The Falcon Takes Over

Last updated
The Falcon Takes Over
Farewell 1942.jpg
Promotional poster
Directed by Irving Reis
Screenplay by
Based on Farewell, My Lovely
1940 novel
by Raymond Chandler and Michael Arlen (characters)
Produced byHoward Benedict (producer)
J. R. McDonough (executive producer)
Starring
Cinematography George Robinson
Edited by Harry Marker
Music by
Production
company
Distributed byRKO Radio Pictures (theatrical)
Release date
  • May 29, 1942 (1942-05-29)
Running time
65 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

The Falcon Takes Over (also known as The Falcon Steps Out), is a 1942 black-and-white mystery film directed by Irving Reis. Although the film features the Falcon and other characters created by Michael Arlen, its plot is taken from the Raymond Chandler novel Farewell, My Lovely , [1] with the Falcon substituting for Chandler's archetypal private eye Philip Marlowe and the setting of New York City replacing Marlowe's Los Angeles beat. [2] The B film was the third, following The Gay Falcon and A Date with the Falcon (1941), to star George Sanders as the character Gay Lawrence, a gentleman detective known by the sobriquet the Falcon. [1]

Contents

Plot

Brutish prison escapee Moose Malloy (Ward Bond) forces "Goldie" Locke (Allen Jenkins) to drive him to Club 13, a posh nightclub, where Moose hopes to be reunited with his old girlfriend Velma. After bashing his way into the club and not finding Velma, he kills the club manager and forces Goldie to drive him away from the club. When Gay Lawrence (George Sanders), an amateur sleuth and Goldie's boss, arrives at the club, he learns that Moose is the suspect, because the manager died of a broken neck. Police Inspector Mike O'Hara (James Gleason) arrests Goldie as an accomplice, but after being questioned, Goldie is released.

Lawrence and Goldie head out to the house in Brooklyn where Moose is hiding. Pretending to be drunk, Lawrence enters the house while Moose makes a getaway in Goldie's car. In the house, Jessie Florian (Anne Revere) is on the telephone, shouting hysterically and demanding protection from Moose. Jessie is told to send Moose to a certain address. Jessie tells Lawrence that Velma is dead. Seeing the address, he knows where Moose will be.

When Lawrence returns to his apartment, a call from Quincy W. Marriot (Hans Conried) to deliver ransom money for a stolen jade necklace, sends Lawrence to a deserted graveyard. Marriot ambushes him, grabs the detective's gun, and shoots him, but, in turn, is shot by an unseen assailant who makes his escape.

Seeing Lawrence is still alive, Reporter Ann Reardon (Lynn Bari), who has been trailing him, helps the detective to his feet, learning his gun was loaded with blanks. Lawrence searches Marriott's coat pockets and finds a business card from psychic Jules Amthor (Turhan Bey), at 415 Morton Avenue, the address where Moose is going.

Lawrence asks Ann to track down the stolen necklace that belongs to socialite Diana Kenyon (Helen Gilbert). He makes a date to meet Diana at the Swan Club later that night, while Goldie heads to see Amthor. When he enters the house, Goldie sees Moose arrive, but the lights go out and gunfire erupts. When the lights are back on, O'Hara enters and discovers Amthor's dead body. Lawrence and Goldie return to Jessies's house, to find her dead, with a broken neck.

Working on clues left at Jessie's house, Lawrence is convinced something is wrong with the theory that Moose is a murderer. Returning to his apartment, he meets Ann, who, after spending the day at police headquarters, learns the police think that Moose pleaded guilty to manslaughter to protect Laird Burnett (Selmer Jackson), the owner of the Swan Club. Diana goes on a drive with Lawrence who has already guessed her true identity, as Velma. When she tries to kill Lawrence, Moose, who had been driving, turns on her, but is shot and killed. Ann arrives in a backfiring car that gives Lawrence a chance to disarm Velma.

