The greatest movie ever made..!

Good concept, poorly executed.

Fantastic!

The acting is good, and the firecracker script has some excellent ideas.

Now that George Sanders had been killed off his real and reel life brother Tom Conway has taken over the title The Falcon, he's even retained the retainer Goldie Locke, in this film played by Cliff Edwards.In this film Conway with the reputation of the Falcon preceding him Conway is neatly framed for the theft of war bonds. A crime that would arouse the anger of the public, but one that really couldn't be fruitful unless you waited till the war was over and then some for the bonds to mature. Remember this film made during World War II.The big surprise here is the dramatic performance of comedian Edgar Kennedy famous for his slow burn routine in feature films and a large number of two reel shorts. He plays a puppeteer with a traveling show and no laughs for Kennedy in The Falcon Takes Over.Fans of the series should be pleased.

Director: EDWARD DMYTRYK. Screenplay: Edward Dein, Gerald Geraghty. Story: Stuart Palmer. Based on characters created by Michael Arlen. Photography: Jack McKenzie. Film editor: George Crone. Art directors: Albert S. D'Agostino, Walter E. Keller. Set decorators: Darrell Silvera, William Stevens. Costumes: Renie. Assistant director: James Casey. Music director: Constantin Bakaleinikoff. Music composed by Roy Webb. Sound recording: Jean L. Speak. RCA Sound System. Producer: Maurice Geraghty (brother of the screenwriter). Copyright 7 May 1943 by RKO Radio Pictures, Inc. New York opening at the Palace: 1 April 1943. U.S. release: 7 May 1943. Australian release: 14 October 1943. 6,008. 66 minutes.NOTES: Number 5 of the 16 "Falcon" pictures, and the only one to be directed by Edward Dmytryk. COMMENT: The cast is four times more appealing and the direction about twice as inventive as the plot, — a lot of meaningless waffle about stolen war bonds. A surfeit of dialogue further burdens the story-line, though it does provide opportunities for a grand array of character players to sloop through their paces. Dmytryk's direction is likewise smooth, though it only really rouses the rafters in the action spots, e.g. the long tracking shot of Rita Corday swimming the length of the pool; the camera in the driver's seat of a speeding station wagon; the business with the Velma Dawson Puppets, including a "Goofy" puppet, courtesy of Walt Disney. Production values are high by "B" standards, with excellent camera- work and sets.

***SPOILERS*** The high flying "Falcon" Tom Lawrence, Tom Conway, is laid low after a night of heavy drinking and is awaken in his office by Mia Berger, Rita Corday,an what seems like escapee from fascism-Nazi German occupied Europe- begging him to track down her missing brother. Not in the best shape Lawrence goes to this bar where Mia's brother is known to frequent and not only doesn't find him but is knocked out and left outside town in a car that was involved in the robbery of $250,000.00 of US Government bonds where a number of people were killed! Arrested on a tip by the police Lawrence, and later after escaping from them,is now more then determined to prove his innocence by finding Mia or whoever she is in order for him to prove he was with her when the robbery occurred. Things don't look so good for Lawrence when he finds Mia refuses to help him and is later, at the hotel she was staying in, killed by being shot by a sniper while diving off a plank at the hotel swimming pool! ***SPOILERS****Now in real hot water in not only being accused of a robbery of $250,000.00 in US Government Bonds, at the very height of WWII,but the murder of Mia as well Lawrence uses all his wits and savvy to elude the police as well as to get him out of the mess that he now finds himself in. It all boils down to an act of simple reeving on the killer's part who back in San Francisco was screwed out of his life savings by not only Mia but the person she worked with a con artist known as "The Duchess" the tea toting and all so righteous Mrs. Geraldine Lipton, Waynne Gibson, who runs-as a cover for her criminal activities- a woman's knitting school in town. The killer himself is caught in a trap that Lawrence-the Falcon-set for him using Mrs. Lipton as bate.With Lawrence hot on his tail and having really nowhere to go the killer ends up falling to his death as he slipped off the roof of the hotel that he, using an assumed name, worked at!

I taped the whole Falcon series from UK TV in 1988, I guess I must have seen every entry at least 10 times so far since and this is one of my favourites. It's the usual inconsequential mix of comedy and crime, smart ass one-liners and murders, non-serious but jealous romances, and atmospherically photographed melodrama that can keep you pleasantly occupied for just over an hour, that is if you like the genre.Tom Lawrence (Tom Conway's first solo flight as the Falcon) while recovering from a hangover is disturbed by an exotic woman who's just come in through the bedroom window. She orders him to find her brother, much to the disgust of his girlfriend Jane Randolph who again is a rather unreporting newspaper reporter. That is the ruse to ensnare and frame him in a USD 250,000 War Bond robbery, his efforts to clear himself from the chasing cops and get the real baddies is the plot. The search takes him and Goldie via the Volunteer Knitters For America to a rather splendid (studio bound) Pinecrest Hotel, where it seems all of the guests are shifty about something and who deserve watching – even old RKO stock slapstick characters. Only downside: the murderer's alibi always struck me as technically pretty feeble. Favourite bits: the 5 second interchange between the hotel bellgirl, the Falcon checking in and the receptionist – an incredible lightness of touch! Also Inspector Cliff Clark's terse command to give Mr. Wong a bong and bring him along – though it wouldn't win praise from the pc brigade today.Overall, a nice watch for fans of 40's b&w b features, one I hope to be spared to watch another 10 times – where's the Deluxe Complete Collection Edition DVD??