O Álibi do Falcão

Tom Conway as the Falcon re-playing the part his brother George Sanders did in the first of this series -- The Gay Falcon -- breaking up a phony insurance scam. Supporting cast includes Rita Corday again. For some reason in this entry we see Vice Barnett playing the role of Goldie Locke that is much better done elsewhere by Edward Brophy. Best part of movie is watching Elisha Cook play the small insecure and obsessed man married to a beautiful woman -- Jane Greer. Cook gives you a glimpse of what he does better in more notable films, but his performance warrants your attention in this otherwise formula entry.

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.

While in jail, The Falcon tells Goldie that, when in a jam, insouciance is required. Suave insouciance is Tom Conway's forte, but there is too much of that here. Conway is heading toward apathy. After all those previous Falcon movies, Conway seems like he is walking through his part. His performance lacks energy. The same could be said for Rita Corday. Jean Brooks, who always played a most intriguing romantic part in previous Falcon films, has so little to do here, she is practically an extra.

I suspect that this film was made as a showcase for Jane Greer. Her part with Elisha Cook, Jr, unstable as usual, is almost a separate story. Greer has many closeups and sings sultry songs. She gets a lot of attention in an other rushed movie.

The mystery is not really developed but it is okay. It is always nice to see the Falcon. He was a proto-James Bond

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.

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.