My top 10 random RKO films

In honour of Richard Jewell's book on RKO I thought I'd do a top ten of my favourite random RKO movies-  not the classics, thank you very much, just films I was interested in from The RKO Story and late night TV:
1) His Kind of Woman (1951) - bizarre Farrow/Mitchum/Russell noir which starts out noir and becomes slapstick comedy
2) Seven Keys to Baldpate (three versions) - RKO just kept remaking this
3) Action in Arabia (1943) - exotic WW2 on the backlot stuff with George Sanders as an action hero
4) Five Came Back (1939) - perhaps John Farrow's best ever "B"
5) At Sword's Point (1951) - really fun swashbuckler
6) Riff Raff (1947) - fun late night TV fare with Pat O'Brien pretending to be Bogart or Alan Ladd
7) Bedlam (1946) - perhaps the least well known of the Val Lewtons but I love it
8) Seven Days Leave (1943) - random fact: Victor Mature in a musical was box office gold in the 40s
9) The Falcon series - not as well remembered as the Saint but as fun
10) Dangerous Mission (1954) - pine trees, cable cars and action

Movie review - "RKO Radio Pictures: A Titan is Born" (2012) by Richard Jewel

Jewell co-authored the excellent RKO Story years ago but thankfully came back with this entertaining history, which goes from the beginning of the studio until the end of the George Schaefer regime in the 1940s - admittedly frustrating, since I was hoping to go through until the end (which only would have been another decade) but presumably volume two is on its way.

RKO was always an odd kind of studio - one of the eight majors, with big backing (RCA, Joseph Kennedy), impressive resources... but it always seemed in a permanent state of crisis, and its eventual death mustn't have been that surprising in the late 1950s. Many reasons for this are raised here, chief of which seems to be management instability - the people in charge kept changing; they had David O. Selznick for a time and could have kept him (and then gotten him back) but foolishly didn't; ditto Pando Berman. (Later they had Charles Koerner who died.)

George Schaefer has a high reputation because he backed Citizen Kane but here comes across as a bit of a stubborn idiot who didn't suit his job and cost the studio millions. They also displayed a bewildering inability to produce stars, letting talents like Joan Fontaine, Lucille Ball and Joel McCrea through their fingers, and being unable to hold onto Astaire and Rogers or Kate Hepburn, and even Orson Welles (who surely could have been used as an actor more).

Still whenever RKO looked weak they manged to pull a rabbit out of the hat: King Kong, Astaire-Rogers, Little Women, Ginger Rogers vehicles, Garson Kanin, Val Lewton, Gunga Din, The Saint. Jewel covers most of this, with particular looks at Astaire-Rogers, Hepburn, Gunga Din, Kong, Welles' films and some other key movies such as Bachelor Mother.

Well written, superbly researched, although it did take me a while to wrap my head around all the non famous crucial executives who appear in it because there are so many. Studios really do work better when they are benign dictatorships and RKO's problem is that it wasn't - or had crap dictators.

Movie review – Falcon #13 – “The Falcon’s Adventure” (1946) **

The Falcon goes on holiday and ends up rescuing not one but two women – a Brazilian kidnap attempt victim, and a girl who is sexually harassed on a train. The latter turns out to be a plant to attract the chivalrous Falcon, a neat idea – the film could have done with more of them. Things were getting a bit tired by now – Falcon is beaten up again, although he does emerge victorious from the first fight at the end. The last Falcon from RKO and Tom Conway.

Movie review – Falcon #12 – “The Falcon’s Alibi” (1946) **

Like previous Falcon’s this starts at the racetrack – and the cast includes some familiar favourites: Rita Corday, Jean Brooks, Jason Robards. There’s also Jane Greer and Elisha Cook Jnr.

The quality of the cast is the most notable thing about this film, which is otherwise underwhelming. It’s the first Falcon in a while to lack a gimmick in its setting and I think suffers as a result. The Falcon pretty much disappears from the action for the last 15 minutes, leaving us just with the killer – although Elisha Cook Jnr impresses with some “crazy person having a break down” acting.

Movie review – Falcon #9 – “The Falcon in Mexico” (1944) **

The Falcon gets involved in a dodgy art fraud and heads south of the border. There’s no need really why this should be set in Mexico – but at least that’s a point of difference. There are some haciendas, comic Mexican relief to act as the Falcon’s sidekick, sombreros and documentary footage quite well integrated. I enjoyed the climax with lots of people dressed in masks and it’s a pretty decent story with some standard twists – the artist you think is dead turns out not to be dead, the Mexican sidekick turns out to be an undercover cop, etc. Still, not top-flight Falcon. The cast includes Martha Vickers, so caught lightning in a bottle with her performance in The Big Sleep but never managed to repeat it.

