THE GAY FALCON - "Fiction's Smoothest Super-Sleuth" (1941)

Tonight's Wild Wednesday presentation is the first in the series of Falcon movies that came out in the 1940s! The sometimes droll but suave George Sanders has the lead role. Prior to this, George Sanders was in five movies as Simon Templar or "The Saint."

The title is "The Gay Falcon."

 In 1941, many words had different interpretations than today!!

Why is The Falcon gay? It's very simple, that's his first name!

The Falcon is trying to go legit, so he's on his first day at his new job as a stock broker!

When his fiancé pops in to see how he's doing, she finds him peering out the window!

He's not real busy, so he's peeping on some gal in the other building!

The Falcon's fiancé Elinor is portrayed by Nina Vale. Nina was only ever in three movies, this one, "Cornered," and "Mysterious Intruder." Kind of mysterious herself, there's hardly any information to be found on her except that she was born in Massachusetts as Anne Hunter. I couldn't even find a birth or death date.

I finally did find this newspaper clipping at Newspapers.com 

from the "Brooklyn Daily Eagle" Jan. 20, 1946 edition.

Gay Laurence likes to drink spinach juice!

The Falcon's best pal and associate Goldie Locke doesn't appreciate spinach juice as much as The Falcon does!

Allen Jenkins has 158 credits to his name and besides Goldie, most of them had colourful names like:

 Lefty, Chimp, Spudsy, Carbarn, Kewpie, Slats, Fishcake, Crusty, Dodo, Pinky, Skeets, and Droopy, just to name a few!

There are lots of female roles in this film that include Gladys (The Black Cat) Cooper on the left, and Wendy (The Hound Of The Baskervilles) Barrie on the right!

The Falcon has quite an eye for the ladies!

The truly great Hans Conried has a very small, but funny part as Herman, the Police sketch artist!

Somehow from the description given, the drawing comes out looking like Mike, the Chief Inspector, who is not happy about it at all! The Irish born Arthur (Daughter Of Dr. Jekyll) Shields has the role of Mike!

"The Gay Falcon" is based on a murder mystery that was written by Michael Arlen!
It was a short story that first appeared in "Town and Country" magazine in 1940.

Bulgarian born as Dikran Kouyoumdjian, Michael moved to England at six years of age, became a writer, and on becoming an English citizen changed his name to Michael Arlen. He looks like a character right out of one of his own books.

In 1924, Michael wrote his best-selling book, titled "The Green Hat,"set amidst the glamour and intrigue of a post-war 1920's London.

Michael Arlen became such a popular writer that he was on the cover of Time magazine in 1927.

Michael wrote all kinds of books and stories, but nothing ever attained the popularity of "The Green Hat." After World War II, Michael moved to New York, whereupon he suffered writer's block for the last ten years of his life.

Turhan (The Mummy's Tomb) Bey makes any movie interesting! He would follow up this role with an appearance in "The Falcon Takes Over."

It's a real shame that they don't interrogate people like this any more!

"The Gay Falcon" is a winner just like the players on these pre-flipper pinball machines were before the ban on pinball machines for being public nuisances and menaces to society was put into effect!

George Sanders was "The Falcon" in three more movies. The fourth was titled "The Falcon's Brother" and had Tom Conway (George Sanders's real life brother) as Gay's brother. Gay gets killed in that film, but the show must go on, and Tom Conway goes on to make nine more movies as "The Falcon!"

THE OUTER LIMITS / "Second Chance" Season 1 Episode 23 - 1964

Welp, I guess it's time to hit the Outer Limits Zone! In today's classic story, a carnival space ride becomes frighteningly real when a weird alien bird-man called an Empyrian secretly rigs it up with actual rockets. The alien carefully selects his unknowing crew of misfits including the carny ride captain who's a closet intellectual, an angry middle-aged man, and a star high school quarterback accompanied by his adoring buddy and his steady girl.

This one stars Simon (THE NIGHTSTALKER) Oakland as the Empyrian, Janet De Gore, Don Gordon, Yale Summers, Arnold Merritt, Mimsy Farmer, John McLiam and Angela Clarke.

Welcome to the Joyland carnival, it has everything a kid back then could want, rides, attractions, food, games, and even a ride into space!!.. We see the security cop making sure all the people are off the premises after closing. He goes inside the Space Ride for inspection and then mysteriously disappears... Forever!!

Okay, I showed this Tilt-A-Whirl for a reason, I hate this fucking ride!

Anyway, the Empyrian accosts a number of people with free tickets for the Space Ride...

But before the take off, the alien knocks out Dr. Crowell, the commander of the ride. Then the hostess, Mara Matthews, has to be restrained before he can proceed...

After the ship takes off, things get real for the passengers. The top pic speaks for itself! Tell 'em all about it, Eegah!!

Then, the realization sets in.. They... Are... In... Freakin'.. SPACE!!!

