RKO were enjoying success with George Sanders in The Saint movies but apparently Leslie Charteris was being a nuisance, so they palmed the Saints off to Hugh Sinclair and developed a new B picture series, from a series of stories by Michael Arlen. Arlen’s tales weren’t as well known as Charteris’s but they proved popular with film audiences and 16 Falcons in all resulted. If the series is remembered today it’s probably because (a) we never found out why the Falcon was called the Falcon (in the original story that was his name but they changed it) (b) the Falcon’s first name was Gay and he would say to women seductively “I’m Gay” (c) the series was the first film to use Raymond Chandler as source material.
It starts with Falcon (Sanders) trying a new career as a stock broker – which doesn’t really mean anything since he hasn’t been established for audiences yet. He also has a bug-eyed girlfriend who is always wanting him to give up his old ways and settle down, a little like Bulldog Drummond.
Wendy Barrie, so bland in three Saint movies, was recruited to play the female co-star. She’s a bit more animated here, as a romantic secretary with a crush on the Falcon, but you can’t help wishing they’d got someone better. Allen Jenkins plays (surprise) a wacky sidekick – he’s actually the focus point of the plot, having witnessed a murder, which leads to a bunch of jewel thieves.
There’s a wacky Chinese servant, Gladys Cooper adds class as a scared damsel in distress, and that ever-reliable expert in 40s foreign menace Turhan Bey pops up in the support cast as a gigolo type. But the best thing about it is Sanders; the Falcon is a bit rougher than the Saint, and Sanders looks heavy in some scenes, but he’s got that cad thing down pat, and it’s fun to see him flirt with every female going, even Gladys Cooper, and all these women fall over him. (The Falcon is a bigger swinger than the Saint).
NB You know who could play George Sanders parts today? Rupert Everett – all that hedonism and bored aplomb. Maybe someone should think about Everett to play the Falcon or the Saint.
This is no classic, but it hums along well enough, has a nice light touch, and the story improves as it goes on. There is a neat twist ending that reveals Cooper did it.
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