In this film, the Falcon (George Sanders) is about to travel on a trip to be married to his fiancé Helen (Wendy Barrie), a woman who has finally "caught" him. James Gleason plays the police inspector, Edward Gargan is his detective, and Allen Jenkins is Goldy (perfect for this type of role, and Sanders' sidekick in all but his last in the series). Helen is naturally "on edge", apparently the Falcon has been this far (engaged, ring and all) three times previously. Goldy's job throughout the film is to keep this fiancé from running away, as well as to help Sanders out of a "jams".The story is about a scientist who has discovered a way to create diamonds so well that jewelers, who loaned him a $1,000 one to copy, can't tell the difference. His goal, however, is to help government and industry by making commercial grade diamonds for $25, and not to collapse the retail market. The police inspector naturally wants to protect the scientist, but before the detective "bodyguard" arrives, criminals kidnap the scientist and his formula.To keep the Falcon from helping the police, the criminals decide to neutralize him. An old female acquaintance (Mona Maris, also providing a jealousy plot-line for the fiancé of the Falcon, associated with the criminals, attempts to persuade him to join them. When he refuses, they kidnap him. However, he escapes by making faces at police in a passing squad car, pretending to be drunk. The cops pull over the car and relieve the criminals of their prey.Another slapstick scene follows the Falcon's discovery of the scientist, who has apparently overdosed on sleeping pills in his hotel room. When the police arrive, summoned by a suspicious hotel employee, the Falcon escapes out the window onto the fifth floor balcony. His fiancé, who had been waiting in a cab below, sees him up on the balcony and starts yelling, causing the gathering crowd to think it's witnessing a potential "jumper". When the police discover him, he's arrested. However, he escapes in a rather amusingly well choreographed scene I won't spoil.A twist is revealed which begs the question as to how the criminals knew of it. The Falcon is captured again by the criminals and is later arrested again by the police. The whole mystery is wrapped up rather quickly and conveniently in the end in at least two ways: how all the criminals are rounded up, and the recovery of the missing formula.It ends with the Falcon and his fiancé (and curiously, Goldy) finally leaving on their trip to be married when, of course, another of the Falcon's many female acquaintances shows up.

Second in RKO's fun series of B mystery films about a suave detective named Gay Lawrence (aka The Falcon). In the first few movies in the series, the Falcon is played by the great George Sanders. Here the Falcon investigates the disappearance of an inventor who has discovered how to create synthetic diamonds that are identical to the real thing. Sanders is terrific in this role -- charming, witty, and flirtatious. It's a shame he didn't do more than the few he did. But his brother Tom Conway was a fine replacement so I can't complain. Wendy Barrie returns as the Falcon's love interest. Allen Jenkins steals the show as the comic relief sidekick, Goldie. The rest of the solid supporting cast includes James Gleason, Mona Maris, and Edward Gargan. Hans Conreid has a funny bit as a hotel clerk. In the previous Falcon movie, he played a police sketch artist. The Falcon series was admittedly formulaic, and this whole business about a kidnapped inventor is definitely nothing new, but it was undeniably entertaining. The brisk pace, short runtime, and healthy amounts of comedy help a lot. It's lighthearted fun for anybody looking to kill an hour and change.

A Date With The Falcon finds George Sanders as the smooth gentleman crook getting himself involved with a kidnapping plot. The victim in this case has developed a process to manufacture synthetic industrial diamonds. Remember this was the time when American ingenuity developed synthetic rubber so the concept was not that far fetched to 1942 audiences. In any event the crooks kidnap the guy who invented the synthetic diamond and Sanders has to convince the authorities he's not in on the plot. He also has to convince Wendy Barrie that he's not two timing her with femme fatale Mona Maris. I leave it to you which is tougher.This one really developed into more comedy than a serious B film drama with the hero himself taking over from Allen Jenkins as sidekick Goldie Locke and James Gleason as the police inspector. Even Barrie with her jealous antics was mugging for the camera.Not the best of the Falcon series.

This is the second of the Falcon films starring George Sanders. The dialogue crackles with even more electricity than in the first. This film has more substance and plot than its predecessor, but is even funnier, with both sight gags and witty remarks throughout which are often hilarious. Who can ever forget George Sanders standing and smoking a cigarette nonchalantly on a window ledge of a New York hotel, while the crowd below gasps and take bets on whether he will jump. When a policeman forces him inside the window at gunpoint, the street crowd sighs in disappointment, and one man says: 'I figured him for a phoney.' When Sanders goes into a florist shop to buy roses for his (new) fiancée, the woman running it is an old girl friend. She is surprised and disappointed that he is getting married: 'You're much too undependable to be taken out of circulation. It's a crime.' He drolly replies: 'Yes, and I can't solve it. It's a perfect crime.' Hans Conreid, who stole scenes in the previous Falcon film as a police artist, really runs away with his scenes in this one as a hotel clerk. Wendy Barrie scintillates as much as ever, sometimes ferocious, at other times gentle, but always on fire. What a cracker! They don't make 'em like this any more. And all that on a low budget, with a couple of cars and a few cheap sets. Today's directors with their hundred million dollar budgets ought to take a look at some of these old cheapies and learn how to make real movies. Then we would not all be so bored by their silly special effects and exploding cars which they substitute for acting and witty dialogue, and we could enjoy a film again like people could in 1941.