Ann gets her first big scoop, uncovering a sordid blackmail scheme that involved Velma, Burnett and Marriott. Just when Lawrence is about to leave the squad room to meet his fiancée, a glamorous woman asks for his help and he comes to her aid.

Cast

Production

The film was the second adaptation of a Marlowe story, after Time to Kill , released earlier in the same year. That film, also, did not use Marlowe as the main character, changing the name to Michael Shayne. [4] [5] RKO had replaced its "Saint" series with "The Falcon," in 1941. Both starred George Sanders. Sanders had starred in an unrelated film called The Saint Takes Over in 1940.

Reception

The Falcon Takes Over was considered a "co-feature" or the second half of a double bill. [3] Theodore Strauss in his review for The New York Times , wrote, "For a man of Mr. Sanders's cool talents, "The Falcon Takes Over" is a distinct waste of time." [6]

Later, similar reviews were received. Critic Louis Black, in a 1999 article for The Austin Chronicle , wrote that the film "... had none of the atmosphere of Chandler's book" and recommended instead, the later adaptation, Murder, My Sweet (1944). [2]

Film reviewer Bruce Newman, wrote in San Jose Mercury News , "The studios had so little interest in the character that in the first two movie adaptations of Chandler's books, he was replaced. When RKO bought the screen rights to Farewell, My Lovely, the studio made a craven bid to cash in on the popularity of the Warner Bros. hit, The Maltese Falcon , turning Marlowe into a detective called the Falcon (played by George Sanders) and releasing the movie with the title, The Falcon Takes Over". [4]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Philip Marlowe</span> Fictional character

Philip Marlowe is a fictional character created by Raymond Chandler who was characteristic of the hardboiled crime fiction genre. The genre originated in the 1920s, notably in Black Mask magazine, in which Dashiell Hammett's The Continental Op and Sam Spade first appeared. Marlowe first appeared under that name in The Big Sleep, published in 1939. Chandler's early short stories, published in pulp magazines such as Black Mask and Dime Detective, featured similar characters with names like "Carmady" and "John Dalmas", starting in 1933.

<i>Farewell, My Lovely</i> 1940 novel by Raymond Chandler

Farewell, My Lovely is a novel by Raymond Chandler, published in 1940, the second novel he wrote featuring the Los Angeles private eye Philip Marlowe. It was adapted for the screen three times and was also adapted for the stage and radio.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George Sanders</span> British actor and singer (1906–1972)

George Henry Sanders was a British actor and singer whose career spanned over 40 years. His heavy, upper-class English accent and smooth, baritone voice often led him to be cast as sophisticated but villainous characters. He is remembered for his roles as wicked Jack Favell in Rebecca (1940), Scott ffolliott in Foreign Correspondent, The Saran of Gaza in Samson and Delilah, theater critic Addison DeWitt in All About Eve, Sir Brian De Bois-Guilbert in Ivanhoe (1952), King Richard the Lionheart in King Richard and the Crusaders (1954), Mr. Freeze in a two-part episode of Batman (1966), and the voice of Shere Khan in Disney's The Jungle Book (1967). He also starred as Simon Templar, in 5 of the 8 films in The Saint series (1939–41), and as a suave Saint-like crimefighter in the first 4 of the 16 The Falcon films (1941–42).

<i>Murder, My Sweet</i> 1944 film directed by Edward Dmytryk

Murder, My Sweet is a 1944 American film noir, directed by Edward Dmytryk and starring Dick Powell, Claire Trevor and Anne Shirley. The film is based on Raymond Chandler's 1940 novel Farewell, My Lovely. It was the first film to feature Chandler's primary character, the hard-boiled private detective Philip Marlowe.

The Falcon is the nickname for two fictional detectives. Drexel Drake created Michael Waring, alias the Falcon, a freelance investigator and troubleshooter, in his 1936 novel, The Falcon's Prey. It was followed by two more novels – The Falcon Cuts In, 1937, and The Falcon Meets a Lady, 1938 – and a 1938 short story. Michael Arlen created Gay Stanhope Falcon in 1940. This Falcon made his first appearance in Arlen's short story "Gay Falcon", which was originally published in 1940 in Town & Country magazine. The story opens with the words "Now of this man who called himself Gay Falcon many tales are told, and this is one of them." Arlen's Falcon is characterized as a freelance adventurer and troubleshooter – a man who makes his living "keeping his mouth shut and engaging in dangerous enterprises."

