Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

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.

I love these old Falcon movies--especially for the cad actions of George Sanders who made a career out of playing such characters. He was very comical or serious as needed which was a mainstay of movies of this kind in the 30s and 40s. These movies are definitely B-movies but do have an addictive nature to them. Perhaps we are not meant to watch them one after the other as I have recently done. Watching them in this way makes the continuity of characters and actions more noticeable.My main complaint in this one is the total change in character the writers and/or director imposed on Wendy Barrie. Did they even watch the first movie in the series. In "The Gay Falcon"--the first Falcon movie--Wendy's Helen was sweet, helpful, and rather innocent. In this movie, she is dressed too sophisticated, acts too harsh, and has lost all of her sweetness that made her so appealing. (She even uses a different pitch of her voice.) This problem could have been avoided by just making her a different character rather than Helen Reed. After all, the Falcon had a variety of women after him throughout the series. Wendy was in lots of these Falcon and Saint movies and usually played a different character, and there was no quibble in that as we viewers--and probably the 30s and 40s audience did too--realize that these movies were full of character actors--not big stars--and consequently these actors could be plugged into a part as needed. They were probably standing around on the lot waiting to get a script. Just look at Hans Conreid in the 2 Falcon movies--completely different characters but a scene stealer in each.Although many of complaints made by other posters are valid, this movie is a must see for those of us who love B&W B-movies from the past. ! The new Warner Brothers boxed set is very good--even though it lacks any frills, just the movies. A good way to spend about an hour.

This comedy-mystery stars suave and sexy George Sanders as the Falcon who may very well be the prototype for the OO7 character that Ian Fleming was to introduce many years later in the James Bond series. Directed with a heavy-hand by Irving Reis, this fast paced B-picture is an embarrassment: Alan Jenkins overacts, Wendy Barrie tries to be funny, and only such stalwarts as the great James Gleason as Inspector O'Hara and Hans Conried as the Desk Clerk seem to have any idea how to pull off this weird combination of slapstick, wisecracks and a plot so full of holes you could drive a truck through it. The film was made at RKO in 1941, a year or so after the same studio made "Citizen Kane," but you'd never know it.

After suffering a night of lack luster sleep I turned on the television to see what could send me to sleep. After putting on BBC2 I happened on the Movie "A date with falcon", and was hooked from the start. I've been a fan of the genre and enjoyed the mix of comedy and adventure the story portrayed. The cast are charming, suave and full of quips. I loved it and recommend it to people who want to see a action show with a little intelligence, it might be old black and white, but it doesn't effect it one bit. Worth a nights lack of sleep.The future stories are OK but the first three in the series are the better of the series, and include the original cast of characters, future stories have some of the cast switched due to people going off to other projects.