The opening sequence on a train establishes a great rapport between Conway's Falcon and his wisecrackin' sidekick Goldie Locke (Ed Brophy) as they travel on vacation to San Francisco. There is some silly humor here about the single Goldie filing his tax returns and sensing he'd pay less in taxes if he got married. Before you can say fair tax percentages, there is a small dog and a sweet young girl named Annie (Sharyn Moffett) and the death of her nurse in one of the train compartments. It is possible this stern nurse was murdered!
All this leads to a misunderstanding involving a kidnapping; a shipping company and its pretty owner, Annie's big sister (Rita Corday) who may or may not be a prisoner in her own home; a supposedly dead gangster who may still be living, and a finale involving an exploding boiler room. "The Falcon in San Francisco" is fun and light on its feet and packs quite a solid punch. The colorful cast is tremendous fun - there is a real joy of acting on everyone's part which includes Robert Armstrong acutely showing two different sides to his character. Brophy's Goldie is very funny as he keeps trying to woo women to marry him, and Sharyn Moffett is a smart, cute Annie whom you just want to hug. The real standout is Tom Conway who brings his own downplayed suave manner to the Falcon. These Falcon movies may not be as densely layered as Sherlock Holmes stories but they just as intoxicating. The Falcon is a martini to Sherlock's bourbon.
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