The Falcon in Danger

Last updated
The Falcon in Danger
Falcondanger.jpg
Film poster
Directed by
Written by
Based onCharacters created
by Michael Arlen
Produced by Maurice Geraghty
Starring
Cinematography Frank Redman
Edited by George Crone
Music by Roy Webb
Production
company
Distributed byRKO Pictures
Release date
  • July 17, 1943 (1943-07-17)(United States)
Running time
69 minutes
CountryUnited States
Language English

The Falcon in Danger is a 1943 American mystery film directed by William Clemens and starring Tom Conway, Jean Brooks, Amelita Ward and Elaine Shepard. [1] The film was the sixth of thirteen The Falcon detective films produced by RKO, all starring Conway. [2]

Contents

Plot

At a New York airport, a passenger plane coming in from Washington D.C., crash-lands, however nobody is on board. The aircraft had been hijacked at its previous stop with all but the pilot and two leading industrialists left behind; $100,000 worth of securities are also missing.

Although he promised his "fiancée" from Texas, Bonnie Caldwell (Amelita Ward), that he will give up solving crime, Tom Lawrence (Tom Conway), aka The Falcon, can't resist the lure of a fresh mystery. When the daughter, Nancy Palmer (Elaine Shepard), of one of the missing men receives a ransom note, she asks for his help in locating her father (Clarence Kolb). One of the Falcon's prime suspects is Nancy's jealous cousin Iris (Jean Brooks).

Police Inspector Timothy Donovan (Cliff Clark) and his assistant, Bates (Edward Gargan), are called to investigate the mystery. Later, all the passengers, except for Nancy's father, Stanley Harris Palmer, and his assistant, Wally Fairchild (Robert Emmett Keane), are found stranded at a rest stop. Nancy is told to leave $25,000 at a drinking fountain, while Iris tells Tom that she suspects Nancy's fiancé, Ken Gibson (Richard Davies), told the kidnappers about the $100,000 in securities.

Tom accompanies Iris and Nancy to the Palmer's house and later sees Nancy leave a box by the drinking fountain. When two men collect the box, Tom follows their car on horseback and finds it belongs to an antique store owned by George Morley (Richard Martin). Donovan announces that Palmer has returned home alive; he and Fairchild stayed on the aircraft but strangers robbed Palmer at gunpoint and ordered him to parachute from the aircraft while the pilot set the controls on autopilot. Tom also finds a piece of junk that appears to be part of the aircraft and the missing securities, which he turns over to Donovan.

Donovan suspects Fairchild but state troopers report the missing pilot and Fairchild have been found dead in a field. Morley becomes the next likely culprit but disappears. As he unravels the mystery, Tom reconstructs the second part of the flight. With other passengers gone, Palmer killed Fairchild who had proof of Palmer's cheating the government, then after take-off, had also killed the pilot and dumped the bodies.

Palmer's dog attacks Morley in the antique store. Donovan arrives in time to see Tom shoot and kill Palmer in self-defence. Later at the airport, Bonnie tells Tom she is going home to Texas by herself. Dejected, Tom declares that he is forsaking all women, until a pretty co-ed approaches him, asking for his help.

Cast

Production

Principal photography on The Falcon in Danger took place from April 13 to early-May 1943. According to a Hollywood Reporter news item, the growing popularity of the Falcon series led to rushing the film into production. The previous film in the series, The Falcon Strikes Back was filmed from January 19 to early-February 1943. [3]

To conserve costs, the main entrance and several buildings on the studio lot were camouflaged to look like an airport. [4] The aircraft depicted were a miniature Lockheed Model 10 Electra and stock footage of a Douglas DC-3 in flight, and the Capelis XC-12, a failed 1933 twin-engine transport aircraft that found new life at RKO as a non-flying movie prop. [5]

Reception

Film historians Richard Jewell and Vernon Harbin described The Falcon in Danger as an attempt to "upgrade the romantic appeal of the Falcon series"; adding that "Screenwriters Fred Niblo Jr and Craig Rice did a fairly smooth job of working the beauties into their story, an otherwise standard whodunit involving a double murder and the theft of $100,000 in securities." [1]

Related Research Articles

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>Parachute Battalion</i> 1941 film by Leslie Goodwins

Parachute Battalion is a 1941 American war film directed by Leslie Goodwins and starring Robert Preston and Nancy Kelly. The supporting cast includes Edmond O'Brien, Harry Carey, and Buddy Ebsen. It was produced and distributed by RKO Pictures.

<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.

The Rookie Cop is a 1939 film directed by David Howard and starring Tim Holt as a rookie cop who wants to prove his friend wasn't involved with a robbery. The film also stars Virginia Weidler, Janet Shaw, Frank M. Thomas, and Muriel Evans.

