The Gay Falcon
| The Gay Falcon | |
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| Directed by | Irving Reis |
| Produced by | Howard Benedict |
| Screenplay by |
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| Based on | "The Gay Falcon" (story) by Michael Arlen |
| Starring | |
| Music by | Paul Sawtell |
| Cinematography | Nicholas Musuraca |
| Edited by | George Crone |
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Production
company |
RKO Radio Pictures, Inc.
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| Distributed by | RKO Radio Pictures |
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Release date
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Running time
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67 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
The Gay Falcon 1941 B film is the first in a series of 16 films about a suave detective nicknamed The Falcon. Intended to replace the earlier The Saint detective series, the first film took its title from the lead character, Gay Laurence.George Sanders was cast in the title role; he had played The Saint in the prior RKO series. He was teamed again with Wendy Barrie who had been with him in three previous Saint films.
Ladies' man and amateur crime solver Gay Laurence (George Sanders), the "Gay Falcon", reluctantly agrees to give up both habits to mollify his fiancée, Elinor Benford (Nina Vale). He and his uncouth sidekick, Jonathan "Goldie" Locke (Allen Jenkins), become unenthusiastic stockbrokers. When Elinor asks him to attend a party given by Maxine Wood (Gladys Cooper) to mingle with potential clients, he refuses to go to that much trouble.
However, when Wood asks for his help via pretty assistant Helen Reed (Wendy Barrie), he cannot resist. It seems that Wood's soirées have been plagued by jewel thefts, and she is particularly worried about the diamond of her guest, Vera Gardner (Lucile Gleason).
At the party, Elinor becomes annoyed when she figures out why Gay changed his mind about attending, and retaliates by dancing with Manuel Retana (Turhan Bey). In frustration, she grabs the flower from Retana's lapel and flings it at Gay. He calmly picks it up and attaches it to his lapel. Vera Gardner then insists on dancing with Gay; she hands him her diamond secretly, much to his puzzlement, then leaves the room. Moments later, a shot rings out, and she is dead. The killer is seen by Goldie as he makes his getaway.
Police Detectives Bates (Edward Brophy) and Grimes (Eddie Dunn) take Goldie to the police station on suspicion of murder. Gay persuades Inspector Mike Waldeck (Arthur Shields) to release Goldie so he can flush out the real murderer. Then he and Helen go to see Maxine, leaving Goldie in the car. While they are gone, Goldie is abducted by Noel Weber (Damien O'Flynn), Gardner's killer. Weber orders Goldie to call Gay to offer to trade Goldie's life for the diamond. However, Weber is shot, and once again, Goldie is found by the police near a dead body.
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