<i>The Big Sleep</i> (1978 film) 1978 film by Michael Winner

The Big Sleep is a 1978 neo-noir film, the second film version of Raymond Chandler's 1939 novel of the same name. The picture was directed by Michael Winner and stars Robert Mitchum in his second film portrayal of the detective Philip Marlowe. The cast includes Sarah Miles, Candy Clark, Joan Collins and Oliver Reed, and features James Stewart as General Sternwood.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Turhan Bey</span> Austrian actor (1922–2012)

Turhan Bey was an Austrian-born actor of Turkish and Czech-Jewish origins. Active in Hollywood from 1941 to 1953, he was dubbed "The Turkish Delight" by his fans. After his return to Austria, he pursued careers as a photographer and stage director. Returning to Hollywood after a 40-year hiatus, he made several guest appearances in 1990s television series including SeaQuest DSV, Murder, She Wrote and Babylon 5 as well as a number of films. After retiring, he appeared in a number of documentaries, including a German-language documentary on his life.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tom Conway</span> British actor (1904–1967)

Tom Conway was a British film, television, and radio actor remembered for playing detectives and psychiatrists, among other roles.

<i>Farewell, My Lovely</i> (1975 film) 1975 film by Dick Richards

Farewell, My Lovely is a 1975 American neo-noir crime thriller film directed by Dick Richards and featuring Robert Mitchum as private detective Philip Marlowe. The picture is based on Raymond Chandler's novel Farewell, My Lovely (1940), which had previously been adapted for film as Murder, My Sweet in 1944. The supporting cast features Charlotte Rampling, John Ireland, Jack O'Halloran, Sylvia Miles, Harry Dean Stanton and hardcore crime novelist Jim Thompson, in his only acting role, as Charlotte Rampling's character's elderly husband Judge Grayle. Mitchum returned to the role of Marlowe three years later in the 1978 film The Big Sleep, making him the only actor to portray the character more than once in a feature film.

<i>The Falcons Brother</i> 1942 film by Stanley Logan

The Falcon's Brother is a 1942 American crime drama film in which George Sanders, who had been portraying "The Falcon" in a series of films, appears with his real-life brother Tom Conway; with Sanders handing off the series to Conway, who would play the new Falcon in nine subsequent films. Jane Randolph was featured in a supporting role. The Falcon's Brother, the only one to feature two Falcons, was directed by Stanley Logan.

<i>The Gay Falcon</i> 1941 film by Irving Reis

The Gay Falcon is a 1941 American mystery thriller film directed by Irving Reis and starring George Sanders, Wendy Barrie and Allen Jenkins. A B film produced and distributed by RKO Pictures, it the first in a series of sixteen films about a suave detective nicknamed The Falcon. Intended to replace the earlier The Saint detective series, the first film took its title from the lead character, Gay Laurence. Sanders was cast in the title role; he had played The Saint in the prior RKO series. He was teamed again with Wendy Barrie who had been with him in three previous Saint films. The first four films starred Sanders as Gay Lawrence and the rest featured Tom Conway, Sanders' real-life brother, as Tom Lawrence, brother of Gay.

<i>Time to Kill</i> (1942 film) American 1942 film

Time to Kill is an American mystery film directed by Herbert I. Leeds. It is the first screen adaptation of Raymond Chandler's novel The High Window, which was remade five years later as The Brasher Doubloon. The detective was changed from Philip Marlowe to Michael Shayne for this version, with Lloyd Nolan playing the part and Heather Angel in a rare turn as leading lady. It is also the final Michael Shayne film starring Lloyd Nolan made at Fox, who closed down their popular B movie unit which included Mr. Moto, Charlie Chan, and the Cisco Kid. In 1946 the series would be reborn at Producers Releasing Corporation with Hugh Beaumont taking over the role.

