O Álibi do Falcão

During a day at the races, Guy Lawrence meets the wealthy Mrs Peabody and her ward, Judith Meredith and he accepts their invitation to a party later that night. Judith confides in The Falcon that she fears she will be accused if more of Mrs Peabody's jewels are stolen – she already has a suspicious insurance investigator on her case due to a previous claim. When the jewels do get stolen and a butler murdered, Judith is suspected and turns to the Falcon to help solve the mystery and save her.

Several years after the falcon series changed hands, and everyone seems a lot more comfortable than they did in that first vehicle where Conway first went solo. The plot here is the usual mix of pretty girls, mystery, red herrings and gentlemanly action. It is hardly the most original stuff ever made but it is a reasonably enjoyable little story even if it didn't grip me in the way that a really good thriller should do. The film has enough energy, intrigue and humour to do the job and, although the material is just entertainment, everything more or less comes together. The first song of the two is really cute and the humour is mostly good.

A big part of this is everyone hitting their marks right. Conway seems perfect for the role now and seems a lot more confident. He is as good as Saunders was here. Barnett is on point as Goldy as well; at first he was a poor replacement for Lefty but, after being dropped from at least one of the movies, he is good here. It is just as well really since the comic relief usually provided by the police is absent and replaced with a dour insurance man who has little to do. Corday is yet another blonde for the Falcon to woo and she does well enough for that sort of role. He's a little hammy but Cook is always interesting and we also have solid support from Robards Snr, Howard, Jane Greer and Bridge.

Overall not a superb film but a better than average entry in an entertaining series of films. Everyone seems at home and enjoying their roles and it is almost a shame that the series was just approaching the end of its 13 film run.

This is the twelfth Falcon film. It has exciting appearances in it of Jane Greer, aged 22 but looking and behaving 32, and Elisha Cook, Junior. This is apparently the only film in which Jane Greer plays a singer, and she sings very well. Her song is absolutely extraordinary in that the lyrics feature planned silences and hesitating phrases which drop out of the rhythm, and frankly I have never heard a song pull off such tricks successfully, and the film is worth seeing for the song, not because the melody is any good, but because the song is musically unique as far as I know and would repay close study and analysis by any serious song writer. Elisha Cook gets to do more acting than usual in this film, and he is even scarier than usual, and completely convincing, as always. Jane Greer did not become a noted noir player until the following year, and was still obscure at this stage. Jean Brooks is in this one, but gets very little screen time and her presence is frankly wasted. I guess because she was part of the team, they were inventing a pretext for her to have a fee. We get to see her in a revealing gown with exposed back, which menacing ice maidens don't normally show, but that's about all. Rita Corday is in this one too, and she gets a big part and shines. Vince Barnett is much less annoying as Goldie the sidekick than the atrocious Edward Brophy in the preceding film, though he still gets on one's nerves. The film was well directed by Ray McCarey, who died only two years later at the age of only 44. Believe it or not, I actually knew the man who wrote the story for this film, whose name was Manny Seff. He was a very delightful and amusing guy, a great conversationalist, story teller, and joke cracker, who was getting old when I was very young, and it adds dimension to an old movie when you can say: 'There's Manny Seff's name as the writer!' He is exactly the kind of fellow I had always imagined writing these stories, and there suddenly his name appeared on the screen to prove it. I can't say it was a total surprise, it just seemed so appropriate. Judging from what I know of him, and guess about the others, these people must all have had a lot of fun making these films, which is probably one reason why they are so entertaining.

One of the later chapters for Tom Conway as "The Falcon"! the usual cast... Elisha Cook was in so many early black and whites and film noirs. Vince Barnett as "Goldie". Jason Robard SENIOR ! is in here as Harvey. and Rita Corday is "Joan". in the usual fashion, the falcon is caught up in the plot, and is found with the missing jewels, and tries to explain to the police why he now has the missing jewels. or are they really the missing pearls ?? The falcon has to prove himself to the po-po yet again. Can he do it in time? and as usual, Cook is "Nick", the wide eyed errand boy, who gets caught in the middle. it's all according to formula, so average marks for this one. entertaining enough, but nothing really new. Directed by Ray McCarey... he had directed Laurel & Hardy, as well as the Three Stooges, so he was a pro for sure ! he was the brother of bigshot Leo McCarey.

Some people would kill to possess Mrs Peabody 's pearls - but when somebody does so, did they get the real necklace? And if everybody has a strong alibi, who committed the crime? The famous 'Falcon', sleuth extraordinary Tom Lawrence , must outwit the police to find the answers.

I thoroughly enjoy the Falcon series, especially when played by Tom Conway, who oozes class as the heroic character in the mould of the Saint, and usually the Falcon films are enjoyable, fast paced, and cozily fun with good production values, however this is a slightly lesser entry with some slow spots, but it's still enjoyable, and gets more suspenseful and a little edgy towards the end, especially with the Jane Greer and Elisha Cook Jnr angle.

The Falcon RKO film series is mostly very enjoyable, with both George Sanders and his brother Tom Conway who took over from him being great in the title role.

Admittedly, some are better than others. For examples there are some particularly fun entries such as 'The Gay Falcon', 'A Date with the Falcon', 'The Falcon Strikes Back', 'The Falcon and the Co-eds', 'The Falcon in Hollywood' and 'The Falcon in San Francisco', while others while still very much watchable disappoint a little such 'The Falcon's Brother', 'The Falcon in Danger', 'The Falcon Out West' and 'The Falcon in Mexico'.

On the most part, while not fitting among either extreme of whether among the best or weakest Falcon films, 'The Falcon's Alibi' is solid fun and works well. The culprit is pretty obvious early on, almost from when they are first introduced, and the ending is a little hasty and abrupt (not an uncommon problem in this series). While most of the supporting cast are great, there are a few that don't quite make an impression.

Jean Brooks is wasted due to being given so little to do, and while Al Bridge and Edmund Cobb do alright, they are in types of roles filled more effectively in the Falcon series by Cliff Clark and Edward Gargan as well as James Gleason. Vince Barnett was only serviceable as Goldie, personally thought that Edward Brophy had more enthusiasm and that Allen Jenkins was more of a scene-stealer, Barnett was an admirable stooge but his material is a little bland in places and he occasionally overdid it (by all means not a bad performance).

However, a lot also does work. The music is lively and haunting, the songs are particularly great and the use of them ingenious, and on the most part the production values are slick and atmospheric with particularly nicely done photography. The film is directed with liveliness and tautness, while the script is playful and much of the story is absorbing and goes at a bright and breezy pace with the odd bit of dark suspense.

Conway is dapper, suave, charismatic and amusingly cutting here, he always thrived in the title role and 'The Falcon's Alibi' sees him give one of his most confident performances in the role. Rita Corday is low-key and charming, while Emory Parnell is amusing (though his screen time is short) and Esther Howard and Jason Robards Snr are solid. The two best supporting performances are a sizzling Jane Greer and a sinister Elisha Cook Jnr.

All in all, solid fun if not among the best or weakest of a mostly enjoyable series of films. 7/10 Bethany Cox