User Reviews

Directed by Edward Dmytryk, this is Tom Conway's first film as the Falcon and he's got a new sidekick, Goldie (Cliff Edwards), and houseboy (Richard Loo) though he retains his journalist, girlfriend Marcia Brooks (Jane Randolph). The police inspector (Cliff Clark) and his detective (Edward Gargan) also return from the preceding Falcon film, The Falcon's Brother (1942) (George Sanders' last film in the title role).

Mia Bruger (Rita Corday) shows up in the Falcon's bedroom one morning while he's recovering from a hangover. Although she claims to want his help with an immigration issue, she holds a gun on him when he refuses. A struggle ensues, which appears to be something quite different to Goldie and Ms. Brooks when they enter the room. But when the Falcon prevails, he decides to help her anyway.

After driving her to a "bar" to which she directs him, the Falcon is promptly clubbed over the head. While he is unconscious, his car is used in a burglary of $250,000 in war bonds and a warrant is issued for his arrest. When the Falcon regains consciousness, he finds himself in his car and there's a comic scene involving two bums that tell him where he is (out in the country) as well as the day and time, using a stick sundial.

The police soon catch the Falcon, who take him to the "bar" only to find that the establishment is now a sewing school run by Gwynne Gregory (Wynne Gibson). Though still jealous over the bedroom scene, Ms. Brooks helps the Falcon establish his alibi for the police and then reluctantly agrees to pose as a sewing girl to learn what she can about the sewing school. In the purse of Ms. Gregory, she discovers the name of a hotel in the country (which becomes the setting for the rest of the movie).

Shortly after arriving at the hotel, the Falcon and his sidekick humorously "eliminate" the hotel's house detective so that Goldie can be hired to replace him. Quite a few characters are introduced into the storyline at this point including: a puppeteer (Edgar Kennedy) who is doing charity shows at the hotel, the hotel manager (Harriet Hilliard - Ozzie and Harriet), an ex-con (Erford Gage) that the Falcon helped send "up the river" working as a nurse for a German refugee (Andre Charlot), and even Ms. Bruger and Ms. Gregory turn up again.

As is typical, murder becomes part of the plot-line, as do the stolen war bonds (with the aide of the Falcon's houseboy) and a fingerprint laden cigarette case. Of course, the police show up at a key moment to arrest the Falcon and take him away. But, as usual, he escapes (with the same trick used earlier in the film by his sidekick), returning to the hotel in time to solve the crime ... except this time, the police inspector actually gives the Falcon some credit.

The film ends with a woman's scream and her running to the Falcon for assistance, introducing the next case and/or film in the series.

FYI, the very recognizable character actor Byron Foulger plays the hotel clerk in this film.

. . . Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force, Coast Guard and Space Cadets COMBINED, viewers of THE FALCON STRIKES BACK soon learn. You may wonder WHAT exactly is the name of this surreptitious division. Two words: War Profiteers. Even the Prussian Blitzkrieg Boys prove eager to jump upon the bandwagon of American Money Miser graft by barging in on a war bonds racket, the Falcon soon discovers. Despite the impression the mendacious prologue to GASHED WITH THE WHIP fabricates, most of the lazy plantation lords (and their sons) were malingering miscreants, given draft deferments by the Confederate Army in direct proportion to the number of multi-hued folks that they "owned." (THE FREE STATE OF JONES documents how Red State Residents were easily bamboozled even in the mid-1800's!) When is comes to War, Wealthy Americans have blinders on as they focus on the single objective of feathering their own nests.

***SPOILERS*** The high flying "Falcon" Tom Lawrence, Tom Conway, is laid low after a night of heavy drinking and is awaken in his office by Mia Berger, Rita Corday,an what seems like escapee from fascism-Nazi German occupied Europe- begging him to track down her missing brother. Not in the best shape Lawrence goes to this bar where Mia's brother is known to frequent and not only doesn't find him but is knocked out and left outside town in a car that was involved in the robbery of $250,000.00 of US Government bonds where a number of people were killed!

Arrested on a tip by the police Lawrence, and later after escaping from them,is now more then determined to prove his innocence by finding Mia or whoever she is in order for him to prove he was with her when the robbery occurred. Things don't look so good for Lawrence when he finds Mia refuses to help him and is later, at the hotel she was staying in, killed by being shot by a sniper while diving off a plank at the hotel swimming pool!

***SPOILERS****Now in real hot water in not only being accused of a robbery of $250,000.00 in US Government Bonds, at the very height of WWII,but the murder of Mia as well Lawrence uses all his wits and savvy to elude the police as well as to get him out of the mess that he now finds himself in. It all boils down to an act of simple reeving on the killer's part who back in San Francisco was screwed out of his life savings by not only Mia but the person she worked with a con artist known as "The Duchess" the tea toting and all so righteous Mrs. Geraldine Lipton, Waynne Gibson, who runs-as a cover for her criminal activities- a woman's knitting school in town. The killer himself is caught in a trap that Lawrence-the Falcon-set for him using Mrs. Lipton as bate.With Lawrence hot on his tail and having really nowhere to go the killer ends up falling to his death as he slipped off the roof of the hotel that he, using an assumed name, worked at!