Why so much hype?

One of my all time favorites.

A lot of perfectly good film show their cards early, establish a unique premise and let the audience explore a topic at a leisurely pace, without much in terms of surprise. this film is not one of those films.

Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

'The Falcon's Brother' is most notable for being George Sanders' last outing as the Falcon and his real life brother Tom Conway debuting and taking over nine more times subsequently. Having really enjoyed the first three films, 'The Falcon's Brother' was decent enough but somewhat of a disappointment at the same time.Of the four Falcon films with Sanders, to me it's the weakest, with a lot of merits but also some glaring flaws. While Sanders is underused and it is somewhat obvious that he had tired of the role (having performed with more enthusiasm in the first two films) he is charismatic and suave enough. Conway is a strong presence, making a more than credible role debut.Mostly the supporting cast were underwhelming, but Jane Randolph was suitably sprightly and spunky with great rapport with Conway (it is their scenes where the film particularly comes alive) and Keye Luke is very amusing and brings a real charm to a character that could easily have been annoying and out of place.'The Falcon's Brother' looks just fine, with a lot of elegance and atmosphere in the settings and the film is shot with style and class as well as a real sense of genre. The music is lively and haunting, and the story is mostly suspenseful and engrossing, going at an efficient pace, faring stronger in the mystery elements than the comedy. It's complicated but it doesn't feel jumpy or rushed, which is remarkable for a film that is not that long.However, Stanley Logan's direction while efficient is unimaginative while the ending does feel rushed and abrupt. The comedy is amusing and light enough, but doesn't crackle as much as the previous three films and some of it veers on the repetitive, while the patriotic elements are laid on too thick and don't really fit very well.Particularly disappointing is the notable and deeply lamented absences of James Gleason and Allen Jenkins, scene stealers in the previous films. The replacement characters/actors are not only not as good, they don't even come close and are vastly inferior. Saw no point to the character of Lefty, and the film even fails to provide a reason for Goldy's absence which harms the continuity somewhat, and Don Barclay plays him witlessly and all annoyance and no sense of fun or charm. Cliff Clark resorts to buffoonish mugging, and Edward Gargan is particularly hampered by repetitive material (particularly the patter between him and Clark) and struggles to bring freshness to it.In conclusion, decent if disappointing. Good for curiosity value but there's better in the series. 6/10 Bethany Cox

George Sanders leaves the series and his brother in real life as well as the series, Tom Conway takes over the series as the international man of mystery known as the Falcon.At first it doesn't look like anyone's taking over anything as Sanders identifies a body that he says is his brother Tom. But that's just to give him investigating room to find out what his brother Tom has himself involved in.We meet Conway soon enough and he's hot on the trail of some Nazi agents who are operating out of a fashion magazine. Like Communists later on, those Nazis get involved everywhere. They've even got spies in the police department, heaven forfend. What these Nazis got cooked up is an assassination plot for a Latin American minister. Remember all Latin American countries with the exception of Argentina had declared war on the Axis powers. Hitler boasted he could take South America with a telephone call. This movie shows that he was doing a bit more than chatting on Ma Bell's lines.As is well known to fans of the series Sanders dies foiling the plot and Conway takes over the series with the same elegant touch that Sanders brought to the role. Other than that The Falcon's Brother is an average entry in the series.

This is the fourth of the Falcon films, in which both George Sanders and his real life brother Tom Conway appear. It was the occasion for the handover of the role. Sanders and Conway have many scenes together, and vie to out-do each other in suaveness and urbanity, and it is a tie. Then Sanders is knocked unconscious and spends much of the film in bed, which he doubtless found restful. At the end, Sanders sacrifices his life in the struggle against Nazism (it is after all 1942 and the plot deals with German agents) and presto, Tom Conway is and for the remaining series of films will be the Falcon. This film has a higher budget than the preceding ones (there is even a ship), the plot is complicated, it is all more solid and convincing. In fact, it is a very entertaining tale. Keye Luke has now become the falcon's butler, adding his own charm and wit to the team, and doing amusing impersonations of pidgin English (he was Chinese) when he wants to put off 'dames' who phone too often. The falcon's sidekick is now played by Don Barclay, which like the addition of Keye Luke is a great improvement. This film was edited by Mark Robson, later to be a famous director, and the improved editing shows. However, because the screenwriters have changed, all the great gags and one-liners have disappeared, there is no more crackling dialogue, and the Falcon series is no longer a laugh a minute.

Of all the Falcon movies, this is probably the most tongue-in-cheek, or just plain "corn", but engaging nevertheless, and you had better pay attention to every bit of it or you'll be lost. The main reason for the film is that George Sanders wanted out of the role (this was the fourth in the series), and stipulated that he be killed in the plot, therefore avoiding any returns in the future. His real-life brother Tom Conway, fell heir to the series and went on to make nine appearances as the Falcon. In this offering, a dead body appears almost immediately, first thought to be that of the Falcon's brother. Not so! The ship that he was supposedly on also carried an assortment of spies and shady types, who weave in and out of the plot, giving both Falcons plenty of opportunities for sleuthing and woman-chasing. After sifting through all the South Americans, Mexicans, native New Yorkers and high-society women, the original Falcon (Sanders) gives his life shielding a foreign diplomat from an assassin's bullet. Just as it seems that it's all over for Falcon lovers, and brother Tom is about to head for home, he receives a telephone threat, so he decides to stay and become the Falcon himself! Nine more movies evolved in the series, now starring Tom Conway.