Tom Conway Double Feature
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These films are two films that starred Tom Conway (Real life brother of George Sanders) in the mid 1940s. This two disc set includes The Falcon in Hollywood (1944) and Two O'Clock Courage (1945). Tom Conway (born Thomas Charles Sanders, 15 September 1904 - 22 April 1967) was a British film, television and radio actor remembered for playing private detectives (including The Falcon, Sherlock Holmes, Bulldog Drummond and The Saint) and psychiatrists. Conway is perhaps best known for playing "The Falcon" in ten of the series' entries, taking over for his brother, George Sanders, in The Falcon's Brother (1942), in which they both starred. He is also well known for his appearance in several Val Lewton films.
THE FALCON IN HOLLYWOOD (1944)
The Falcon in Hollywood is a 1944 crime film directed by Gordon Douglas and stars Tom Conway in his recurring role as a suave amateur sleuth, supported by Barbara Hale and Veda Ann Borg. The film was the 10th of 16 in Falcon detective series.
While on vacation in Los Angeles, Tom Lawrence (Tom Conway), aka The Falcon, meets Inspector McBride (Emory Parnell) at the Hollywood Park Racetrack, asking him about casino owner Louie Buchanan (Sheldon Leonard). Tom helped put Louie away but does not know about his present whereabouts.
Returning to his seat, Tom finds Louie seated one row behind. Seated next to Tom is actress Lili D'Allio (Rita Corday); and, when she leaves to make a bet, Peggy Callahan (Barbara Hale), Louie's girl friend, takes her spot and accidentally takes Lili's purse. Tom hails a cab, driven by wisecracking Billie Atkins (Veda Ann Borg), trying to catch up to Peggy who is an actress at the Sunset Studio.
Hearing a gunshot, Tom rushes to a deserted sound stage where he finds a corpse; but, by the time the police arrive, the body is missing. After finding the missing body in a prop room, Billie identifies the deceased as leading man Ted Miles, who was married to Roxanna (Jean Brooks), the studio's costume designer. Bringing autocratic director Alec Hoffman (Konstantin Shayne), whom she says she will marry, Roxanna exhibits no emotion when shown her former husband's body.
Everything seems to be tied to a current production produced by neurotic studio executive Martin Dwyer (John Abbott). Accompanied by Billie, the Falcon pokes around a studio. Suspects are starlet Peggy Callahan, haughty prima donna Lili D'Alio or shady "businessman" Louie Buchanan.
Police Inspector McBride (Emory Parnell) questions Martin Dwyer, who seems to have a rock-solid alibi, until his gun shows up in the model shop, hidden in a plaster head. When he produces proof that his gun was reported as stolen, suspicion falls on Hoffman, who is arrested but gets out on bail. The "jinxed" film goes back into production, with a scene set at Lili's pool.
When a prop gun is mysteriously loaded with live ammunition, Peggy shoots Hoffman at poolside. While McBride questions the crew about the shooting, Tom finds Peggy and Louie conferring in secret, with Louie promising to deliver the killer the next day at the Los Angeles Coliseum. When Louie arrives, he begins to stumble and dies on the steps. Tom finds a poisoned ring, like the one once owned by Dwyer. With the police homing in on him, Dwyer makes a break for the studio soundstage, where he is confronted by Tom and, after a furious gun battle, is shot and apprehended.
Tom concludes that Dwyer has sold eight investors a 25% interest in the film. He murdered Ted Miles and Louie Buchanan because they knew too much.
Cast
Tom Conway as Tom Lawrence
RKO studios doubled for the fictional Sunset Studio in The Falcon in Hollywood.
Veda Ann Borg (January 11, 1915 - August 16, 1973) was an American film and television actress. She portrayed cabbie Billie Atkins in this film. Soon after Borg signed her contract with Paramount in 1936, studio officials decided to change her name to Ann Noble for her work in films. However, a newspaper article reported, "Miss Borg contended that her own name is more descriptive of her personality than Ann Noble." Her argument was successful, and she retained her name. She appeared in more than 100 films, including Mildred Pierce, Chicken Every Sunday, Love Me or Leave Me, Guys and Dolls, Thunder in the Sun, You're Never Too Young, and The Alamo (1960), in which she portrayed the blind Nell Robertson. A car crash in 1939 required surgical reconstruction of Borg's face. Borg was married briefly to Paul Herrick (1942) and to film director Andrew McLaglen (1946 - 1958), with whom she had a son: Andrew Victor McLaglen II (August 3, 1954 - January 16, 2006). Both marriages ended in divorce. Borg died of cancer in Hollywood in 1973, aged 58. She was cremated and her ashes scattered at sea.
