TheLittleSongbird 'The Falcon's Brother' is most notable for being George Sanders' last outing as the Falcon and his real life brother Tom Conway debuting and taking over nine more times subsequently. Having really enjoyed the first three films, 'The Falcon's Brother' was decent enough but somewhat of a disappointment at the same time.Of the four Falcon films with Sanders, to me it's the weakest, with a lot of merits but also some glaring flaws. While Sanders is underused and it is somewhat obvious that he had tired of the role (having performed with more enthusiasm in the first two films) he is charismatic and suave enough. Conway is a strong presence, making a more than credible role debut.Mostly the supporting cast were underwhelming, but Jane Randolph was suitably sprightly and spunky with great rapport with Conway (it is their scenes where the film particularly comes alive) and Keye Luke is very amusing and brings a real charm to a character that could easily have been annoying and out of place.'The Falcon's Brother' looks just fine, with a lot of elegance and atmosphere in the settings and the film is shot with style and class as well as a real sense of genre. The music is lively and haunting, and the story is mostly suspenseful and engrossing, going at an efficient pace, faring stronger in the mystery elements than the comedy. It's complicated but it doesn't feel jumpy or rushed, which is remarkable for a film that is not that long.However, Stanley Logan's direction while efficient is unimaginative while the ending does feel rushed and abrupt. The comedy is amusing and light enough, but doesn't crackle as much as the previous three films and some of it veers on the repetitive, while the patriotic elements are laid on too thick and don't really fit very well.Particularly disappointing is the notable and deeply lamented absences of James Gleason and Allen Jenkins, scene stealers in the previous films. The replacement characters/actors are not only not as good, they don't even come close and are vastly inferior. Saw no point to the character of Lefty, and the film even fails to provide a reason for Goldy's absence which harms the continuity somewhat, and Don Barclay plays him witlessly and all annoyance and no sense of fun or charm. Cliff Clark resorts to buffoonish mugging, and Edward Gargan is particularly hampered by repetitive material (particularly the patter between him and Clark) and struggles to bring freshness to it.In conclusion, decent if disappointing. Good for curiosity value but there's better in the series. 6/10 Bethany Cox

tjm199 Wow, I really enjoy "The Falcon" movies and this has it's good moments. It also has some very bad moments. George Sanders is good for as long as he is in the movie. Tom Conway also does a good job as the Falcon's brother, Tom. Suave and smooth go hand in hand with Sanders and Conway. There is a real problem with the supporting actors, especially Don Barclay as "Lefty," the Falcon's side kick. The actor is just terrible, a droning monotone, complete lack of facial expressions and a delivery that shows the actor just walked through his lines. Cliff Clark as Inspector Donovan mugs his way through all of his scenes and Jane Randolph as reporter Marcia Brooks is entirely too predictable and annoying. But then so is her character. Mind you, I don't expect Academy Award material from these "B" movies but the first three "Falcon" movies were much better. Well, the first and third movies were better than this. I haven't seen the next movie with Conway, where Conway takes over the role of The Falcon but with the name of Tom Lawrence. The ending is also a bit abrupt and unsatisfying. All in all there are much better examples of these "B" movies. But there are worse ones as well. If you really want to see all of the movies, don't miss this one. It would leave a gap in your knowledge. One thing I really enjoy is seeing character actors doing bit parts that are quite often uncredited. Keye Luke in this one and Hans Conrad in several of the Falcon and Saint movies. Good stuff.

Michael_Elliott Falcon's Brother, The (1942) ** 1/2 (out of 4) Fourth in the series was also the last to feature George Sanders as he was growing tired with the role. This time out The Falcon (Sanders) gets put into a coma so his brother (Tom Conway) shows up to take over a case involving Nazis. Having Sanders top billed here is a major cheat since he's only in the opening ten minutes and the final five. The rest of the time has his character lying in bed but all the scenes in his room are shot without showing an actor, which makes it clear Sanders wasn't there. Conway was Sanders real life brother so that's a unique little thing and he does a fine job at carrying the film and he would do so for eleven more features. The story itself is pretty interesting but it certainly misses Allen Jenkins whose character isn't here but another character played by Don Barclay takes over.

MartinHafer This is a B-movie detective film from back in the day when such series were common. While The Falcon series isn't as interesting or fun as Charlie Chan or Sherlock Holmes, it is one of the better examples of the genre. Interestingly enough, growing up I often couldn't remember if I'd just seen a Falcon film or a Saint film, as both series were produced (for the most part) by RKO and many featured George Sanders playing the same character in almost every way aside from their name! The formula and action was identical--both detectives were sophisticated rich guys who mostly dabbled in investigating crimes out of a desire to avoid boredom or meet women! From a historical standpoint, this is THE must-see film of either series, as it stars George Sanders AND his nearly identical-looking and talking real-life brother, Tom Conway--who when on to play The Falcon in nine films! It seems that George was tired of this series work and wanted out of the contract, so they decided to use his equally talented older brother--who made a smooth transition to the role. In fact, it's pretty cool to see BOTH Falcons in the same film and I really appreciated the unusual and unexpected ending (which I WON'T divulge so I'll keep it suspenseful).Apart from Conway and Sanders, the film is also better than the average Falcon film, as the plot is very good and the supporting cast all do an excellent job of combining mystery with a light sense of humor. This isn't an intellectual or deep film, but represents a good and watchable B-movie that has held up well through the years.