The Falcon's Brother (1942)

Pretty Good

Excellent, Without a doubt!!

There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

The fourth film, and the transition, in the Falcon seriesThe Falcon (George Sanders) goes to meet his brother's boat, arriving from South America, only to find out that he's dead. The police inspector (Cliff Clark) and his detective (Edward Gargan) rule it a suicide, by poison; the Falcon surreptitiously finds that it was murder. Sanders also discovers that the body isn't his brother, but doesn't let the bumbling police know. Instead, he follows a woman who departed the ship after confirming that she knew his brother, but also did not reveal the identity of the body to the police.The Falcon and his sidekick Lefty (not Goldy this time), played by Don Barclay, follow the woman to a fashion salon; she is the head fashion designer there. While Sanders watches her inspect an unusual ring in a back office, he witnesses her being shot dead, briefly struggles with the escaping assailant (causing the murder weapon to fall at her side), but then must flee himself when he hears the police coming. The gun is removed by someone before the police arrive. Upon exiting the building, Sanders sees the ring on the finger of someone in a car, which then runs him over, sidelining him until the end of film.His brother (Tom Conway) takes over, working with Lefty and Marcia Brooks (Jane Randolph), a fashion reporter who didn't reveal Sanders' presence at the fashion salon to the police, to solve the mystery. Showing it's politically incorrect age, there are some dated scenes with the Falcon's Asian houseboy (Keye Luke - Charlie Chan's "No. 1 Son"), who speaks perfect English, mocking himself and his race by speaking "pigeon English" to obfuscate police and the women who pursue the Falcon.The missing gun is found, having been hidden a couple of times in amusing places, and turns out to belong to the murdered woman's underling, Paul Harrington (James Newill). However, he is cleared when the ballistics expert claims it's not the murder weapon. Harrington remains under suspicion by Conway et al when they discover a link between his fashion magazine covers and the timing of some key events in the war.About this time, Sanders recovers, learns of the magazine clues and figures out the significance of the ring just in time to save the day. The film ends in a way which facilitates Conway assuming the Falcon's duties from Sanders (who no longer wanted to continue the role) for the future films in the series.

How do you keep a franchise going when your lead actor tires of the role? Bring in his brother and keep going with him. Its brilliant move that allowed for George Saunders to get away from the programmers he was stuck making (he had been in the Saint series prior to this) and allowed him to go do other things. Tom Conway, who took over the role, is just as good, and perhaps better than his brother since he managed to both be above everything like his brother, but he also came across as actually caring about the mystery at hand. Lets face it Saunders really didn't seem to care by this stage, though to be honest he did put in bit of effort here since I'm guessing he knew he was free. I like this film a great deal, as I like the entire series. Its worth seeing either because you want to see a footnote film in a movie history or because you want to see a really good mystery.

This is a B-movie detective film from back in the day when such series were common. While The Falcon series isn't as interesting or fun as Charlie Chan or Sherlock Holmes, it is one of the better examples of the genre. Interestingly enough, growing up I often couldn't remember if I'd just seen a Falcon film or a Saint film, as both series were produced (for the most part) by RKO and many featured George Sanders playing the same character in almost every way aside from their name! The formula and action was identical--both detectives were sophisticated rich guys who mostly dabbled in investigating crimes out of a desire to avoid boredom or meet women! From a historical standpoint, this is THE must-see film of either series, as it stars George Sanders AND his nearly identical-looking and talking real-life brother, Tom Conway--who when on to play The Falcon in nine films! It seems that George was tired of this series work and wanted out of the contract, so they decided to use his equally talented older brother--who made a smooth transition to the role. In fact, it's pretty cool to see BOTH Falcons in the same film and I really appreciated the unusual and unexpected ending (which I WON'T divulge so I'll keep it suspenseful).Apart from Conway and Sanders, the film is also better than the average Falcon film, as the plot is very good and the supporting cast all do an excellent job of combining mystery with a light sense of humor. This isn't an intellectual or deep film, but represents a good and watchable B-movie that has held up well through the years.

Fast-moving espionage mystery, last for George Sanders, in the Falcon series. Plot include a fairly neat transition to real-life and character brother to take over and continue the fight against Nazi Germany. George is suave with the ladies (because he knew it was his last film in the series?). Lots of twists and turns as we weave our way through poisoned cigars (La Prima Donna), break ins, impersonating an officer, clues that disappear, house of fashion and a fashion magazine. In the end, the Falcon takes the shot meant for a Latin American diplomat and brother Tom Lawrence accepts the challenge from a foreign voice on the phone who warns him that he will get what his brother did if he doesn't leave well enough alone. Well, it was 1942 and no self-respecting producer wasn't going to have his hero support the war effort. Not a great movie, but enjoyable and about as good as these ever got. Recommended.