The Falcon's Brother

"Why, Mr. Lefty, the newspapers said you were incarcerated."

"You know I never drink. I was pinched, but I beat the rap through a suspended sentence."

Well-known detective Gay Lawrence (Sanders) and his assistant Lefty (Barclay) go to the dock to meet his brother. However, the police are already on board investigating a death. They identify the victim as Gay's brother Tom (Conway). 

Gay knows that the body is not Tom, but let's the police believe it so he can investigate unhindered.  But Gay is injured, leaving Tom and Lefty to investigate with fashion reporter Marcia Brooks (Randolph). Can they solve the crime before anyone else gets hurt?

The 4th film in the RKO Falcon film series. The character is based on Michael Arlen's short stories about detective Gay Falcon.

The Good: 

I enjoy George Sanders, so when I stumbled on this film, I had to check it out. This is his 4th and final appearance as the Falcon. He is joined by his actual brother Tom Conway, who plays his character's brother. Conway continued in the franchise in 9 more films, taking over the mantle of the Falcon. Sanders and Conway are suave and look and sound similar.

Don Barclay, as the side-kick Lefty, gets most of the laughs with his non-sequiturs.

The Bad: 

Not as good as other detective series, although the ending still throws you for a loop.

Other Comments:

-Conway starred in 9 more Falcon films.

-The series continued in 1948 with John Calvert as Michael Waring. This character is based on Drexel Drake's Falcon novels.

-Keye Luke has a small role as Jerry. Luke also appeared in both the Charlie Chan and Mr. Wong detective series.

The Falcon's Brother (1942) 63 minutes

Director: Stanley Logan

Starring: George Sanders as Gay Lawrence/The Falcon

Tom Conway as Tom Lawrence/The Falcon

Jane Randolph as Marcia Brooks

Don Barclay as Lefty

Cliff Clark as Inspector Timothy Donovan

Edward Gargan as Detective Bates

Eddie Dunn as Detective Grimes

Charlotte Wynters as Arlette

James Newill as Paul Harrington

Keye Luke as Jerry

Amanda Varela as Carmela

George J. Lewis as Valdez

Gwili Andre as Diane Medford

André Charlot as Savitski