Mazaný Filip is a Czech comedy film released in 2003 and based on a stage play by Sklep Theatre.

<i>The Falcon Strikes Back</i> 1943 film

The Falcon Strikes Back is a 1943 American crime film directed by Edward Dmytryk and stars Tom Conway as the title character, the amateur sleuth, the Falcon. Supporting roles are filled by Harriet Hilliard, Jane Randolph, Edgar Kennedy, with Cliff Edwards filling in for Allen Jenkins as the Falcon's sidekick, "Goldie" Locke. It is the fifth film in the Falcon series and the second for Conway, reprising the role that his brother, George Sanders had initiated.

<i>The Falcon in Hollywood</i> 1944 film by Gordon Douglas

The Falcon in Hollywood is a 1944 crime film directed by Gordon Douglas and stars Tom Conway in his recurring role as a suave amateur sleuth, supported by Barbara Hale, Jean Brooks, and Rita Corday. The film was the 10th of 16 in Falcon detective series.

<i>A Date with the Falcon</i> 1942 film by Irving Reis

A Date with the Falcon is the second in a series of 16 films about the suave detective nicknamed The Falcon. The 1942 sequel features many of the same characters as the first film, The Gay Falcon (1941).

<i>The Falcons Adventure</i> 1946 film by William A. Berke

The Falcon's Adventure is a 1946 American mystery film directed by William Berke and starring Tom Conway, Madge Meredith and Edward Brophy. It is the 13th of 16 films about the Falcon and the final film of RKO's Falcon series starring Conway. It was directed by William Berke, who had served as producer for the previous entry in the series, 1946's The Falcon's Alibi.

<i>The Falcon in San Francisco</i> 1945 film by Joseph H. Lewis

The Falcon in San Francisco is a 1945 American crime and mystery film directed by Joseph H. Lewis and stars Tom Conway, Rita Corday and Edward Brophy, who played the recurring role of "Goldie" Locke. The film was the 11th in The Falcon series of detective films, and the eighth featuring Conway as the amateur sleuth. The Falcon in San Francisco was the final film in the series produced by Maurice Geraghty, after which budgets were reduced and location shooting largely abandoned.

<i>The Falcon Out West</i> 1944 film by William Clemens

The Falcon Out West is a 1944 American mystery film directed by William Clemens and starring Tom Conway, Joan Barclay and Barbara Hale. The film was part of RKO's The Falcon series of detective films, this time, a murder set in Texas.

<i>Search for Danger</i> 1949 film by Jack Bernhard

Search for Danger is a 1949 American crime film directed by Jack Bernhard and starring John Calvert, Albert Dekker and Myrna Dell. The film was the last of three made by the low-budget Film Classics company featuring Calvert as The Falcon who had previously been played by George Sanders and Tom Conway for RKO. The film's art direction was by Boris Leven.

References

Notes

  1. 1 2 Barra, Allen."Reinventing the American mystery story." The New York Times , September 1, 2002. Retrieved: September 4, 2016.
  2. 1 2 Black, Louis. "Scanlines: Murder, My Sweet". The Austin Chronicle, July 9, 1999.
  3. 1 2 M.A."Syncopation: The Falcon Takes Over." St. Petersburg Times , July 8, 1942. Retrieved: September 4, 2016.
  4. 1 2 Newman, Bruce."Movie reviews." San Jose Mercury News, August 29, 2002. Retrieved: September 4, 2016.
  5. ↑ "Profile of 'The Falcon Takes Over'." allmovie. Retrieved: September 4, 2016.
  6. ↑ Struass, Theodore (T.S.). "At the Rialto." The New York Times, May 30, 1942.

Bibliography

  • Jewell, Richard and Vernon Harbin. The RKO Story. New Rochelle, New York: Arlington House, 1982. ISBN   978-0-7064-1285-7.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.