THE GAY FALCON
US, 1941, 67 minutes, Black and white.
George Sanders, Wendy Barrie, Nina Vale, Allen Jenkins, Gladys Cooper, Edward Brophy, Arthur Shields.
Directed by Irving Reis.
This is the first of the series of the Falcon films, first with George Sanders, then a film with his brother Tom Conway, playing his brother, who then took over the role of the Falcon. At this time, Sanders was also appearing in the series of The Saint based on the Leslie Charteris novels.
Sanders sets the tone with this film, although it is a surprise to see him so flirtatious in a more juvenile style as well is doing a wolf whistle.
The plot is rather slight, Gay Lawrence and his sidekick, Goldie Lock (Allen Jenkins) working in a broker’s office at the insistence of the Saint’s fiancee (Nina Vale). One of the difficulties of the film is that Sanders and Vale really show little chemistry so that his insistence on marrying her is not quite believable. She wants him to go to a party, managed by Gladys Cooper (very surprising to see her in this film, in this role as well, and being the villain, while she was, for many years, more of a grande dame in films). There have been jewel robberies at parties and there is one here, but also a murder. The Falcon is, of course, interested in solving the case, assisted by Wendy Barrie who becomes infatuated with him but likes to think of herself as one of his Dr Watson characters.
Poor Goldie Lock is taken by the police, as a suspect for the murders – something which happens in several of the other films. Of interest, while Allen Jenkins portrays Goldie in this film, one of the police officers, played by Edward Brophy, will become Goldie to Tom Conway’s Falcon. The other policeman is played by Arthur Shields, Barry Fitzgerald’s brother.
There is a suspicious character played by Turhan Bey. There is another murder, and other suspicion for Goldie, the Falcon doing his best to solve the mystery and confront the killer. But he thinks that there is a bigger brain behind the enterprise – and there is, Gladys Cooper, who has had a connection with a jewel thief, her husband, who served time in prison and joined him in the enterprise when he got out of prison.
In many ways the film is quite routine, but there is some enjoyable repartee in the screenplay, directed by Irving Reis who directed a second Falcon film.
