The Falcon's Adventure (1946) User Reviews

The Falcon's Final Fling

[Spondonman · 7/10 · 8 April 2007]

The 13th and last RKO Falcon film starts with the mutual injunction by Tom Conway as Tom Lawrence alias the Falcon and Ed Brophy as Goldie of "No dames!" whilst they prepare to go on vacation. While you're still wondering what they're going on vacation from as they hadn't had a job since the beginning of the 1st film in 1941 (with Sanders as Gay though and Jenkins as Goldie) they bump into a woman and get dragged into a seedy industrial espionage caper.

They promise to help her when her uncle is murdered, by taking an envelope containing the details of a formula to make substitute industrial diamonds to his business colleague in Miami. Suspect everyone here except the cops here who are after Lawrence – and Goldie for the murder. To console himself Goldie keeps paraphrasing travel brochures: "On the coldest day you can always enjoy the warmth of a nice cosy electric chair" for one. Some nice languid atmospheric nightclub scenes rub shoulders with some especially bad behaviour from the baddies. Favourite bit: the dignified game of hide and seek/hunt the thimble the imperturbable and suave Lawrence has with the baddies on the sleeper train. Least favourite bit: the most embarrassing scene in the entire series in the alligator wrestling hut – definitely thrown in for the kids!

All in all not the best in the series but yet another entertaining outing, with an overall satisfying plot and many episodes even in this that make me wish they could have gone on for just a few more years as Columbia did with Boston Blackie, although RKO were churning these out faster. Absolutely no sex, not much violence (in fact none at all by today's high standards), and positively no message all make this type of film anathema to serious people who can only regard movies as an art form that must depend on these three pillars.

Three Diet Falcon's were made later with John Calvert in the title role, I don't mind them but could never bring myself to count them into the main series, which Tom Conway had made his own by this time. Sad also that it was all downhill after this for Conway, who moved into TV, voice overs and even played Norman Conquest in Park Plaza 605 rather well in 1953. He also developed serious eye and alcohol problems – I don't know if they were linked – wound up poverty stricken and after a spell in hospital in 1967 was found dead in his girlfriend's bed. For us folk that want to at least we still have his 10 entertaining Falcon's plus a number of other worthy, even classic RKO movies from 1942 to 1946 with which to remember him by.

A Satisfying Adventure for Keen Falconers

[robert-temple-1 · 7/10 · 31 December 2007]

This is the thirteenth Falcon film. Tom Conway has lost none of his humour and style, and is not showing signs of getting tired. The film has a very satisfying story, with lots of red herrings, suspects, and dames. Madge Meredith is the good girl of the story, she plays it adequately but by no means sets the screen on fire. Myrna Dell is a bad girl, and she puts on an excellent face of stone, with eyes of agate, and you are just waiting for her to kill as many people as possible to cheer herself up. Edward Brophy is back as Goldie the sidekick, but surprise surprise, his manic over-acting has stopped, and he is actually under control. This is a fine tribute to the directorial skills of William A. Berke, who had done so many Westerns he probably was not prepared to take any nonsense from a Brooklyn dummy. The result is that for the first time, possibly in his career, Brophy was toned down enough actually to add something to a film rather than try the viewer's patience with the irritating behaviour of a retarded but unruly six year-old. It all goes along very well, and is thoroughly entertaining.

Tom Conway's swansong as Falcon

[TheLittleSongbird · 7/10 · 26 November 2016]

The Falcon RKO film series is mostly very enjoyable, with both George Sanders and his brother Tom Conway who took over from him being great in the title role.

Reiterating somewhat what has already been said in my previous Falcon film reviews (due to that a fair few have similar strengths and flaws), admittedly, some are better than others. For examples there are some particularly fun entries such as 'The Gay Falcon', 'A Date with the Falcon', 'The Falcon Strikes Back', 'The Falcon and the Co-eds', 'The Falcon in Hollywood' and 'The Falcon in San Francisco', while others while still very much watchable disappoint a little such 'The Falcon's Brother', 'The Falcon in Danger', 'The Falcon Out West' and 'The Falcon in Mexico'.

