O Anel da Morte

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.

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.

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

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.

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.