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TWO O'CLOCK COURAGE (1945)
It begins with Tom Conway, in an excellent performance, looking at a sign noting an intersection of two streets. He doesn't know where there are, where he is. Or, even, who he is. Amnesia, yes indeed.
Now the comedy: Ann Rutherford, a female cab driver, happens by and helps him out. She calls her taxi Harry and, later, people get confused and think Harry might be the name of a suspect. Though this has its light moments, it is a dark little movie. (And little it is, at just a bit longer than an hour.) We have a comic newspaperman and a semi-comic police officer. But we have some genuine bad guys too, and some women who are right out of the noir canon as well.
Look for Jane Greer in a very early appearance (billed here as Bettejane Greer). Though her role is small, she grabs our attention. The camera loves her, almost in the way it was to love a very different sort of performer: Marilyn Monroe. Though Greer doesn't have a lot to do or a whole lot of screen time, when she's around, we can't take our eyes off her. Now, there was a real (and sadly underused) star!
Cast
Tom Conway as The Man, Ted "Step" Allison
In the early 1940s, Rutherford left MGM to work without contract with different studios. During this period, she starred in films such as Orchestra Wives (1942) with 20th Century Fox, Two O'Clock Courage (1945) with RKO Radio Pictures, and The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (1947), also with RKO. In 1950, Rutherford retired from films. Despite Mickey Rooney's pleas, she passed on returning as Polly Benedict in the final Andy Hardy film, Andy Hardy Comes Home (1958), stating that she didn't believe most people married their first sweethearts and that Andy Hardy becoming a judge was implausible.
Ann Rutherford died on June 11, 2012 at her home in Beverly Hills, California, following declining health due to heart problems. She was cremated and her ashes given to her daughter
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The cost of this set is $10.99. This is good quality picture and sound. This DVD set comes with artwork, label and case. See provided images above, these images are of the actual items.
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Barbara Hale as Peggy Callahan
Veda Ann Borg as Billie Atkins
John Abbott as Martin S. Dwyer
Sheldon Leonard as Louie Buchanan
Konstantin Shayne as Alec Hoffman
Emory Parnell as Inspector McBride
Frank Jenks as Lieutenant Higgins
Jean Brooks as Roxanna Miles
Rita Corday as Lili D'Allio
Walter Soderling as Ed Johnson
Useff Ali as Mohammed Nogari
Robert Clarke as Perc Saunders
Carl Kent as Art director
Gwen Crawford as Secretary
Patti Brill as Secretary
Bryant Washburn as Actor's agent
Sammy Blum as Actor's agent
Greta Christensen as Girl
Margie Stewart as Girl
Virginia Belmont as Girl
Nancy Marlow as Mail clerk
Chris Drake as Assistant cameraman
Jimmy Jordan as Operator
George De Normand as Truck driver
Perc Launders as Zoller
Jacques Lory as Musician
Chili Williams as Beautiful blonde
Chester Clute as Hotel manager
Ann Rutherford as Patty Mitchell
Richard Lane as Al Haley
Lester Matthews as Mark Evans
Roland Drew as Steve Maitland
Emory Parnell as Insp. Bill Brenner
Jane Greer as Helen Carter
Jean Brooks as Barbara Borden
Ann Rutherford (November 2, 1917 - June 11, 2012) was a Canadian-American actress in film, radio, and television. From 1937 until 1942, Rutherford portrayed Polly Benedict in the MGM Andy Hardy youth comedy film series with actor Mickey Rooney. Her first film in this series was You're Only Young Once (1937) and the last was Andy Hardy's Double Life (1942). Rutherford's performances as Andy Hardy's sweet and patient girlfriend established her screen popularity. In 1936 she co-starred with John Wayne in three Republic Pictures western films, The Oregon Trail, The Lawless Nineties, and The Lonely Trail. She portrayed one of Scarlett O'Hara's sisters in the film Gone with the Wind (1939).