It would be hard to praise too highly these "Falcon" (and "Saint") films of the 30s and 40s, for in them was contained all the enjoyable trademarks of that fine era of movie making.
These films all had good writing, good directing, good acting, good photography, crisp editing and fast action. What more would you want? They also had plenty of charm and plenty of style.
A DATE WITH THE FALCON is one of the best of the bunch with a neat plot and some delightful set pieces. George Sanders and Wendy Barrie are fun to watch, and to listen to, but the supporting performances of folks like the great Allen Jenkins, James Gleason and Ed Gargan are just as entertaining. RKO had always made the best "B" pictures in town and for their production values alone it would hard to fault them. And a special "hats off" must go to director Irving Reis for some extremely amusing sequences very professionally staged.
Don't be put off by the one or two supercilious remarks by some of the above reviewers. Just go watch these films and have yourself a very good time doing so. You will quickly notice a brand of film-making vastly superior to what is being done today.
These films all had good writing, good directing, good acting, good photography, crisp editing and fast action. What more would you want? They also had plenty of charm and plenty of style.
A DATE WITH THE FALCON is one of the best of the bunch with a neat plot and some delightful set pieces. George Sanders and Wendy Barrie are fun to watch, and to listen to, but the supporting performances of folks like the great Allen Jenkins, James Gleason and Ed Gargan are just as entertaining. RKO had always made the best "B" pictures in town and for their production values alone it would hard to fault them. And a special "hats off" must go to director Irving Reis for some extremely amusing sequences very professionally staged.
Don't be put off by the one or two supercilious remarks by some of the above reviewers. Just go watch these films and have yourself a very good time doing so. You will quickly notice a brand of film-making vastly superior to what is being done today.