The Falcon in Mexico (1944)

An artist's daughter becomes suspicious when new paintings by her supposedly dead father begin turning up in New York. When a gallery owner is murdered, the Falcon and Miss Wade head for ... See full summary »

Director:

William Berke

Writers:

George Worthing Yates (original screenplay), Gerald Geraghty (original screenplay)

Stars:

Tom Conway, Mona Maris, Martha Vickers

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Tom Conway	...	Tom Lawrence
Mona Maris	...	Raquel
Martha Vickers	...	Barbara Wade (as Martha MacVicar)
Nestor Paiva	...	Manuel Romero
Mary Currier	...	Paula Dudley
Cecilia Callejo	...	Dolores Ybarra
Emory Parnell	...	Winthrop 'Lucky Diamond' Hughes
Joseph Vitale	...	Anton
Pedro de Cordoba	...	Don Carlos Ybarra (as Pedro De Cordoba)
Fernando Alvarado	...	Pancho Romero
Bryant Washburn	...	Humphrey Wade

Storyline

An artist's daughter becomes suspicious when new paintings by her supposedly dead father begin turning up in New York. When a gallery owner is murdered, the Falcon and Miss Wade head for Mexico City to investigate.

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Plot Keywords:

the falcon | mexico | artist | presumed dead | ninth part | 

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Taglines:

Horror-Mask Key Clue As Master-Killer Slays Four!

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Genres:

Crime | Mystery

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Spanish

Release Date:

1 February 1945 (Australia)

Also Known As:

Detective Privado

Filming Locations:

Lake Patzcuaro, Michoacan, Mexico

Company Credits

Production Co:

RKO Radio Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

70 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The ninth of sixteen movies for the suave detective nicknamed "The Falcon" starring Tom Conway.

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Connections

Followed by Search for Danger (1949)

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Soundtracks

Oye, mi corazón
(uncredited)
Composer unknown
Sung by Mona Maris at the hotel

User Reviews

Too many distracting process shots with actors in front of filmed backgrounds...

RKO must have had a very small budget to work with when they made "The Falcon in Mexico", using stock footage of actual location photography but process photography for all of the studio shots with actors in front of the screened location backgrounds. It becomes such a distraction that there's a tendency not to follow the plot after awhile but just to watch how often the actors are in Hollywood rather than Mexico.

Whatever, the story is not intriguing enough and nobody seems to be trying very hard to bring it to life. Even the usually vivacious MARTHA VICKERS (who played the nymphomaniac in THE BIG SLEEP) has a hard time conveying any genuine emotion while she pines for her long lost father, while others in the cast are competent enough but not really inspired. NESTOR PAIVA has the best supporting role as an overly enthusiastic but helpful taxi driver called Manuel.

Nevertheless, Conway does a decent job as the debonair detective who has the same interest as the police in solving a crime, but seems to be avoiding them at every turn.

Some of the background photography is well filmed, but using process shots for scenes involving the actors is too obvious for comfort.

Summing up: All in all, a passable B-film entertainment.