The Falcon Out West (1944)

The character of the Falcon, an amateur gentleman detective similar to Leslie Charteris' "the Saint", was created by Michael Arlen, a Bulgarian-born British writer of Armenian descent, and was then taken up by Hollywood in a series of crime dramas. Arlen's hero was named Gay Falcon, but in the films he was, for unknown reasons, renamed Gay Lawrence, "the Falcon" being a nickname. (Arlen's choice of a forename for his hero was a strange one. I am well aware that in the thirties and forties the word "gay" did not carry its modern meaning of "homosexual", but even then "Gay" was well-established as a feminine Christian name). In the first four films the Falcon was played by George Sanders, who had also played the Saint in a series of films based on Charteris' books. Feeling that he was becoming typecast, Sanders dropped out of the series after the fourth film in which a new Falcon was introduced, Gay Lawrence's brother Tom. This character was played by Sanders' real-life brother, Tom Conway. (His real name was Tom Sanders; "Conway" was a stage name)."The Falcon Out West" (aka "The Falcon in Texas") is one of Conway's contributions to the series. The Falcon is called in to investigate when Tex Irwin, a wealthy Western rancher, collapses and dies in a New York nightclub. The cause of death is established as rattlesnake venom, and as New York nightclubs are not the natural habitat of the rattlesnake the Falcon correctly suspects foul play. The action then moves to the Irwin ranch in Texas where the Falcon has no shortage of suspects- Irwin's ex-wife, his gold-digging fiancée Vanessa Drake, his business partner Dave Colby, his foreman Dusty and Colby's beautiful daughter Marion.The film rather incongruously combines the conventions of the detective murder mystery with those of the Western. The film was made in 1944 and the action is supposed to take place in that year, but the Falcon seems to travel backwards in time, from a 1940s New York to a Texas that does not appear to have changed much since the Wild West of the 1870s or 1880s. It incorporates what have been described as all the "standard horse-opera clichés", including ambushes, shootouts, stage coaches and Indians. As in many standard Westerns of the period the portrayal of the Indians is rather stereotyped and condescending.I preferred Tom Conway's interpretation of the Falcon to that of his brother, who struck me as being just a little too laid back, even when serious matters like murder were at stake. Conway manages to achieve the necessary lightness of touch without descending into frivolousness. As a murder mystery, however, this is not a very interesting one; I could spot who the murderer was a mile off, long before the solution to the crime was officially announced. The Western setting adds little of interest; trying to cross the whodunit with the horse-opera was not a great success. 5/10

When Lyle Talbot rich Texas rancher dies of snake bite at a New York night club while he's celebrating his upcoming marriage to Carole Gallagher, that's enough cause for suspicion on its face. Tom Conway gets involved when the Talbot's ex-wife tries to hire him to break up the forthcoming nuptials. Conway says that isn't his line, but being on the scene of the murder he has to get involved if for no other reason than the cops in the persons of Cliff Clark and Edward Gargan. Whatever the answers are they're out west back at the ranch.So all the suspects and the Falcon meet up at Talbot's ranch. They include Talbot's former business partner Minor Watson and his daughter Bsrbara Hale, lawyer Don Douglas, and of course the ex-wife Joan Barclay.Barclay in fact goes west with Conway and the cops follow them. With all the Dramatus Personae in one spot the better for Conway to find the culprit.The Falcon Out West is a decent enough entry in the Falcon series, in the middle of the pack. Fans of the series should approve.

Nice idea - bringing the urbane Falcon (Tom Conway) out west to solve the murder of a rancher (Lyle Talbot) killed by a rattlesnake bite in New York City. The rancher had a fiancée (Carole Gallagher), an ex-wife (Joan Irwin), and helpers (Minor Watson and Barbara Hale as his daughter), all of whom seem to have something to hide. Once out west, the search is on for the rancher's will and deed to his house, and the Falcon finds himself in danger.This is actually a pretty good mystery with some old-fashioned Indians and prejudices thrown in - this is pretty common in old films, and gives one a good idea of the sensibilities of the time. Barbara Hale, who went on to play Della Street on "Perry Mason" is the most familiar face here - young and pretty, she started out as an RKO starlet. Carole Gallagher, the fiancée, had the beauty of a Lana Turner but alas, none of the spark, and her career didn't amount to much. Tom Conway does a good job at the Falcon, but I admit that I prefer George Sanders in the role.This is an okay entry into the series.

Tom Lawrence aka The Falcon is out enjoying himself in a New York nightclub full of society types. Among them is a Texan playboy who suddenly starts complaining of a pain that feels like a snakebite, before dropping to the floor and dying. Investigating the body, Lawrence finds two marks indicating a snake had indeed bitten the man but soon finds that a minor detail as the man's fiancé flees the scene and catches a train back to Texas. Lawrence follows her and finds the police have already gotten to Texas via plane and are waiting legal papers to take her back. Lawrence investigates the murder with all the suspects on the victim's ranch in a case where he risks his own life.By this stage in the series, things were looking like flagging and the location being built into the title (Texas and, later, Hollywood) suggested to me that the series wasn't relying on plotting and character to bring the audience in but seemed to be looking to the switching location to be enough to make the series suddenly feel fresh and interesting. In this regard the film fails because this is just the same formula but this time put into a setting that is poorly used and never really fits with the Falcon's style. The mystery story is still worth watching though because it is enjoyable in a b-movie sort of way. The setting is annoying and just seemed to be a way to drag in lots of western clichés into the film – Indians, shoot-outs, horse riding etc without really adding value at all. Fans will feel that this could have been better and they would be right because it is only average at best and isn't the best of the series by a long shot; meanwhile the causal viewer will probably not bother with this at all.The cast are OK, filled as it is with the usual b-movie actors. Conway is a great Falcon and is the main selling point of the series with a smart performance that is lacking Saunders' rather snide edge. Hale was a nice surprise since I only know her from the Perry Mason series and she is interesting in her character. Gallagher is a bit bland and blonde and isn't very impressive. Without a sidekick for the Falcon, Gargan is the sole comic relief and he does it reasonably well without interfering with the main thrust of the film, meanwhile Clark delivers a much more serious performance as the Inspector. Talbot has a few seconds of screen time and the rest of the cast are pretty clichéd Texan role although the Indians have some minor revenge by mocking Detective Bates' assumptions of their intelligence! Overall this is an average entry in the series but it is still good enough for fans to consider it worth seeing. The location is a big distraction and isn't used very well at all but the plot is reasonably interesting and the playing is quite enjoyable for a b-movie. Like I said, worth seeing it for fans of the series like myself but I doubt that this will be the Falcon film that wins over the casual viewer.