By Frank Miller
The Falcon Strikes Back
Brief Synopsis
A society sleuth is framed for murder by criminals running a war-bond racket.
Cast & Crew
Read More
Edward Dmytryk
Director
Tom Conway
Tom Lawrence also known as "The Falcon"
Harriet Hilliard
Gwynne Gregory
Jane Randolph
Marcia Brooks
Edgar Kennedy
Smiley Dugan
Cliff Edwards
Goldy Locke
Film Details
Also Known As
The Falcon Comes Back
Genre
Suspense/Mystery
Crime
Release Date
May
7,
1943
Premiere Information
New York opening: 1 Apr 1943
Production Company
RKO Radio Pictures, Inc.
Distribution Company
RKO Radio Pictures, Inc.
Country
United States
Screenplay Information
Based on a character created by Michael Arlen.
Technical Specs
Duration
1h 6m
Sound
Mono (RCA Sound System)
Color
Black and White
Theatrical Aspect Ratio
1.37 : 1
Film Length
5,923ft
Synopsis
Tom Lawrence, the debonair sleuth known as "The Falcon," is suffering from a hangover when Mia Bruger bursts into his bedroom and begs his help in locating her missing brother. Tom agrees to accompany Mia to a cocktail bar frequented by her brother, but when he enters the bar, he is knocked unconscious. Awakening in the backseat of his car, which is parked alongside a country road, Tom starts to drive back to the city when he is stopped by a police officer and arrested for the murder of a bank official. The officer turns Tom over to Inspector Timothy Donovan, who interrogates him about the theft of $250,000 in war bonds and the murder of a bank official. When Donovan tells Tom that six witnesses testified to seeing his car leave the scene of the crime, the detective states that he was with his fiancée, reporter Marcia Brooks, at the time. After Marcia refutes Tom's alibi, Donovan accompanies Tom to the bar, which is now the headquarters of a woman's knitting society. Skeptical of Tom's story, Donovan arrests the detective. Marcia, accompanied by Tom's sidekick Goldy Locke, has followed the inspector to the bar, however, and Tom is able to jump into her car and speed away from the police. Tom then sends Marcia to infiltrate the knitting circle, and when she reports that Mrs. Geraldine Lipton, the woman in charge, lives in a resort hotel in the country, Tom and Goldy drive there to investigate. After framing the hotel detective for thievery and getting him fired, Tom arranges for hotel manager Gwynne Gregory to hire Goldy as the detective's replacement. In the hotel garden, Tom sees Mia conferring with Rickey Davis, a criminal he had sent to prison years earlier. Rickey is posing as a nurse to invalid Bruno Steffen, and when Tom greets Mia, she pretends that she doesn't know him. To escape the inquisitive detective, Mia dives into the pool but as she hits the water, she is killed by a gunshot. Looking for Mia's murderer, Tom searches the rooms overlooking the pool, but all he finds is puppeteer Smiley Dugan performing with his puppets. Tom then enters Gwynne's office, where he finds Rickey and Gwynne arguing and a spent shell on the rug. Suspicious of Gwynne, Tom gives her cigarette case to Marcia for fingerprinting. Tom then follows Gwynne on a bike ride, and when the two are almost run down by a car, Tom traces the vehicle to Steffen. Following this lead, Tom breaks into Steffen's room to search for the bonds but is interrupted by Dugan, who begins to rant and rave about waste and extravagance. Soon afterward, Donovan, alerted by Dugan, comes to the hotel to arrest Tom for murder but learns that the resort is outside his jurisdiction. When Marcia reports that the fingerprints belong to a notorious thief known as "the Duchess," Tom phones his houseboy, Jerry, and instructs him to pose as the Chinese Trade Commissioner and check into the hotel. After Steffen confides to Jerry that he plans to buy war bonds from Gwynne, Tom confronts her about the cigarette case, which she denies owning. At that moment, Mrs. Lipton returns to the hotel and claims the cigarette case. After exposing Mrs. Lipton as the Duchess, Tom accuses her of stealing the bonds, but Donovan, who has returned with a warrant for Tom, arrests the detective, Marcia, Goldy and Jerry instead. Escaping from the police once again, Tom returns to the hotel, where he overhears Mrs. Lipton and Rickey blackmail Gwynne into selling the stolen bonds to Steffen. When Tom steps in to prevent the sale, Mrs. Lipton admits that Rickey framed Tom as revenge for sending him to prison. Just as Rickey is about to enter the room, he falls dead from a gun shot, prompting a terrified Gwynne to confess that she was married to Rickey, who was blackmailing her. Fearful of becoming the next victim, Mrs. Lipton retires to her room, while Tom and Gwynne take the elevator to the lobby. When the power is cut off, trapping Tom and Gwynne in the elevator, Tom begins to suspect Dugan, who is familiar with the working of the hotel, of murder. Upon discovering that Dugan's puppets run automatically, Tom realizes that the puppet shows provided the puppeteer with a perfect alibi and rushes back to Mrs. Lipton's room, where he finds Dugan accusing Mrs. Lipton of robbing him of his life savings. Fleeing from Tom, Dugan falls to his death from a rooftop. Donovan, who has returned to the hotel, then arrests Mrs. Lipton for the bond theft. Marcia and Tom are about to return to the city when a glamorous foreigner rushes into the hotel lobby and begs Tom for help.