Movie review – Falcon # 11 – “The Falcon in San Francisco” (1945) **

The Falcon and his comic sidekick get on a train to San Francisco when the run into a little rich girl whose nanny is killed. This is a brisk entry to the series, well handled by directed Joseph E Lewis, but not too memorable. I know this is just my Gen X cynicism but I was a bit uncomfortable with confirmed womanizer Falcon flirting with the eleven year old girl.

There’s a striking scene where the Falcon is beaten up quite badly by some hoodlums, a bit of down beat film noir for what was usually a bright and chirpy series.

The support cast benefits from the beauty of Rita Corday and the strength of Robert Armstrong, the original Carl Denham himself – although it’s a shame he doesn’t have a bigger role. Because it’s San Francisco there are some scenes set in Chinatown. The female villain is a strong presence.

Movie review – Falcon #10 – “The Falcon in Hollywood” (1944) **1/2

The Falcon is a lot more at home in Hollywood than out west and this is a really bright, fast paced mystery, helped with Gordon Douglas’s quick handling. The Falcon is on holiday in the movie capital when he runs into a crim he once put away and gets involved in a mystery. Much of the action takes place on a studio backlot, adding to the fun, and there is an energetic collection of supporting characters: mad European director, Shakespeare-quoting producer, wise cracking female taxi driver (Veda Ann Borg, lots of fun - it's great to see a girl as the Falcon's sidekick), flaky actresses into numerology. Barbara Hale returns to the Falcon series but in a different role; there’s also Jean Brooks in her third Falcon – she plays a designer here. One of the best of the series.

Movie review – Falcon #8 – “The Falcon Out West” (1944) **

At one stage the Falcon was engaged to a trashy Texan heiress but that character doesn’t appear in this Western-flavoured adventure, which starts with a Texan tycoon dying in a city nightclub … of a rattlesnake bite. The man’s fiancée is suspect number one and the Falcon tries to save the day, resulting in them staying at a ranch out west. One of the gals who works there is played by a pre-Perry Mason Barbara Hale, giving the support cast a bit of zing.

The series was a well-oiled machine by this stage – it feels confident and sure of itself. Having said that, it doesn’t quite work to have the Falcon operating on a ranch – he seems to suit the city and the night, not the great outdoors (its jarring to see him on a horse.) There’s a little bit of Hollywood liberalism at play here – it’s pointed out that the ranch is on land stolen by the Indians and the Indians are annoyed by it. Also a good scene where Barbara Hale’s father realises everyone think he’s guilty.

Movie review – Falcon #7 – “Falcon and the Co-eds” (1943) **1/2

Falcon films ended with a damsel in distress asking for the Falcon’s help, but usually didn’t actually flow on to the next one. But at the end of The Falcon in Danger a woman told Falcon there had been a murder at her school – which is the plot of this one. Not that there’s too much continuity – this starts from scratch, with a girl (played by Amelita Ward, who plays the Falcon’s Texan fiancée in The Falcon in Danger) kissing the Falcon then asking him to help investigate a murder of one of the staff at a seminary. (Though the official line is that the person died of natural causes.)

There is a creepy element of all girls schools and this is alluded to in the shape of the psychic student (Rita Corday) and some mysterious staff who are clearly hiding something. Indeed, towards the end with the psychic freaking out and wind billowing through the trees and a woman about to kill herself by jumping off a cliff, with waves crashing below, it becomes very Val Lewton. Actually, if they’d gone along more this line, this would have been a classic. But they could never quite get the tone right. 

The film is also comic, with laughs based on the Falcon running loose at an all-girl school, and a few songs performed by the girls. 

Good performances – Jean Brooks, who plays the school teacher, was a good actor (like Ward and Corday she was in other Falcons).

Movie review – Falcon #6 - “The Falcon in Danger” (1943) **1/2

A plane crash lands in Washington (cue some poor model work) – only it turns out no one is on board. Great beginning – Marie Celeste for planes. One of the cops ask if it’s gremlins, which will please fans of the 1984 film. Cut to the Falcon gambling at an illegal casino with his new fiancée, a Texan (Amelita Ward) – which at least is interesting and offers a bit of variety. The cops ask him to investigate, and he refuses, until a girl (Elaine Shepherd) asks help looking for her father. The girl is a stunner, much better looking for than his fiancée – her father has been kidnapped. It turns out there were kidnappers.

