The Gay Falcon (1941)

The Falcon investigates jewel thieves who are working with hard up socialites to defraud insurance companies. First of the Falcon series.

Director:

Irving Reis

Writers:

Lynn Root (screenplay), Frank Fenton (screenplay)

Stars:

George Sanders, Wendy Barrie, Allen Jenkins

Cast

Complete credited cast:
George Sanders	...	Gay Laurence / The Falcon
Wendy Barrie	...	Helen Reed
Allen Jenkins	...	Jonathan G. 'Goldie' Locke
Nina Vale	...	Elinor Benford (as Anne Hunter)
Gladys Cooper	...	Maxine Wood
Edward Brophy	...	Detective Bates
Arthur Shields	...	Inspector Mike Waldeck
Damian O'Flynn	...	Noel Weber
Turhan Bey	...	Manuel Retana
Eddie Dunn	...	Detective Grimes
Lucile Gleason	...	Vera Gardner
Willie Fung	...	Jerry
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Florence Bates	...	(scenes deleted)

Storyline

Society grand dame Maxine Wood who hosts charity parties in her home is mixed up in a jewel theft racket which defrauds insurance companies. When another socialite, Vera Gardner, is murdered, Gay Laurence (a.k.a. The Falcon) and assistant 'Goldie' Locke are on the case with help from beautiful Helen Reed, who becomes a rival to Gay's fiancée Elinor for the sleuth's affections.

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Plot Keywords:

party | the falcon | false accusation | rko pictures | runyonesque characters | 

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Taglines:

CRIMINALS BEWARE! Here comes fiction's man of mystery! (original print ad)

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Mystery | Romance

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Certificate:

Passed

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

24 October 1941 (USA)

Also Known As:

El halcón galante

Company Credits

Production Co:

RKO Radio Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

67 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The car Helen and Gay use in the film is a 1941 Buick Roadmaster 2-door convertible. One of its biggest selling points was a 165 horsepower engine that was the most powerful of any American-made car at the time. Only 1,845 convertible models were made. MSRP was $1,800 ($31,500 in 2017). At auction, in excellent condition this car could fetch $100,000 or more.

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Goofs

Evidently not considered worth a re-shoot, a fly lands on the Falcon's hat and climbs down it when he arranges to meet Helen at Tony's cafe.

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Quotes

Gay Lawrence: It's five o'clock.
Jonathan G. 'Goldie' Locke: It's four forty-three.
Gay Lawrence: Alright, we'll stay 17 minutes overtime tomorrow. I've been in that office since ten o'clock this morning!
Jonathan G. 'Goldie' Locke: Well, what about me? I ain't even got a window to look out of.
Gay Lawrence: Well, you can have my chair tomorrow at lunch hour. Come on. Let's call it a day.

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Connections

Followed by The Falcon's Brother (1942)

User Reviews

First of the Falcon series

George Sanders is "The Gay Falcon," a 1941 film, the first entry into the Falcon series. The title has a double meaning, as the Falcon's first name is Gay. Though it's a programmer, "The Gay Falcon" has quite an uptown cast, including Gladys Cooper, Allen Jenkins, Turhan Bey, and Wendy Barrie.

The Falcon and his sidekick Goldie (Jenkins) are insurance brokers in this, and Gay is, as usual, engaged. After turning down an invitation to a fancy party, Helen, secretary to a Perle Mesta type named Maxine who is giving the party, begs him to attend in order to prevent a jewel robbery. Maxine's events have been the scene of a string of jewel robberies. So Gay attends. A woman who insisted on wearing a huge diamond is murdered. Gay is on the case.

George Sanders makes a very appealing Falcon - he's tall, elegant, and smooth, with a great voice and off-the-cuff delivery. He gives the role a light, breezy quality. The rest of the cast is very good. Turhan plays a swarthy, suspicious type - this was pre-Maria Montez and Sabu. It's always great to see the Turhan Bey, one of the actors who benefited from the man shortage in Hollywood during World War II. Though he eventually returned to his native Vienna to work as a photographer, he did quite a few television appearances in the '90s.

Alas, there is a bit of casting that sort of gave the denouement away for this viewer, but the mystery is not really the point of The Falcon series. The point is to have fun, which you will.