Director
Edward Dmytryk
Director
Cast
Tom Conway
Tom Lawrence also known as "The Falcon"
Harriet Hilliard
Gwynne Gregory
Jane Randolph
Marcia Brooks
Edgar Kennedy
Smiley Dugan
Cliff Edwards
Goldy Locke
Rita Corday
Mia Bruger
Erford Gage
Rickey Davis
Wynne Gibson
Mrs. Geraldine Lipton
Andre Charlot
Bruno Steffen
Richard Loo
Jerry
Cliff Clark
Inspector Timothy Donovan
Ed Gargan
Bates
The Velma Dawson Puppets
Byron Foulger
Hotel clerk
Patti Brill
Girl bellhop
Margaret Landry
Girl bellhop
Margie Stewart
Girl bellhop
Jean Brooks
Spanish girl
Olin Howlin
Sheriff
Perc Launders
Bartender
Eddie Dunn
Grimes
Charles Russell
Bank messenger
Frank O'connor
Bank guard
Ralph Dunn
Motorcycle policeman
Frank Faylen
Hobo
Jack Norton
Hobo
George Lloyd
Brannigan
Mary Stuart
Usherette
Lorna Dunn
Taxi driver
Ariel Heath
Ann Summers
Joan Barclay
Crew
C. Bakaleinikoff
Music Director
James Casey
Assistant Director
George Crone
Editing
Albert S. D'agostino
Art Director
Edward Dein
Screenwriter
Gerald Geraghty
Screenwriter
Maurice Geraghty
Producer
Walter E. Keller
Art Director
Jack Mackenzie
Director of Photography
Stuart Palmer
Story
Renié
Gowns
Darrell Silvera
Set Decoration
Jean L. Speak
Recording
William Stevens
Set Decoration
Roy Webb
Music
Film Details
Also Known As
The Falcon Comes Back
Genre
Suspense/Mystery
Crime
Release Date
May
7,
1943
Premiere Information
New York opening: 1 Apr 1943
Production Company
RKO Radio Pictures, Inc.
Distribution Company
RKO Radio Pictures, Inc.
Country
United States
Screenplay Information
Based on a character created by Michael Arlen.
Technical Specs
Duration
1h 6m
Sound
Mono (RCA Sound System)
Color
Black and White
Theatrical Aspect Ratio
1.37 : 1
Film Length
5,923ft
Articles
The Falcon Strikes Back -
Being framed for murder and war bond theft would be enough to prompt anybody to strike back. When it's suave detective Tom Lawrence (Tom Conway), in his first solo outing after taking over for his brother Gay (played by Conway's real brother, George Sanders in five earlier films), it's a recipe for fast-paced thrills and comedy. This time out, Conway is awakened in the middle of the night by a cry for help from a beautiful blonde (Rita Corday). It's all part of a frame-up, as helping her gets him knocked out and placed in the wrong place at the wrong time. Now, Conway has to track the real crooks to a suspicious resort (run by Harriet Hilliard, the future Harriet Nelson) while keeping one step ahead of his old police contact, Inspector Donovan (Cliff Clark). If this film is a bit more stylish than most in the series, thank director Edward Dmytryk, a year before he hit the big time with the influential film noir Murder, My Sweet (1944). As usual, Conway has to deal with a bevy of beautiful women, including Hilliard, Corday, Jane Randolph as his reporter girlfriend and Wynne Gibson as the shady head of a knitting circle. Fans loved the film to the tune of over $120,000 in profits.
By Frank Miller
By Frank Miller
The Falcon Strikes Back -
Being framed for murder and war bond theft would be enough to prompt anybody to strike back. When it's suave detective Tom Lawrence (Tom Conway), in his first solo outing after taking over for his brother Gay (played by Conway's real brother, George Sanders in five earlier films), it's a recipe for fast-paced thrills and comedy. This time out, Conway is awakened in the middle of the night by a cry for help from a beautiful blonde (Rita Corday). It's all part of a frame-up, as helping her gets him knocked out and placed in the wrong place at the wrong time. Now, Conway has to track the real crooks to a suspicious resort (run by Harriet Hilliard, the future Harriet Nelson) while keeping one step ahead of his old police contact, Inspector Donovan (Cliff Clark). If this film is a bit more stylish than most in the series, thank director Edward Dmytryk, a year before he hit the big time with the influential film noir Murder, My Sweet (1944). As usual, Conway has to deal with a bevy of beautiful women, including Hilliard, Corday, Jane Randolph as his reporter girlfriend and Wynne Gibson as the shady head of a knitting circle. Fans loved the film to the tune of over $120,000 in profits.
By Frank Miller
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
The working title of this film was The Falcon Comes Back. A Hollywood Reporter production chart adds Joyce Compton and Grady Sutton to the cast, but they did not appear in the viewed print. For additional information about the series, consult the Series Index and for The Gay Falcon.
