The Falcon and the Co-Eds (1943)

This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

One of the best movies of the year! Incredible from the beginning to the end.

The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

Excellent in every way: Conway is smooth, charming, engaging as the Falcon; big cast of many pretty young ladies at a private girls' school; moody exteriors of cliffs and the pounding surf, always a plus in this kind of movie; a real mystery plot, the solution of which makes sense--how rare is that!--good work from all supporting players; fine exteriors of the girls' school, the cliff and beach, well alternated with process shots; reasonably good print on the dvd; literate and enjoyable script; and very well paced by the director. RKO spent money on this production, and it shows. We have one of the bigger casts of extras for this kind of 1940's series mystery movie. The sets and locations are good. Mystery and humor are very well combined. This film can hold its own against the best of the other good series of this time: the Universal Sherlock Holmes movies, and the last Fox Charlie Chan films. It really is that good!

This is an old time very good who dunnit. The Falcon series produced some very well done movies. The three girls who play the Ugh sisters are a riot and can sing extremely well. The homicide detectives are in several of the movies and are there pretty much as comic relief as the Falcon always solves the cases. The role of the sergeant shows basically an idiot who would not be a sergeant on any competent force and probably would not even be a cop at all. In this movie it turns out to be the love lorn plain Jane type of an assistant who married the handsome foreigner who just wanted to be able to come to America who is the manipulative killer. This kind of shows up about half way through the movie but is proved at the end.

This is the seventh of the Falcon films, and apart from a single line of dialogue by Tom Conway: 'I think more clearly with a tall glass in my hand', there is no witty dialogue at all. The film is very amusing, but no longer because of wisecracks, instead the humour has become entirely situational. The film is what could be called a 'comedy thriller'. The Falcon series has now changed completely, and the last vestiges of true film noir atmosphere have vanished from it like the mist. The setting is a girls' college, and like all films of that time, all the students are several years older than the parts they play. (Watch out for an uncredited early appearance as a co-ed by Dorothy Malone, later a B star.) The only really cute kids in the film play the three daughters of a faculty member: they sing brilliantly and have all the charm and sense of fun of the children that they are. Everybody else is much too old, including Tom Conway in this situation. However, the film is genuinely fun and the plot is an intriguing thriller tale with unusual twists. There are some good scenes on the edges of cliffs, hints of hypnotic suggestion, psychological undertones, a girl who foresees the future and may or may not be insane, all 'jolly good stuff' and a superior B movie. A good time was indeed had by all, even by Jean Brooks, who specialises in looking grim and dangerous while at the same time holding out the occasional reluctant smile as both a threat and an inducement to those who either suspect her or are attracted by her. Her work as a B movie villainess or alluring suspect has never been sufficiently appreciated.

This was the first of the Falcon mystery series for me, and I found it very refreshing and entertaining. I've always appreciated the wonderful humor and wit of so many of the films of the forties, particularly the detective movies. And while this b-movie may not offer the seriousness or artistic styling that the film noir mystery genre of the era may have, it proves itself a wonderful way to spend an evening. The twists and turns of the plot are clever, but it is the acting and characters that really stand out. Conway brings a brilliant assuredness to the character of the Falcon which instantly reminded me of all my favorite British detectives -- a bit suave and yet self-effacing, calm, cool, and collected and yet not infallible. Furthermore, Bluecliff offered a enchanting and endearing look at a variety of memorable female characters, each playing off one another well and making a lovely counterpoint to the more reserved nature of the adults. The 3 Ughs are one of the great highlights of this film! All in all, a very fun film and one that has inspired me to watch even more of the Falcon series.