dazzled at the effortlessness with which Sanders oozes his caddish charm in bucket-loads. No one ever surpassed him in this quality. And his tongue is so far into his cheek you can see it poking out. This film is also notable for the appearance of Gladys Cooper in a major supporting role; she is as mesmerising as Sanders, and their scenes together are a marvel. Wendy Barrie is also quick as a whip, lively as a frog jumping on a hot rock, and winsome as a kitten. Anyone interested in B Movie gems needs to collect this one.