Le Faucon à San Francisco

Tom Lawrence, The Falcon, is on a train for a vacation in San Francisco. Along for the ride is his sometimes sidekick, Goldie Locke. They meet a cute 9-year old girl named Annie Marshall and her equally cute little dog, Diogenes. She claims she's being held prisoner in her own house in SF. The Falcon and Goldie don't believe her, but then Annie's nurse turns up dead and the SF PD suspect The Falcon. He now believes Annie's story and sets about finding out what's going on. The story gets a little complicated and the viewer has to watch close to keep up. There's no Cliff Clark and Edward Gargan to provide comic relief as bumbling New York cops and the film suffers for it. There is plenty of stock footage of San Francisco to keep the viewer interested. Watch for Myrna Dell in a bit part as a hotel guest who is definitely not interested in Goldie. 9-year old Sharyn Moffett is quite good as Annie. Both her parents had been in show business and her mother pushed her into a Hollywood career. Sharyn was quite religious and soon left the business, got married, and moved to Pennsylvania where both she and her husband became Episcopalian ministers. Sharon (she changed the spelling to the biblical way) later became head of the national Big Sisters Organization.

This is a movie that can be enjoyed on a superficial level, but if you think too much about the plot it might just give you a headache. That's because the plot often just doesn't make much sense--particularly the far-fetched ending.

Tom Conway plays his usual dapper role as Tom Lawrence ("The Falcon") and the film is greatly improved by having his old sidekick ("Goldy", played by Eddie Brophy). For some reason, while earlier Falcon films always featured a sidekick, for quite a few of Conway's film the sidekick had disappeared--making the films a bit flat and needing an infusion of humor. Also, fortunately, there is no ditsy female to clutter up the film. The female leads in THE FALCON IN Hollywood and several other previous films were just awful--playing both love interests and comic relief. However, they all just came off as annoying. Fortunately, Goldy is not annoying but provided able support--as did the cute little kid who appeared in the film. Often, cute kids are detriments to a film but here she infuses a nice new element to the film.

While I could TRY to explain the film, frankly it didn't make all that much sense to me and I am sure it would only confuse you if I tried! It was that convoluted! For fans of the series, this is a good and welcome addition to the series. But for others, it's probably not going to make them fans of the Falcon films.

I watched this expecting, given the budget limitations of B-picture series, to see only a few "establishing shots" of San Francisco from stock footage, but a surprising number of scenes appear actually to have been shot on location -- or were at least very convincingly matted. Even more impressive is the film's rather successful grasp of San Francisco atmosphere. Too-handsome tough guys, a twisted dame with a streak of brutality, a gloomy Nob Hill mansion, and details like the extras in the nightclub scene and the furnishings in the dame's apartment are all done quite as well as in the higher-budgeted "Out of the Past." Some continuity elements seem to have been left on the cutting room floor, as in other RKO noirs, but to good effect, and it is obvious the bit players (including Dorothy Adams) were carefully chosen. Better preserved than some of the Falcon pictures, this one merits attention beyond the context of the series.

Tom "The Falcon" Lawrence (Tom Conway) and his sidekick Goldie Locke are on the train to San Francisco. They befriend cutie Annie Marshall and her little dog. She tells them that she's being held prisoner by her nurse. The nurse is dead and the Falcon suspects murder. When they arrive in San Francisco, the Falcon gets arrested for kidnapping the little girl while he's trying to bring her home.

I love the start with the little girl. Goldie and her have a fun energy. It's fun whenever the girl shows up. The plot gets convoluted real quick. It's downright Kafkaesque. It's fun in its audacity. There's no point in trying to solve the whodunnit. I don't even follow the whatisit. It's much better to enjoy the wild and crazy ride. It's the 11th entry in the series.

"The Falcon in San Francisco" is a 1945 entry into The Falcon series starring Tom Conway. This one has some nice shots of San Francisco and captures the city's atmosphere - old timers familiar with the city will love it. In this one, Tom and Goldie (Edward Brophy) meet a cute little girl (Sheryl Moffett) and her dog Diogenes on a train. While traveling, the girl's nurse is found dead. The Falcon and Goldie soon find themselves in a web of intrigue involving a crime ring, a shipping company, and a secret kept by the girl's beautiful sister (Rita Corday). King Kong's Robert Armstrong plays the shipping company's business manager. The mystery is actually pretty good, and the film moves quickly.

For some reason, these Falcon films always end somewhat abruptly. However, it's enjoyable.