In an unexpected manner, the seventh in the Falcon series works in almost
every way. It almost feels like an accident. The mystery is good, the humor
works, Tom Conway hits the right notes of bemused sophistication, the atmosphere
goes where it has to go, the co-stars are fine and it hums along like a well-oiled
machine. The Falcon series has been solid all along but this one got it just
right for a B film from RKO. Of course, surrounding the Falcon with a plethora
of pretty actresses trying to look college age might have helped my opinion.
Conway certainly looked like he was enjoying himself.
The beginning though sent a horrified shock up my spine. In the previous
film The Falcon in Danger a character played by Amelita Ward as the Falcon's
fiancée with her annoying southern accent nearly ruined the film for
me. At the end of that film she said she was on her way home thankfully.
So the first person we see in this one is none other than Amelita in panic
mode and I was thinking no, not again. But fortunately she was playing a
different character. With a Brooklyn accent.
One thing about the many series during this period is that actors were often
used in different films as different characters and hoping the audience didn't
mind or notice. Most studios just didn't have enough actors who fell into
the B category to avoid this. Jean Brooks who was also in The Falcon in Danger
shows up here and then two more Falcon films - all as different characters.
She was also in The Leopard Man and The Seventh Victim with Conway. Isabell
Jewell was only in this Falcon film but showed up as well in The Leopard
Man and The Seventh Victim. And then there is Rita Corday who I seem to run
into constantly lately - she was in five Falcon films - all as different
characters.
Jane Harris (Amelita) persuades the Falcon to look into the death of a professor
at an all-girls college. It didn't take much persuading and when he shows
up the girls do everything but offer him a lap dance. There is no reason
to suspect the death was anything but a heart attack but one of the student's
(Corday) has psychic abilities and says it was murder and another is going
to happen. It does. There are moments when the film almost dips into Jacques
Tourneur territory. Two of the suspicious staff are played by Jewell and
Brooks. And then dozens of co-eds are played by God Knows Who - actresses
hoping to be noticed. The three that are though are ten year old's who are
downright adorable - funny and then they sing a great song. So does
Amelita - Can't Take the Brooklyn Out of Me. Because the college is putting
on a show of course. Throw in two regulars - Cliff Clark as the Inspector
and his comedy relief assistant Edward Gargan - and it all comes together.
