Re: RARA-AVIS: Craig Rice, the Falcon and Chandler (was:Crime On My Hands)

From: Jim Beaver ( jumblejim@prodigy.net)
Date: 26 Oct 2004


Etienne wrote:

> Concerning the Falcon series with Sanders, there were only 4 episodes of
> them as Sanders wanted to stop. The follow-up was given to a
> providential brother character in the nb 4 titled: THE FALCON'S BROTHER
> (1942) which was indeed written by Rice, but this was the only one from
> the series with Sanders. A transition story and totally forgettable.
> She probably wrote for subsequent episodes.
>
> I very recently saw the four first Falcon episodes and I must admit that
> nb 1 (A DATE WITH THE FALCON - 1941) is better than expected due to
> clever dialogues, humor and Sanders (the story is good average for a
> large audience, if we except some naive scientist plot).

I think THE GAY FALCON (1941) is actually the first. I saw A DATE WITH THE FALCON last night, and it seemed clearly to rely on an audience's prior knowledge of the character. I also thought it was abysmal. If George Sanders had relied solely on this film for his reputation, he would be in all likelihood an unknown bump in Hollywood history or, at best, his generation's William Shatner. He mugs and winces and gives every indication of thinking he's in a schoolboy's skit. The story is not as complex as the average Archie comic book, and as to the clever dialogue, I'd have to say perhaps it sounds better dubbed in French. I'm looking forward to the Chandler adaptation in THE FALCON TAKES OVER, but my high hopes are no longer high.

Jim Beaver

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