Le Faucon gentleman détective

I actually preferred this series of films after Tom Conway took over from his half brother George Sanders as the Falcon, Conway seemed more at ease in the role. But this was a good start, and the 12 sequels hovered around this mark until The Devil's Cargo in 1948. The Falcon was lucky in that he never had trouble having beautiful young (and older) women fall for him - a couple a film. What a pleasant problem for him when they immediately turned mega jealous of any other woman who showed up, no matter how innocent!

It's the usual murky murder mystery, but the Falcon (as private sleuth) isn't fooled for long - fortunately he knew something the viewers didn't, which led him and the police to the culprits. One scene I always enjoy is that of Turhan Bey's strangely atmospheric apartment being searched by Sanders and Barrie in the dark. But there's plenty of enjoyable moments in the 63 minutes - Sanders previously intrigued by an undertaker giggling at a comic paper is a few scenes later briefly studying one for himself - an aspect of ordinary life that he hadn't investigated before perhaps? Or being incognito as a tramp but giving the policeman waving him off a cigar as a present, before pulling out his pipe. You'd have to see it to understand Sander's mixed emotions in that scene! All in all not Kane, but well worth watching again and again as I have done!

The copies I have of the series were off UK TV in 1987, most were '50's TV dupes and these would have needed TLC even then to eliminate some frame wobble and jumpy scratches etc. I hope they have been saved from further decomposition since because all the Sanders/Conway outings are a pleasant watch.

George Sanders is "The Gay Falcon," a 1941 film, the first entry into the Falcon series. The title has a double meaning, as the Falcon's first name is Gay. Though it's a programmer, "The Gay Falcon" has quite an uptown cast, including Gladys Cooper, Allen Jenkins, Turhan Bey, and Wendy Barrie.

The Falcon and his sidekick Goldie (Jenkins) are insurance brokers in this, and Gay is, as usual, engaged. After turning down an invitation to a fancy party, Helen, secretary to a Perle Mesta type named Maxine who is giving the party, begs him to attend in order to prevent a jewel robbery. Maxine's events have been the scene of a string of jewel robberies. So Gay attends. A woman who insisted on wearing a huge diamond is murdered. Gay is on the case.

George Sanders makes a very appealing Falcon - he's tall, elegant, and smooth, with a great voice and off-the-cuff delivery. He gives the role a light, breezy quality. The rest of the cast is very good. Turhan plays a swarthy, suspicious type - this was pre-Maria Montez and Sabu. It's always great to see the Turhan Bey, one of the actors who benefited from the man shortage in Hollywood during World War II. Though he eventually returned to his native Vienna to work as a photographer, he did quite a few television appearances in the '90s.

Alas, there is a bit of casting that sort of gave the denouement away for this viewer, but the mystery is not really the point of The Falcon series. The point is to have fun, which you will.

Always enjoyed these old time movies where George Sanders, (Gay Laurence/The Falcon) plays a private detective. Sanders only appeared in a few of these films and his brother Tom Conway took over the role and played in quite a few series of the Falcon. In this picture Gay Laurence decided to get out of the detective business and become a stock broker on Wall St., NYC. However, he soon changes his mind when he decides to get involved with catching some Jewel Thieves who are also involved with Insurance companies. There is plenty of drama and lots of comedy especially when the Falcon goes into bars and fancy night clubs and orders a special glass of Spinage Juice everywhere he goes. This is a low budget film that was usually shown along with another movie and then a Newsreel a few Cartoons for a big Saturday night on the town. If you like George Sanders when he was young, this is the picture for you.

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.

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.