On the most part, while not fitting among either extreme of whether among the best or weakest Falcon films, 'The Falcon's Adventure' is solid fun and works well. It is agreed that 'The Falcon's Adventure' does start off a little contrived and routine, that the ending is rushed and abrupt (not an uncommon problem in this series, due to the films being very short) and that the villains are not that memorable or interesting with little menace.

Much can be recommended however. The music is lively and haunting, and on the most part the production values are slick and atmospheric with particularly nicely done photography and eye catching fashions and cars. The script is humorous, there is a good deal of atmosphere and intrigue and the story is absorbing once it gets going with bright and breezy pacing and enough twists, turns and suspense to keep the mystery diverting. Direction is competent.

Conway, in his swansong performance in the title role, is dapper, suave and charismatic, uttering cutting lines with aplomb. Edward Brophy is amusing, and gives a performance not out of control or too low-key, while Madge Meredith allures in her charming if standard role. The cast generally are solid enough.

In summary, Conway's swansong in the Falcon series is a good, solid one. 7/10 Bethany Cox

The Falcon goes to Florida

[chris_gaskin123 · 6/10 · 1 February 2005]

BBC2 have been showing several Falcon movies recently in the afternoons and I have taped most of them. They are worth having as they are not available on VHS or DVD anywhere. The Falcon's Adventure was the 13th and final Falcon movie.

In this one, The Falcon rescues a woman from kidnappers who want her father's secret formula for making diamonds but he gets blamed for his murder. The pair of them then flee to Florida where he gets blamed for another murder! He is cleared at the end though.

Tom Conway plays the Falcon well and is joined in this one by Madge Meredith, Edward Brophy and Ian Wolfe.

Though not brilliant, This and all of the Falcon movies are worth watching and are not too long either.

Rating: 3 stars out of 5.

Contrived start, good body of film but a sub-par ending – enjoyable but no more than that

[bob the moo · 20 January 2005]

Tom Lawrence and Goldie head off on holiday with a strict agreement that they won't get tied up with "no dames". However when Lawrence spots a woman in trouble and intercedes to find that he has rescued Louisa Braganza –niece of a scientist. He learns that Louisa may have been kidnapped to get a formula for manufacturing industrial diamonds from her father. When her uncle is murdered, the Falcon is the #1 suspect and he makes a break for it to find the people who set him up. With the formula entrusted to him by Louisa, Lawrence has bought himself some time but with the police and the killers on his trail he still must move quickly.

In the final of the thirteen Falcon movies, Tom Lawrence gets mixed up in a murderous plot to get hold of a formula for manufacturing diamonds. Putting the Falcon on the other side of the law and pursued by them adds an element of tension to the film and injects a bit of pace into the mixed plot. With the film series coming to an end I had worried that it would just collapse – hence them making no more films, but in reality this film is of the generally reasonable standard of the rest of the films. The plot is a bit contrived at the start but once you get into it, it is pretty engaging and quite fun with mystery and some nice action (albeit rather old fashioned stiff punches etc). The conclusion is rather unsatisfying though and I didn't think it did the plot justice by seeming to end rather abruptly and without really being a meaty end to the story. Of course it is an even more annoying end to the film series, featuring as it does as rather wet joke from Goldie and a chuckle from the cast – not the way an enjoyable series should have bowed out.

The cast are mixed but Conway is very good and by this stage my memory of his brother had pretty much gone to the point that I now think of Conway when I think of the Falcon character. Brophy's returns in the revolving role of comedy sidekick – despite the fact that he had already been in the series as a detective in The Gay Falcon. He is OK but you do feel that all the actors in that role are just doing an impersonation – none of them, particularly Brophy, ever really made the role their own or did anything new with it. Meredith is OK and is better than the simmering love interest that have been used during parts of the series. The bad guys don't make enough of an impression – partly causing a weak ending to the story. Jason Robards Sr makes an appearance as the police detective and is good with straight support.

