Appointment with Murder

In the second of three 'Falcon' mysteries starring John Calvert, he is working for Lyle Talbot's insurance company recovering stolen paintings. The trail leads to Italy, where an interesting variation on the 'Gold Ring' confidence game is in operation. Artist Peter Brocco offers Calvert a painting by the artist of the stolen paintings. While Calvert is thinking the deal over -- because he's not sure they're real -- he is offered a huge profit on them; the confidence game will end after he has paid and taken possession, whereupon they will be stolen from him.

It's a nicely tangled mystery that leads him to Catherine Craig, a gallery owner and art authenticator in Los Angeles, and cross and double cross. Every time Calvert seems to have been swindled, he gets out of it with such nonchalant ease that all suspense is drained out of the movie: demonstrating that it takes more than a pencil-thin mustache, an erratic Ronald Colman imitation, and the writers on your side to make a movie star.

Not that RKO was the cream of studios in Hollywood. But those Falcon movies that were done there looked like Gone With The Wind next to these last Falcon movies with John Calvert. In fact this independent makes a typical PRC film look good.

Calvert is off to Italy and back searching for a pair of paintings that the owner Peter Brocco claims were stolen. When Calvert finds one of them he finds out also it's a fake and the artist who copied it is murdered.

So it's back to Los Angeles and to art dealer Catherine Craig who is involved though Calvert does not know how much.

These Falcon films aren't a patch on the George Sanders/Tom Conway films done at RKO. This one is one dull snooze.

The movie may lack visual style, but the two leads, Calvert & Craig, certainly don't. They wear their wardrobes like statuesque models that make for an eye-catching duo. Plot-wise the screenplay should have been junked-- no suspense, no whodunit, and barely any interest, unless, that is, you care whether the classic paintings are original or not. In fact, the narrative plays sloppily with the idea bouncing it around for 67-minutes. At the very least, a re-write was in order, but then the budget production may have been on a hurry-up schedule.

On the plus side is comparatively decent acting, especially from the lively Craig who steals the show, at least in my little book. Also picking up a payday is the versatile Ben Welden who has a real knock-down-drag-out with Calvert. I also like the way the detective shows his battle scars for the rest of the film, something Hollywood usually erased in the next scene. Also, watch for the deliciously eccentric James Griffith just starting out and as a detective, no less. There're also a few good location shots of downtown LA circa 1948.

But on the whole, the detective flick fails to register, thanks mainly to a boring screenplay.

Another forgettable in-name-only Falcon movie from Film Classics starring John Calvert. The plot has the supposed Falcon Michael Watling (Calvert) tracking down stolen paintings for an insurance company. Riveting stuff. Most scenes involve Calvert walking into a drab room and exchanging boring lines with someone you wouldn't be able to pick out of a lineup five minutes later. It's a cheap-looking film with little action or humor. Just lots of talking and not a single line of memorable dialogue. Calvert is very dull. He may sound a bit like Lee Van Cleef but has none of his screen presence. I miss Conway and Sanders. This is not a good movie. Only of interest to insomniacs.

This is the second of John Calvert's three "The Falcon" features released on 24 NOV 48.

You may recognize many of the actors from the time. That is part of the fun in watching; this includes the third Falcon, John Calvert, who might not be as revered as the first two Falcon actors.

-------- Michael Waring aka The Falcon (John Calvert) is hired by an insurance company to retrieve two stolen paintings. In the process, he travels to Italy and encounters murder.

The plot thickens when many people are double-crossed and even the paintings are suspected to be forgeries.

Will the Falcon succeed? Or there just might be another murder!