The Falcon and the Co-eds
![The Falcon and the Co-eds](https://prod-images.tcm.com/Master-Profile-Images/thefalconandthecoeds1944.74467.jpg)
Brief Synopsis
Cast & Crew
William Clemens
Tom Conway
Jean Brooks
Rita Corday
Amelita Ward
Isabel Jewell
Film Details
Technical Specs
![](https://prod-images.tcm.com//img/global/logo-AFI.png)
Synopsis
Tom Lawrence, the debonair sleuth known as "The Falcon," becomes entangled in an investigation when Jane Harris, a student at the Blue Cliff Seminary for Girls, asks for his help, claiming that recently deceased Professor Jamison did not die of natural causes, as stated on his death certificate, but was murdered. After Jane informs Tom that her roommate, Marguerita Serena, had foretold Jamison's death, she steals Tom's car, forcing him to follow her to Blue Cliff. At the seminary, Tom meets the school's furtive psychology teacher, Anatole Graelich, and the dean, Miss Keyes. Tom tells them that he is an insurance investigator looking into the death of Professor Jamison and inquires about Marguerita's prediction. As Tom questions Miss Keyes, a phone call comes from the dead professor's room, and they go to investigate. At the professor's cottage, Tom and Miss Keyes find Mary Phoebus, the school's music teacher, who maintains that she has come to look for the professor's poems. After Tom confiscates the verses, he tracks Jane and his car to the school's rehearsal hall, where he meets drama teacher Vicky Gaines. During the rehearsal, Tom watches as Marguerita refuses to use the prop foil, claiming that it will cause another death. Backstage, Tom overhears Vicky and Graelich whispering, and follows Vicky to town, where she visits undertaker Eustace Herley. When Tom finds sleeping pills in Herley's lab, the undertaker admits the Jamison committed suicide by taking an overdose. Tom then offers Vicky a ride back to school, and during their drive, he shows her a poem that Jamison dedicated to "V. G.," causing her to confess to feeling guilty about his suicide. Soon after, police inspectors Timothy Donovan and Bates arrive at Blue Cliff to investigate Jamison's death, and Tom declares that he knows who the killer is. That night, the school revue is interrupted by the screams of Marguerita, who has just found the body of Miss Keyes with the foil next to it. Tom follows Marguerita to Graelich's cottage, where she confides that she fears she has inherited her father's insanity. After Marguerita leaves the room, Tom finds a picture of Vicky taken on a European cruise, and when Graelich appears, Tom suggests that the psychologist's jealousy of Jamison may have been the motive for his murder. Graelich denies this and informs Tom that he has married an American so that he can legally enter the country, but that his marriage has remained secret because Miss Keyes would not allow married teachers on the faculty. Soon after, a shot rings out, and Tom traces it to the girls' dormitory, where he meets Vicky in the hallway. In her room, where Tom sees the same cruise picture, and Vicky admits that she met Graelich in Europe and fell in love. Drawn by the gunshots, the group reconvenes in Dean Keyes's office, where Donovan begins to interrogate Marguerita. Becoming hysterical, the girl runs away, and fearing that she may throw herself from the cliff, they pursue her. Tom teams up with Vicky, who admits that she broke her engagement to Graelich, thus causing Tom to deduce that the psychology professor then wed Mary who, out of insane jealousy killed Jamison and Miss Keyes to frame the lovers for murder. Mary is the first to reach the cliffs, and when Marguerita tells her that she saw her standing over the dead body of Miss Keyes, Mary tries to force her to jump. At that moment, Tom calls to Mary, and as she turns, she loses her footing and falls from the ledge. With the murders solved, Jane's mother, a famous performer, arrives at the school with another actress, who enlists Tom in solving a murder at the theater.
![](https://prod-images.tcm.com//img/global/logo-AFI.png)
Director
William Clemens
Cast
![](https://prod-images.tcm.com/Master-Profile-Images/TomConway.jpg?imwidth=188&height=141)
Tom Conway
![](https://prod-images.tcm.com/Master-Profile-Images/JeanBrooks.23069.jpg?imwidth=188&height=141)
Jean Brooks
![](https://prod-images.tcm.com/Master-Profile-Images/RitaCorday.39050.1.jpg?imwidth=188&height=141)
Rita Corday
Amelita Ward
![](https://prod-images.tcm.com/Master-Profile-Images/IsabelJewell.jpg?imwidth=188&height=141)
Isabel Jewell
![](https://prod-images.tcm.com/Master-Profile-Images/GeorgeGivot.71981.1.jpg?imwidth=188&height=141)
George Givot
Cliff Clark
Ed Gargan
Barbara Brown
Juanita Alvarez
Ruth Alvarez
Nancy Mccollum
Patti Brill
![](https://prod-images.tcm.com/Master-Profile-Images/OlinHowlin.89870.jpg?imwidth=188&height=141)
Olin Howlin
![](https://prod-images.tcm.com/Master-Profile-Images/IanWolfe.208536.jpg?imwidth=188&height=141)
Ian Wolfe
Margie Stewart
Margaret Landry
Carole Gallagher
Barbara Lynn
![](https://prod-images.tcm.com/Master-Profile-Images/MaryHalsey.79844.jpg?imwidth=188&height=141)
Mary Halsey
Perc Launders
![](https://prod-images.tcm.com/Master-Profile-Images/ElaineRiley.161888.jpg?imwidth=188&height=141)
Elaine Riley
![](https://prod-images.tcm.com/Master-Profile-Images/DorothyMalone.jpg?imwidth=188&height=141)
Dorothy Maloney
Dorothy Kelly
Julia Hopkins
Dorothy Christy
Anne O'neal
Ruth Cherrington
Rosemary La Planche
Barbara Coleman
Daun Kennedy
Crew
C. Bakaleinikoff
Phillip Brigandi
Albert S. D'agostino
Gerald Geraghty
Maurice Geraghty
Roy Hunt
Harry Mancke
Renie
Darrell Silvera
William Stevens
Leslie Urbach
Vernon L. Walker
Theron Warth
Ardel Wray
Ardel Wray
![](https://prod-images.tcm.com//img/global/logo-AFI.png)
Film Details
Technical Specs
![](https://prod-images.tcm.com//img/global/logo-AFI.png)
Articles
The Falcon and the Co-Eds
Producer: Maurice Geraghty
Director: Walter Clemens
Screenplay: Gerald Geraghty, Ardel Wray, Michael Arlen (characters)
Cinematography: J. Roy Hunt
Film Editing: Theron Warth
Art Direction: Albert S. D'Agostino
Cast: Tom Conway (Tom Lawrence), Jean Brooks (Vicky Gaines), Rita Corday (Marguerita Serena), Amelita Ward (Jane Harris), Isabel Jewell (Mary Phoebus), George Givot (Dr. Anatole Graelich).
BW-68m.
![The Falcon And The Co-Eds](https://prod-images.tcm.com/img/film-participant-detail/Featured-Artilce_Placeholder.png)
The Falcon and the Co-Eds
Quotes
Can I help you?- Eustace L. Harley, the undertaker
Not just yet.- Tom Lawrence, the Falcon
Trivia
Notes
This film marked the screen debut of Dorothy Maloney, who later changed her name to Dorothy Malone. For additional information about the Falcon series, consult the Series Index and for The Gay Falcon.
![](https://prod-images.tcm.com//img/global/logo-AFI.png)