Overall this is mostly a good film and the main body of it is quite engaging and fun. However the start feels a bit forced (convenient) and the ending is a rather weak end to both the film and the series. The cast are mixed but Lawrence is strong and the film is worth seeing and will please fans of the series even if you can't help wishing that it had gone out on more of a high than a plateau.

Brisk series B movie

[lorenellroy · 6/10 · 29 January 2005]

Tom Conway plays The Falcon , a womanising adventurer with a taste for the high life of night clubs ,fast cars and daring do .He comes to the rescue of a young woman --played by Madge Meredith-who has been entrusted with the formula for synthetic diamonds , invented by her father .The bad guys want the formula and only The Falcon's intervention prevents them from abducting her . They do succeed in killing her father and framing the Falcon for the crime however .He obtains the formula and sets out by train to Miami where he proposes to hand it over to a trusted friend of the inventor .The bad guys try to steal it en route without success and there are further deaths before the lively fist fight climax on board a yacht where Ms Meredith is incarcerated , It passes the time well enough but there is one ludicrous bit of plotting involving an alligator farm ,that is an insult to the intelligence .Get past that and you might well enjoy this vintage B picture . The acting might politely be described as functional

It was the last of the Falcon movies leaving Dick Tracy as the only celluloid sleuth from RKO studios

The end of the Falcon for Tom Conway

[blanche-2 · 6/10 · 6 October 2021]

Both the Falcon series and the Boston Blackie series are guilty of re-using a plot more than once - I wouldn't be surprised if that were true of many series.

In this one, the MacGuffin is the formula for industrial diamonds which I am pretty sure was used before. The Falcon (Tom Conway) saves a kidnapped woman and winds up being framed for the murder of her uncle, who owns the formula and is trying to get it to someone in Miami that has arranged for backers.

Some clever moments, one regarding a blonde the Falcon saves from someone harassing her on the train.

Tom Conway does a good job - it was his last foray as the Falcon. He's charming, but this wasn't very exciting.

Of interest, pretty Madge Meredith's career was derailed a bit when she was sentenced to five years in prison on an assault charge - it turned out that in fact she had been framed and was released. She worked into the '60s.

13th in series

[SnoopyStyle · 6/10 · 31 July 2021]

The Falcon is going on a boys-only vacation with Goldie Locke. He literally bumps into a pretty dame named Louisa Braganza. They rescue her from a kidnapper but she runs away from the cops. The Falcon dutifully joins her. Villains are looking to steal her uncle's secret formula for making industrial diamonds. The Falcon and the uncle get knocked out by a bad guy. The police arrives and immediately suspects The Falcon. The uncle dies from his injury and The Falcon escapes. He's now a fugitive but he can't stop rescuing dames to his detriment.

This is the 13th movie in the series and it's getting a little old. It still has its fun. I think it's funnier with Goldie Locke. I can't understand why the series has The Falcon by himself as much as he is. It should be more a buddy detective series with Goldie being the sidekick and the butt of the joke. At least, he should have some more time with the dames. The series keeps on going but it's ending soon.

The Falcon's Adventure

[guswhovian · 7/10 · 23 July 2020]

The Falcon becomes involved with a woman whose uncle was killed for a formula to make synthetic diamonds.

The final Falcon film to star Tom Conway, The Falcon's Adventure is a good send-off for Conway. Edward Brophy returns as Goldie Locke, and him and Conway make a nice team. The Falcon engages in quite a bit of fisticuffs in this installment as well.

Ubiquitous bit-part actor Robert Warwick (memorable as a washed-up actor in In a Lonely Place) gets a larger role than usual as the main villain, while Ian Wolfe makes his third appearance in a Falcon film I've seen.

