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

From: E.Borgers ( wbac12034@tiscali.be)
Date: 27 Oct 2004


  BBC rarely shows American films in French dubbed versions...

I mistyped and indeed it should read "nb 2" for A DATE WITH THE FALCON. I plead guilty for having used the word "clever" to qualify the dialogue; in fact I should better have said: "dialogue with some wit"
(at least for an important part of the film). Other than that I never claimed that it was the best of Sanders, but on the other hand as he plays his part as a parody and, as humor fortunately shadowed the intrigue all over the film, he contributes to save what it could be saved in this film, the very weak "mystery" plot not really helping it.

I saw the 4 episodes as a curiosity, knowing the near-cult status it enjoys in the US. But I was prepared for the worst, which explains why I could be positively surprised by some of them. For the Chandler adaptation do not expect a first class noir film. It's just like I said, considering the goals and audience aimed by this series. But it's interesting to watch when having already seen Dmytryk's film. One think struck me: the very different "tones" used in each episode to tell the stories; there was no unity.

E.Borgers Hard-Boiled Mysteries http://www.geocities.com/Athens/6384

Jim Beaver :

>Etienne wrote:
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>>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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>RARA-AVIS home page: http://www.miskatonic.org/rara-avis/
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