Buddy throws a tantrum where he attacks his best bud Tommy, then Tommy tells Buddy's girlfriend Denise that the quarterback cheated during the winning game. The alien then zaps Buddy a goodern!

Tommy totally flips out and ends up opening the airlocks, and gets sucked out into space!! A little shock to keep the hard core viewer satisfied.

So, the beans get spilled all over everything and it's revealed that the Empyrian is trying to prevent the Earth from being hit by an asteroid called Tythra. He had planned on attaining help from the earthlings on board, but it's decided that the unwilling passengers be taken back to Earth and be replaced by volunteers, which Dr. Crowell assures the alien, will be numerous! The viewer is left to believe that the problem will be solved by mutual help.

And, if you have any kids giving you trouble at home, you can get your very own Kid Zapper Medallion! - We're back on Wednesday with another Dungeon Delight, or something like that, just for you!

NIGHT AND THE CITY - "The Rat Of Soho" (1950)

Tonight's Saturday Night Special comes with a message.....as Frank Zappa would say many years later, "BE A JERK! GO TO WORK," but at least you might stay alive!

The title "Night And The City" is very awkward to me, I think the German title is much more descriptive, "Die Ratte Von Soho," or as translated...

"The Rat Of Soho!"

 It's 1950 London, and everybody's got a hustle going! This is the story of just one of the losers, and all the trouble and pain he causes for a whole bunch of other people because of it.

 Here's a portrait of  the happy/unhappy couple of Harry and Mary, but that was all in the distant past!

Richard (Kiss Of Death, Madigan) Widmark is Harry, and gorgeous Gene (Heaven Can Wait) Tierney is Mary!

 Now all the dirty rat Harry can think about is where his next buck is coming from because he's nothing but a cheap hustler and a two bit con man! Mary, on the other hand continues to love him as she always has.

 Mary works at a club called The Silver Fox where the girls dance and drink with the guys for a price. Harry goes out and finds suckers like these tourists to send her way!

After these guys got dropped off, Harry asked the cabbie what the guys were talking about on the way there, and then he approaches them like an old friend of a friend.

 It was seventy years ago, and this guy was running a business where he outfits people and sends them out on the street to beg. He's like a beggar pimp!

 Georgette Lizette Withers aka Googie Withers is Helen Nosseross. She ends up to her neck in trouble in no time at all! Googie was in classics like "The Lady Vanishes," and "Haunted Honeymoon." Googie was born in India, and was given her nickname Googie as a child by her nanny.

 "Night And The City" is a must see for any diehard wrasslin' fan! Harry's next big scam is to become a wrestling promoter in Soho. He can't wait to see his name in lights!

 Just another day in the gym!

 Real life big-time wrassler Stanislaus Zbyszko was inducted into the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2003. The guy in the back is Ken Richmond who won a bronze medal in wrestling at the Olympics in 1952. These guys are more legitimate than professional wrestling itself!

 One of our favourite guys, Big Mike Mazurski is in there too, as

THE STRANGLER!

From Dick Tracy's Splitface to Batman's Allegro, Mike was always entertaining!

Iron Mike Mazurski was also a professional wrestler, and founded the "Cauliflower Club" in Los Angeles in the 60's to benefit all members of the boxing and wrestling community.

 Harry is so proud of himself, but just you wait.......

 The owner of the Silver Fox, Helen's husband, is played by Francis L. (Strange Wives, Cheating Cheaters, Chu-Chin-Chow) Sullivan. So his last name is Nosseros, if him and Helen ever had sex and had a little boy they could have called him Rye Nosseros.

 This impomptu match breaks out between The Great Gregorius and The Strangler, and it  goes on for quite a while!

 It actually wore me out just watching it!!

 Gregorius comes out the victor by putting a backbreaker on The Strangler, but at his age, the fight takes it's toll on him!

 Gregorius leaves with his son, and keeps telling his son to close the window because he's cold, but the window isn't open!

 The son's name is Kristo, and he's the biggest wrestling promoter in town, and now he's pissed off, and now Harry is in over his head. Kristo was played by none other than Herbert (Phantom Of The Opera) Lom. Unbelievably, Herbert Lom was on the silver screen from 1937 until 1993!

 Here's the big and the small of it, Mike Mazurki and Chunky Pattison!

 I seriously thought about doing this with only shots on stairs, or in hallways, and alleys, because there's that many of them!

 Harry is now a lost and broken man. There's no place to run and no place to hide. All he can do is disappear, but not the way he would like to!

Just for fun I started compiling a list of one word name titles for movies, and it's surprising how many of them would have been a good fit for this film too, like BAFFLED, BESERK, CORRUPTION, FRENZY, IMPACT, LURED, NIGHTMARE, OUTRAGE, REPULSION, SQUIRM, and TRAUMA, just to name a few! SCREWED would have been a good one too. It all works!