The Falcon

The Falcon is the nickname for two fictional detectives. Drexel Drake (real name Charles H. Huff) created Michael Waring, alias the Falcon, a freelance investigator and troubleshooter, in his 1936 novel, The Falcon's Prey. It was followed by two more novels – The Falcon Cuts In, 1937, and The Falcon Meets a Lady, 1938 – and a 1938 short story. Michael Arlen created Gay Stanhope Falcon in 1940. This Falcon made his first appearance in Arlen's short story "Gay Falcon" (aka "A Man Called Falcon"), which was originally published in 1940 in Town & Country magazine. The story opens with the words "Now of this man who called himself Gay Falcon many tales are told, and this is one of them." Arlen's Falcon is characterized as a freelance adventurer and troubleshooter – a man who makes his living "keeping his mouth shut and engaging in dangerous enterprises." Film appearances Arlen's Falcon was quickly brought to the screen by RKO Radio Pictures. The 1941 film The Gay Falcon redefined the character as a suave English gentleman detective with a weakness for beautiful women. Though Gay Falcon was the character's name in Arlen's original story, the character was renamed Gay Laurence for the film. (The surname was spelled "Lawrence" in subsequent films.) Thus "The Falcon" became an alias or nickname, à la "The Saint." In later outings, in various media, the character had a variety of "real names," still being known as The Falcon. Neither in films nor on radio was the nickname ever explained. The Gay Falcon was intended to establish a replacement character for Leslie Charteris's The Saint (Simon Templar), who had appeared in a popular RKO film series. To that end, George Sanders, star of The Saint series, was cast in the Falcon role, with "Saint" love interest Wendy Barrie continuing opposite Sanders. In the Falcon movies, as in the Leslie Charteris "Saint" novels of the period, the hero is almost always accompanied in his travels by a wisecracking sidekick, portrayed variously by Allen Jenkins (in the first three Falcon films), Don Barclay, Cliff Edwards, Edward Brophy, and Vince Barnett.