<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>Bombardier</i> (film) 1943 film by Richard Wallace and Lambert Hillyer

Bombardier is a 1943 film war drama about the training program for bombardiers of the United States Army Air Forces. The film stars Pat O'Brien and Randolph Scott. Bombardier was nominated for an Oscar in 1944 for the special effects used in the film. It was largely filmed at Kirtland Army Air Field, New Mexico, site of the first bombardier training school.

<i>Isle of Destiny</i> 1940 American film

Isle of Destiny is a 1940 American comedy adventure film set in the South Seas. The film was directed by Elmer Clifton and originally produced by Franklyn Warner for Grand National Pictures in 1939. Isle of Destiny was the only feature film filmed in the Cosmocolor process with prints by Cinecolor. Isle of Destiny stars William Gargan, Wallace Ford, June Lang and Gilbert Roland.

<i>The Falcon Takes Over</i> 1942 film by Irving Reis

The Falcon Takes Over, 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, 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. 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.

<i>Look Whos Laughing</i> 1941 film by Allan Dwan

Look Who's Laughing is a 1941 American comedy film directed by Allan Dwan It was produced and distributed by RKO Pictures. The film is built around a number of radio stars from the Golden Age of Radio and centers around radio personality Jim Jordan as Fibber McGee from the comic duo, Fibber McGee and Molly, who plans to build an aircraft factory in a small town. Look Who's Laughing was followed by Here We Go Again (1942), with many of the radio stars reprising their performances. It is also known by the alternative title Look Who's Talking.

<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>Two Tickets to Broadway</i> 1951 film by James V. Kern

Two Tickets to Broadway is a 1951 American musical film directed by James V. Kern and starring Tony Martin, Janet Leigh, Gloria DeHaven and Ann Miller. It was filmed on the RKO Forty Acres backlot. It was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Sound Recording. The film was choreographed by Busby Berkeley. The film recorded an estimated loss of $1,150,000.

<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>Come on Danger</i> 1942 film by Edward Killy

Come on Danger is a 1942 American Western film directed by Edward Killy. It was a remake of a 1932 Tom Keene film. The story was bought for Holt in June 1941.

<i>The Falcon and the Co-eds</i> 1943 film by William Clemens

The Falcon and the Co-eds is a 1943 film under the direction of William Clemens, and produced by Maurice Geraghty, the same team that had worked on The Falcon in Danger (1943) and would stay together for the next film in the Falcon series. The Falcon and the Co-eds was the seventh of 16 in the Falcon series. The story and screenplay was by Ardel Wray, a frequent collaborator with Val Lewton in his RKO horror series, who added supernatural elements to the proceedings.

<i>The Falcon in Mexico</i> 1944 film by William A. Berke

The Falcon in Mexico is a 1944 film directed by William Berke and stars Tom Conway in his recurring role as a suave amateur sleuth, supported by Mona Maris and Martha Vickers. Conway would play the Falcon seven more times before RKO retired the franchise in 1946.The Falcon in Mexico was the ninth of 16 films in the Falcon detective series. The film features many second unit sequences filmed in Mexico and Brazil; the latter scenes from Orson Welles's aborted film It's All True.

<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.

<i>Dance Hall</i> (1929 film) 1929 film by Melville Brown

Dance Hall is a 1929 American pre-Code musical film directed by Melville Brown and written by Jane Murfin and J. Walter Ruben, based on the short story of the same name by Vina Delmar. The film centers a love triangle with a shipping clerk competing with a dashing aviator for the affections of a young taxi dancer. It was Radio Pictures' second to last release of the decade, and was a critical and financial flop.

<i>Danger Patrol</i> 1937 film directed by Lew Landers

Danger Patrol is a 1937 American drama film directed by Lew Landers from a screenplay by Sy Bartlett based on a story by Helen Vreeland and Hilda Vincent. Produced and distributed by RKO Radio Pictures, it was released on December 3, 1937, and stars Sally Eilers, John Beal, and Harry Carey.

References

Notes

  1. 1 2 Jewell and Harbin 1982, p. 185.
  2. ↑ Drew 2003, p. 119.
  3. ↑ "Original print information: 'The Falcon Strikes Back'." Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved: September 5, 2016.
  4. ↑ "Original print information: 'The Falcon In Danger'." Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved: September 5, 2016.
  5. ↑ Orriss 1984, pp. 59–61.

Bibliography

  • Drew, Bernard A. Motion Picture Series and Sequels: A Reference Guide. London: Routledge, 2013. ISBN   978-1-1389-7650-4.
  • Jewell, Richard and Vernon Harbin. The RKO Story. New Rochelle, New York: Arlington House, 1982. ISBN   978-0-7064-1285-7.
  • Orriss, Bruce. When Hollywood Ruled the Skies: The Aviation Film Classics of World War II. Hawthorne, California: Aero Associates Inc., 1984. ISBN   0-9613088-0-X.
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.