This is quite brisk and well done. Some more unusual characters than you often got in this film – not just the noisy fiancée but also the bitter daughter (a very good performance from Jean Brooks, who went on to feature in a number of movies in the series).

There are some pleasing surprises, like a scene in a factory full of female welders, and a scene where the Falcon is shot at the 35 minute mark (not seriously), and a finale involving a killer Doberman and where, if I’m not mistaken, the Falcon kills the baddie in cold blood. But we don’t see the baddie during this bit (the actor who plays him mustn’t have been available on the day or something). After that then the Falcon gets dumped for a change.

Movie review – Falcon #5 – “The Falcon Strikes Back” (1943) **1/2

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.

Movie review – Falcon #4 – “The Falcon’s Brother” (1942) **1/2

After a number of Saints and three Falcons, George Sanders was anxious to leave B movies and graduate to As, so he asked to be killed off. Fortunately for RKO, they had Sanders’ real life brother, Tom Conway, to step in.

Neither Allen Jenkins nor James Gleason return but there are similar characters (i.e. wacky sidekick and frustrated police officers) played by other actors. The Falcon goes to pick up his brother on a boat, the Falcon cracks on to a woman but not letting her past which is a bit off. Then he discovers that someone claiming to be his brother has killed himself – but Falcon figures out he was actually murdered by poisoned cigar, and goes looking for his brother.

Conway is given a star’s entrance, lighting a cigarette in a darkened corridor. And it’s wonderful to see the two brothers together. Because they’re similar type of actors – cultured, smooth – Conway easily takes over (one of the few occasions where an actor can directly step into another actor’s role). Sanders gets run over so Conway goes looking to solve the murder. This means Sanders is out of action for most of the film but gets better at the end, just in time to take a bullet for some politician at the climax. It’s a shame there wasn’t more Conway-Sanders stuff, this could have been a minor classic with that. But they only have a few scenes together – they don’t even give Sanders a death bed scene with Conway, which is a shame.

There’s another female journo (Jane Rudolph) who comes along who gets jealous of Conway’s flirting. She has a good line – “Ladies aren’t permitted without escorts" “Who said I was a lady?” For the first time in a Falcon movie the baddies are Nazis – it was going to happen sooner or later. On that level this is enjoyable; it’s just a bit frustrating because it could have been better. 

(NB Incidentally no mention is made of Sanders having a fiancée, despite a great hoo-ha being made of this in the first three films.)

Movie review – Falcon #3 – “The Falcon Takes Over” (1942) ***

Bizarrely, the first on-screen incantation of Farewell My Lovely was in a Falcon movie. But it results in one of the most satisfactory entries in that series, even if Chandler fans might be annoyed. It is a bit contrived that Sanders wants to investigate a murder committed by Moose Molloy (Ward Bond, excellent) – his motive is he just wants to do it for fun, because his mate Allen Jenkins is forced to drive Molloy’s getaway car. But it gets more logical when someone actually hires Sanders to do a job. 

Occasionally this drags, especially when there’s too much wacky character acting from Jenkins and James Gleason. But Irving Reis directs well, the story is decent and there are some very strong support performances from Bond, Anne Revere, Helen Gilbert, and Lyn Bari. 

Like Wendy Barrie in the first film, Bari sets her cap at the Falcon even though he’s engaged to someone else (presumably Barrie’s character – we never see her). Falcon not only pashes Bari he also pashes hot blonde Gilbert (the latter is a funny moment – he does it after just meeting her). 

Turhan Bey pops up again in his second Falcon, again in a sinister role.

Movie review – Falcon #2 – “A Date with the Falcon” (1941) **1/2

Once again the Falcon is trying to give up crime and womanising and get married, only to get embroiled in a mystery, in this case the disappearance of an imitation diamond manufacturer. His fiancée his played by Wendy Barrie, playing the same character as in the first one, but a totally different characterisation (in the first film she was high spirited and romantic, here she’s arch and bossy – she slaps Sanders several times and also destroys some plates).

There’s a scene where the Falcon is being carried away by the baddies and he gets out of his by being obnoxious to police – the technique used by Cary Grant in North by Northwest. I also liked the bit where a crowd gathers on the footpath thinking the Falcon will jump to his death from a ledge – and when he doesn’t they sigh with disappointment.

Allen Jenkins also returns. And Hans Conried, who plays the hotel concierge played a sketch artist in the first film. James Gleason plays a copper. It’s very well directed by Irvin Reis, who keeps it all fast moving and full of life. Story-wise, though, it does feel a little long, even if the running time is only 62 minutes.

Movie review – Falcon #1 - “The Gay Falcon” (1941) **1/2 (warning: spoilers)

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.