The Maltese Falcon

The Maltese Falcon (1941)

Runtime: 100 minutes

Directed by: John Huston

Starring: Humphrey Bogart, Mary Astor, Peter Lorre, Sydney Greenstreet, Gladys George

From: Warner Bros.

I had seen this classic film before, and when I saw it was on TCM last night I figured it was the right time for me to see this, and plus I never reviewed it here before. I say some words about it in my Letterboxd review copied and pasted below:

It was not on my agenda to see two classic Peter Lorre movies but that's what ended up happening. Last night I saw that Turner Classic Movies would be playing this and as my last viewing was a long while ago, it made sense for me to check it out and finally do a review of this classic here.

I am certain that everyone knows about this twisty-turny tale of private eye Sam Spade dealing with a bunch of mysterious characters (none of whom you can really trust) while they are looking for the title statue, so I will mention another obvious fact, which is that this is the first famous film noir and the one that set the template for many dozens of imitators in the twenty or so years of noir's heyday, especially the gruff and unsentimental Spade being the template for the archetypal “hardboiled detective” we saw in too many noir movies to count. But there are other tropes created here that got used often in the years to come.

The pursuit of the object proves to be a lot more important than the object itself. I couldn't write down and explain everything that happened in the plot but that wasn't the point; it is great seeing all these characters interact with each other, along with the aforementioned twists and turns the plot takes. Everyone does a nice job (such as Mary Astor, Peter Lorre and Sydney Greenstreet) but it is Bogie who delivers the most memorable performance, playing the world-weary Spade and being awesome. To steal a thought from others, the way that Old Sam escalated his emasculation of Wilmer Cook (as played by Elisha Cook, Jr.) is hilarious. The original pulp story is something I should probably read, as I understand that was closely followed for this adaptation, unlike the previous two times (I'll watch the '31 and '36 versions in the future) and this is for sure a pulpy tale.

I could write an entire screed about this movie and why it's a must-see if you enjoy the genre but other people here and other sites such writings can be found, and they did it better than I could. Thankfully even 75 years later its classic reputation is still warranted.