The Falcon (literary character)
Encyclopedia
Michael Arlen
Michael Arlen , original name Dikran Kouyoumdjian, was an Armenian essayist, short story writer, novelist, playwright, and scriptwriter, who had his greatest successes in the 1920s while living and writing in England...
in his short story, "Gay Falcon", which was first published in 1940 in Town & Country
Town & Country (magazine)
Town & Country, formerly the Home Journal and The National Press, is a monthly American lifestyle magazine. It is the oldest continually published general interest magazine in the United States.-Early history:...
magazine. Falcon is a freelance adventurer and troubleshooter, definitely on the hardboiled side, a man who makes his living "keeping his mouth shut and engaging in dangerous enterprises."
The Falcon was quickly brought to the screen by RKO in 1941, in the film The Gay Falcon
The Gay Falcon
The Gay Falcon is the first in a series of films about a suave detective nicknamed The Falcon. The 1941 B film was intended by RKO Radio Pictures to introduce a replacement for The Saint, after RKO decided that renewing the film rights to the latter character would be too expensive...
, in which he was redefined as a suave English gentleman-detective with a weakness for beautiful women. The film was intended to establish a character who would replace Leslie Charteris
Leslie Charteris
Leslie Charteris , born Leslie Charles Bowyer-Yin, was a half-Chinese, half English author of primarily mystery fiction, as well as a screenwriter. He was best known for his many books chronicling the adventures of Simon Templar, alias "The Saint."-Early life:Charteris was born to a Chinese father...
' The Saint
Simon Templar
Simon Templar is a British fictional character known as The Saint featured in a long-running series of books by Leslie Charteris published between 1928 and 1963. After that date, other authors collaborated with Charteris on books until 1983; two additional works produced without Charteris’s...
, hero of a popular RKO series of B movies starring George Sanders
George Sanders
George Sanders was a British actor.George Sanders may also refer to:*George Sanders , Victoria Cross recipient in World War I...
. Though Falcon was the character's surname in the short story, in the film he was renamed Gay Lawrence, so that The Falcon became a nickname, comparable to The Saint. In later outings, in various media. the character had a variety of "real names," while still being known as The Falcon. None of these episodes ever included an explanation for the nickname.
Sanders appeared in the first three Falcon films, which followed the Saint pattern so closely that author Charteris sued RKO for plagiarism. (Charteris pokes fun at The Falcon in his 1943 novel, The Saint Steps In
The Saint Steps In
The Saint Steps In is the title of a mystery novel by Leslie Charteris featuring his creation, Simon Templar, alias The Saint. The book was first published in serialized form in November 1942 in Liberty Magazine, with its first bound publication in 1943 in an American edition by The Crime Club...
, with a character making a metafictional
Metafiction
Metafiction, also known as Romantic irony in the context of Romantic works of literature, is a type of fiction that self-consciously addresses the devices of fiction, exposing the fictional illusion...
reference to the Falcon being "a bargain-basement imitation" of The Saint.) Sanders, tired of B leads, bowed out of the series in The Falcon's Brother (1942). The Falcon's brother, Tom, became the new Falcon, and was portrayed by Sanders' actual brother, Tom Conway
Tom Conway
Tom Conway was a British film and radio actor, and elder brother of actor George Sanders.-Early life:...
. Conway starred in ten more Falcon films through 1946, almost always with a wisecracking sidekick, portrayed variously by Edward Brophy
Edward Brophy
Edward S. Brophy was an American character actor, voice artist, and comedian. Small of build, balding, and raucous-voiced, he was known for portraying gangsters, both serious and comic.-Career:...
, Allen Jenkins
Allen Jenkins
Allen Jenkins was an American character actor of stage, screen and television.-Early life:He was born David Allen Curtis Jenkins in Staten Island, New York on April 9, 1900.-Career:...
(who also played the same role in the first three Sanders films), Don Barclay
Don Barclay
Don Barclay was an American actor.He played the character Mr. Binnacle in the Disney film Mary Poppins.-Selected filmography:* That Little Band of Gold * Honky Donkey Barclay...
, Cliff Edwards
Cliff Edwards
Cliff Edwards , also known as "Ukelele Ike", was an American singer and voice actor who enjoyed considerable popularity in the 1920s and early 1930s, specializing in jazzy renditions of pop standards and novelty tunes. He had a number-one hit with "Singin' in the Rain" in 1929...