The falcon's adventure

[coltras35 · 7/10 · 26 February 2023]

Goldie plan to get away from it all, but wind up in the thick of things when they foil an abduction. Asked to protect a formula for synthetic diamonds, and pursued by various criminals, the pair head for Miami - and even bigger trouble.

A characteristic mixture of chases, distraught young ladies and dead bodies leads to a good climax with our suave hero going against the baddies with aplomb. This is the last Falcon picture featuring Tom Conway, and it's a good note to end on as its fast paced, has enough twist and turns and excitement to be seen as a solid Falcon entry. Madge Meredith is a picture of innocence and quite pretty - she bears a slight resemblance to Judy Garland.

Formula One

[writers_reign · 4/10 · 21 August 2012]

This is a typical example of the kind of film that followed a strict formula in the thirties and forties; it was obligatory that there be a 'professor' and/or 'scientist' who was so unworldly and unprepossessing that the wonder was he had ever married in the first place yet in every case he had not only married (his wife was seldom mentioned let alone seen) but sired an equally obligatory attractive/lovely/beautiful daughter, who, in the first reel, contrives to meet the lone private eye or 'hero' figure and introduce him to the 'professor' moments before the 'professor' is murdered by crooks seeking his 'formula'. In a 65 minute movie this usually leaves 60 minutes for the hero to 'solve' the case, often, though not always, coming under suspicion himself. This is probably no better and no worse than lots of others and it does have small roles for Ian Wolfe and Jason Robards Snr.

Suave private eye movie that has all the right stuff

[kees90210 · 8/10 · 19 January 2005]

This film is a fun little private eye detective story like they aren't made any more. It's all there: Tom Conway is the suave detective called The Falcon, Goldie Locke (what's in a name) is his wisecracking bumbling sidekick, Louisa Braganza is the damsel in distress, and of course there are the damsels maid, the professor with the secret formula, the bad guy that wants the formula, and the police inspector who's after The Falcon. There is a murder, and The Falcon gets implicated. The scenery is night clubs, expensive hotel rooms, a luxury train, the suburbs, and beautiful cars. Go watch this little gem when you see it pass by on afternoon TV!

falcon must talk his way out of another one

[ksf-2 · 7/10 · 24 September 2021]

Tom Conway is the Falcon in this chapter. He and sidekick Goldie (Ed brophy) go on vacation. Along the way, they help a kidnapped lady in a car, as well as a young lady on the train. Co-stars Madge Meredith as Louisa, the daughter of a scientist who must get a secret formula to safety. They sure saved on the budget, with all the backdrops they used! When thugs intervene, the Falcon must try to talk his way out of (yet another) murder rap. And he still hasn't delivered the formula. He'll need a vacation after this vacation. Directed by Bill Berke, who made three Falcon's with Conway; Berke died quite young at 54. Meredith has an interesting life story... check it out on wikipedia dot com. Was wrongly convicted and jailed for kidnapping.

Tom Conway's Last Falcon Movie

[hogwrassler · 8/10 · 31 July 2021]

I am watching this one right now on TCM. The Falcon's Adventure finds our hero helping Brazilian beauty Louisa Braganza (Madge Meredith) deliver her father's formula for making industrial diamonds. And she really needs the help after her father gets pistol whipped by a bad guy trying to steal the valuable piece of paper. The adventure takes Tom and Goldie to Miami where Professor Dennison is supposed to take possession of the formula. In addition to Madge Meredith, hard looking but gorgeous Myrna Dell has good role here after just having a bit part in the previous Falcon film, The Falcon in San Francisco. Carol Forman plays Helen Ray, Louisa's maid. Carol is best remembered for her villainous leading role in the 1947 serial, The Black Widow. Phil Warren and Steve Brodie are the hoods. Joseph Crehan and Harry Harvey play the bumbling cops. RKO churned out three more Falcon movies after this one with a different actor as The Falcon. Tom Conway didn't get away from a crime fighter, though. He played Bulldog Drummond in two 1948 movies. The Falcon's Adventure is fast paced with good dialogue and a story that's easy to follow. Watching it is a good way to spend 61 minutes on a summer Saturday morning.

