The Falcon in San Francisco

I watched this expecting, given the budget limitations of B-picture series, to see only a few "establishing shots" of San Francisco from stock footage, but a surprising number of scenes appear actually to have been shot on location -- or were at least very convincingly matted. Even more impressive is the film's rather successful grasp of San Francisco atmosphere. Too-handsome tough guys, a twisted dame with a streak of brutality, a gloomy Nob Hill mansion, and details like the extras in the nightclub scene and the furnishings in the dame's apartment are all done quite as well as in the higher-budgeted "Out of the Past." Some continuity elements seem to have been left on the cutting room floor, as in other RKO noirs, but to good effect, and it is obvious the bit players (including Dorothy Adams) were carefully chosen. Better preserved than some of the Falcon pictures, this one merits attention beyond the context of the series.