Cleveronix A different way of telling a story

Cooktopi The acting in this movie is really good.

Mandeep Tyson The acting in this movie is really good.

Philippa All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

jacobs-greenwood This was the second of four Falcon features produced by Maurice Geraghty in which his brother Gerald was a contributing writer; he assisted Ardel Wray with adapting her story based on the Michael Arlen character. In this B crime mystery drama, directed by William Clemens, Tom Conway plays Tom Lawrence, aka The Falcon, and actress Isabel Jewell (among others) joins series regulars Jean Brooks, Rita Corday, and Amelita Ward whereas George Givot joins Cliff Clark and Edward Gargan, among the other actors. Ian Wolfe also appears uncredited as an undertaker; Leonard Maltin's guide also credits Dorothy Malone among the uncredited co-eds.Jane Harris (Ward) calls the police to ask Detective Bates (Gargan) for the Falcon's phone number because she wants him to investigate the murder of a professor at her all girls Bluecliff college. Bates responds but is then asked by Inspector Timothy Donovan (Clark) what department he's in, to which the detective responds "homicide". But as usual, the Falcon will lead the investigation and the police will fade into the background (in this one, more so than in others in the series).Once on campus, the Falcon goes by Tom Lawrence, insurance investigator, to keep the as-yet-unknown suspects from knowing that he's looking into the professor's death as if it weren't accidental, as the death certificate had been signed by the college's psychology professor Dr. Graelich (Givot). The doctor tells Lawrence that the cause of death was actually suicide and that he was trying to cover it up to prevent a scandal at the request of the school's headmaster Miss Keyes (Barbara Brown). But Bates too is soon found dead by fencing sword, a death foreseen by a mysterious and psychic student named Marguerita Serena (Corday), which adds school play producer Vicky Gaines (Brooks) to the list of suspects. Another curious ever- present person is the music teacher, Mary Phoebus (Jewell).Comic relief is provided by the three Ughs, Miss Bates's precocious nieces who must stay on campus, played by Nita Hunter aka Juanita Alvarez, Ruth Álvarez, and Nancy McCollum.

robert-temple-1 This is the seventh of the Falcon films, and apart from a single line of dialogue by Tom Conway: 'I think more clearly with a tall glass in my hand', there is no witty dialogue at all. The film is very amusing, but no longer because of wisecracks, instead the humour has become entirely situational. The film is what could be called a 'comedy thriller'. The Falcon series has now changed completely, and the last vestiges of true film noir atmosphere have vanished from it like the mist. The setting is a girls' college, and like all films of that time, all the students are several years older than the parts they play. (Watch out for an uncredited early appearance as a co-ed by Dorothy Malone, later a B star.) The only really cute kids in the film play the three daughters of a faculty member: they sing brilliantly and have all the charm and sense of fun of the children that they are. Everybody else is much too old, including Tom Conway in this situation. However, the film is genuinely fun and the plot is an intriguing thriller tale with unusual twists. There are some good scenes on the edges of cliffs, hints of hypnotic suggestion, psychological undertones, a girl who foresees the future and may or may not be insane, all 'jolly good stuff' and a superior B movie. A good time was indeed had by all, even by Jean Brooks, who specialises in looking grim and dangerous while at the same time holding out the occasional reluctant smile as both a threat and an inducement to those who either suspect her or are attracted by her. Her work as a B movie villainess or alluring suspect has never been sufficiently appreciated.

Spondonman Because this entry starred so many girls and women it was one of my daughter's favourite Falcon's when very young, and I agree it does have some nice scenery in it. There were plenty of feminine things to relate to here, with brooding dark mystery and a frisson of the romantic paranormal – always a hit with the ladies. Also comic banter par excellence between the murders, between the leads.Tom (the Falcon) Lawrence gets called upon to investigate the death of a teacher at Bluecliff Seminary for girls, and uncovers a seething nest of unrest. His elderly presence at the school has the hep young ladies in a flutter as well as the shifty teachers. The buildings and grounds are beautifully and atmospherically photographed – after all, this was RKO's best period with films like Magnificent Ambersons, I Walked With A Zombie and Seventh Victim etc, so why not some of the sadly neglected Falcon series as well? This time Inspector Why Timothy! Cliff Clark and stalwart sidekick Ed Gargan aren't chasing the Falcon to nail him for the murders but to help him clear it all up albeit with a battery of badinage, a refreshing change.One of the best entries in the series imho, pleasant entertainment with nothing heavy in it thankfully and thus thoroughly recommended to fans; but if you didn't like this I wouldn't recommend any of the others to you unless you're masochistic.

Jim Tritten Unlike many of the other entries in the Tom Conway Falcon series, The Falcon and the Co-eds rises above mediocracy and delivers a good solid "B" mystery to the audience. The plot is decent, the acting is reasonably good, and interesting camera work contribute to an enjoyable viewing. There are sufficient clues and enough suspects to challenge the viewer to solve the mystery before the detective. Today's audience may find the treatment of young college women as sexist but such depictions probably represent mainstream society at the time. I have not recommended many of these Tom Conway Falcon movies, but I do this one. The scene in which the murderer is revealed is especially good.