Old Friends On A Train

[boblipton · 8/10 · 1 August 2021]

The last of the RKO series with Tom Conway shows signs of tiredness in its generic title and barebones Maguffin plot. Tom Conway and Eddie Brophy are planning to go on vacation. As I wondered "from what?", the answer came. "No dames!"

Indeed. No sooner had I wondered how long that resolution would last than up pops Madge Meredith as the daughter of a guy with a formula for industrial diamonds, which Conway agrees to shlep on the train for some reason or other, because there were other people who wanted the formula. So we spend the entire movie on stage in the series of train interiors that every studio kept two of, because that's how many of these they shot back then. Conway foils the baddies in the laziest way, and all ends well.

Except for Miss Meredith. The following year she was convicted of conspiring assault and kidnapping and sentenced to five years in prison. In 1951, the authorities decided she had been framed She was released and resumed her screen career, which extended into the early 1960s. She died in 2017, age 96.

Well, at least the movie, though the wispiest of trifles is fun.

A "Casablanca" Among B Movies

[LateShow · 10/10 · 24 March 2002]

How many reviews of this film will I have to write before I get it right? Tom Conway fully inherits the mantle of the Falcon from his real-life brother George Sanders with this entry. Decked out in beautiful double-breasted, single-buttoned, drape-style suits and cruising in gorgeous, 110%-steel cars with huge fender skirts and suicide doors that come up to your armpit, Conway travels from New York to Miami to keep a formula for industrial diamonds from falling into the wrong hands. His "client" is lovely, virginal Louisa Briganza who has got gorgeous hair but will let you only kiss her for the first two months. Along the way he runs into the type of colourful array of characters only a B movie could provide. His sidekick in this outing is perhaps best among Falcon sidekicks Edward Brophy as Goldie Locke who is given some really funny lines. He runs into sinister dish Doris Blanding, the type of '40's chick that you know puts out. Her cohort is Benny played by Steve Brodie who, twenty years later, was a Presley punching bag in two Paramount King movies. They both work for cold fish and yachting-cap-wearing Kenneth Sutton, ready to do what it takes to get the formula as he cruises his yacht to Brazil. Saddled with the stoniest Falcon-pursuing cops ever, this entry still reigns supreme. Forget those 120 minute melodramas, give me a 1 hour Falcon movie any day. I got a wife and two kids - who's got time for a two-hour movie? Shake up some dry martinis and forget your troubles with this great Falcon movie. But if you didn't tape it off local TV in Toronto like I did 17 years ago, you're out of luck.

Good Mix

[dougdoepke · 30 July 2013]

Routine Falcon entry with plenty of eye candy for the guys and a good look at high fashion, post-war style. There's some mystery in who's trying to get the stolen formula for industrial diamonds. But as in most Falcon entries, the emphasis is not on whodunit ( like Charlie Chan, for example). Instead, it's on the right mix of humor, action, and intrigue. Plus, there's Conway who unfortunately makes his last appearance as the incredibly smooth Falcon. Here, Goldie gets some amusing caustic lines; the Falcon has a heckuva scrap with a bigger guy and loses; while various shady characters maneuver to get who knows what. All in all, the 60-minutes amounts to a solid, if unexceptional, entry in the RKO series.

(In passing—too bad leading lady Meredith got mixed up in a bogus criminal conviction the year after this movie that knocked a big hole in her career. Judging from her work here, she had the looks and ability of an A-grade leading lady.)

Goof not documented

[cdrhodes-04235 · 8/10 · 3 October 2021]

Near end of movie Falcon ans and Goldie enter black Cadillac at Alligator shop. Then we see them in a '39 Buick on highway. Then later they're back in a Cadillac.