THE FALCON’S ADVENTURE

US, 1946, 61 minutes, Black and white.
Tom Conway, Madge Meredith, Edward Brophy, Bernadette Dell, Steve Brodie, Robert Warwick, Ian Wolfe.
Directed by William Berke.

The Falcon’s Adventure was the last in the series of Falcon adventures with George Sanders and his brother Tom Conway. They worked to a formula, the Falcon in a particular situation, a woman or women involved, warnings to be careful from his sidekick Goldie Locke (Edward Brophy), the police thinking that the Falcon was involved in crime and pursuing him, his doing his usual thing with the ladies, discovering the truth, confronting the villains. Tom Conway was very smooth and adept at this role.

Once again, he and Goldie are going on vacation (which they do in several films although they don’t seem to have any hard-working occupation). They are on their way to Bermuda when they see a woman who attracts the Falcon’s attention. When she is abducted and signals for help, they go to Florida rather than to Bermuda.

The reason the girl was abducted was that her uncle has a formula for industrial diamonds that a rogue company owner wants. When the uncle is murdered, the Falcon and Goldie go to Florida to deliver the formula to a scientist-friend. It is made clear that he does not smoke so when he asks the Falcon for a cigarette, it is obvious that there is foul play – and another murder.

On the train to Florida, the Falcon is attracted by a blonde who wants to escape her violent boyfriend and stay in the Falcon’s sleeping car – to find the formula, of course, the whole thing being set up.

When the niece arrives in Florida, a suave businessman (Robert Warwick) meets her to collect the formula. Clearly he is the villain, has various henchmen who do his violent work for him, the Falcon being knocked out a great number of times rather than winning every bout. Finally, he gets the truth, and the niece is taken by the company businessman onto her yacht – but, the Falcon and Goldie arrive on time, the police in pursuit, to fight their way on board, rescue the niece and have the company director arrested.

Madge Meredith is the niece. Steve Brodie, later to be an action star, is one of the heavies.Ian Wolfe plays the Florida contact. He was in films from 1934 until 1990, two years before his death at age 95.
All this, as in the other Falcon films, in the running time of an hour or so. The end of a B-budget series of entertaining small films.