Tom Conway’s first solo Falcon film was greeted with enthusiasm by audiences and ensured the survival of the series. Conway wasn’t quite as good as his brother – the voice was the same, but Sanders had a little bit more effortless aplomb; he also looked a bit more unique than Conway. But he still played with style and class.
Helping with continuity we see the return of Falcon’s Brooklyn sidekick, Oriental houseboy and female journo who he spars with – although some of these are played by different actors (eg Richard Loo instead of Keye Luke). There’s also a police chief who, again, thinks the Falcon has committed a crime, which the Falcon then has to solve – plus an ending where the Falcon is approached by a damsel in distress with a request to solve a crime. This one involves the theft of government war bonds that leads the Falcon to a resort.
The best scene has Conway interrogating a woman while she’s swimming laps – and then she is shot. There’s also some fun stuff involving a puppeteer (Edgar Kennedy) and when the houseboy turns up as a visiting dignitary, and a genuinely clever piece of business to enable the Falcon to escape (he pretends to throw the car keys out the window – but they’re a different set of keys).
On the down side there’s a scene where the Falcon distracts the female journo (Jane Randolph from Cat People) by kissing her – she’s supposed to be swept up in it but its done in by Randolph’s poor performance, she’s not convincing at all. This was directed by Edward Dmytryk, who gives it gloss and pace. Rita Corday, one of the supporting actors, went on to appear in several Falcon films as different characters.
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