, and arguably best of all, Vince Barnett
Vince Barnett
Vince Barnett was an American film actor. He appeared on stage originally before appearing in over 180 films between 1930 and 1975....
.
One well-known gimmick in the Falcon series was tacking an epilogue onto one movie to act as a sort of tease to the next. This little "preview" often had little to do with the actual upcoming film, but it was meant to keep interest alive.
The Falcon character was revived in three more films, all made in 1948, starring John Calvert
John Calvert (magician)
Madren Elbern "John" Calvert is an American magician who has performed on stage for eight decades both in the United States and worldwide. He is also a film actor who appeared in numerous movies...
and changing the character's name to Michael Waring, but these were unsuccessful. The Falcon additionally appeared in radio
The Falcon (radio)
The Falcon radio series premiered on the Blue Network on April 10, 1943, continuing on NBC and Mutual until November 27, 1954. Some 70 episodes were produced....
and television series, also utilizing this other name.
Film series
- Starring George SandersGeorge SandersGeorge Sanders was a British actor.George Sanders may also refer to:*George Sanders , Victoria Cross recipient in World War I...
as Gay Lawrence- The Gay FalconThe Gay FalconThe Gay Falcon is the first in a series of films about a suave detective nicknamed The Falcon. The 1941 B film was intended by RKO Radio Pictures to introduce a replacement for The Saint, after RKO decided that renewing the film rights to the latter character would be too expensive...
(1941) - A Date with the Falcon (1941)
- The Falcon Takes OverThe Falcon Takes OverThe Falcon Takes Over, also known as The Falcon Steps Out, is a 1942 black-and-white mystery film directed by Irving Reis. The film was the third, following The Gay Falcon and A Date with the Falcon , to star George Sanders as the character Gay Lawrence, a gentleman detective known by the sobriquet...
(1942) (based on Raymond ChandlerRaymond ChandlerRaymond Thornton Chandler was an American novelist and screenwriter.In 1932, at age forty-five, Raymond Chandler decided to become a detective fiction writer after losing his job as an oil company executive during the Depression. His first short story, "Blackmailers Don't Shoot", was published in...
's Farewell, My LovelyFarewell, My LovelyFarewell, My Lovely is a 1940 novel by Raymond Chandler, the second novel he wrote featuring Los Angeles private eye Philip Marlowe. It was adapted for the screen three times.-Plot summary:...
)
- The Gay Falcon
- Featuring Sanders and Tom ConwayTom ConwayTom Conway was a British film and radio actor, and elder brother of actor George Sanders.-Early life:...
as the Lawrence brothers- The Falcon's BrotherThe Falcon's BrotherThe Falcon's Brother is a 1942 film in which George Sanders, who had been portraying "The Falcon" in a series of movies, appears with his lookalike brother Tom Conway; the brothers play brothers and Sanders hands off the series to Conway, who plays the new Falcon in nine subsequent films...
(1942)
- The Falcon's Brother
- Starring Tom Conway as Tom Lawrence
- The Falcon Strikes BackThe Falcon Strikes BackThe Falcon Strikes Back is a 1943 American crime film directed by Edward Dmytryk.-Cast:* Tom Conway as Tom Lawrence* Harriet Hilliard as Gwynne Gregory* Jane Randolph as Marcia Brooks* Edgar Kennedy as Smiley Dugan* Cliff Edwards as Goldie Locke...
(1943) - The Falcon in Danger (1943)
- The Falcon and the Co-eds (1943)
- The Falcon Out West (1944)
- The Falcon in Mexico (1944)
- The Falcon in Hollywood (1944)
- The Falcon in San Francisco (1945)
- The Falcon's Alibi (1946)
- The Falcon's Adventure (1946)
- The Falcon Strikes Back
- Starring John CalvertJohn Calvert (magician)Madren Elbern "John" Calvert is an American magician who has performed on stage for eight decades both in the United States and worldwide. He is also a film actor who appeared in numerous movies...
as Michael Waring- Devil's CargoDevil's CargoDevil's Cargo is a 1948 American film directed by John F. Link Sr..-Cast:*John Calvert as Michael "The Falcon" Watling*Rochelle Hudson as Margo Delgado*Roscoe Karns as Lt...
(1948) - Appointment with Murder (1948)
- Search for Danger (1949)
- Devil's Cargo