Enthusiasts for Raymond Chandler need to see this first filmed version of 'Farewell, My Lovely', which came out two years before the famous version entitled 'Murder, My Sweet' in the USA and 'Farewell, My Lovely' abroad. Ward Bond does an excellent version of playing Moose Molloy, unfortunately eclipsed by the unforgettable Mike Mazurki in that role in the next version. Sanders is as witty as ever, but seems somehow to be losing his enthusiasm, and a lot of the sparkle seems to have gone out of this third film, partly because Chandler and Arlen really did not mix. It must have been a terrible struggle to squeeze the Falcon and his entourage of stock characters into the brilliant Chandler novel. Chandler may have written a lot of wisecracks, but he did not write comedy, and the Falcon should never be separated for too long from gags. The brilliance of the second and the fizz of the first Falcon film do not really carry over here. One reason may be that the plot did not allow a suitable male/female battle for this one; there is a lot of kissing, flirting, and even swooning, but the true dynamics of the gender struggle are absent, and it all seems a bit forced. Hans Conreid swoops in again, this time as the suave Marriott, but he is soon killed without even having a chance to make a wisecrack as he falls. At this stage, the team were getting a bit world-weary and into the series mould. Staleness threatened, and soon Sanders would hand the role over to his brother Tom Conway, escaping while the going was good. Nevertheless, anyone with a serious interest in Chandler needs to see this, and as a Falcon film, it is not negligible, merely a lesser effort, and still manages to be amusing. If we hadn't been spoiled by the first two when the World Was Young and the falcon was fresh, maybe we would have thought this was better.
Review of The Falcon Takes Over
