The Maltese Falcon

Starring: Humphrey Bogart, Mary Astor, Sydney Greenstreet, Peter Lorre, Elisha Cook, Jr.
Directed by: John Huston
Rating: Unrated
Genre: Drama
1941

Times Seen:
Tim: 2

Summary: A private investigator, Sam Spade (Humphrey Bogart) is caught up in a web of mystery and intrigue when a beautiful woman (Mary Astor) comes to his office pleading for him to find her sister. Although Sam believes there is more to the story than first appears, he takes the case. The events that follow reveal a number of deadly players all trying to get a maltese falcon. Sam must find the bird, and figure out the mystery if he wishes to remain alive.

Review:

Tim: This is in many ways the original detective drama. Pretty much every detective or private-eye film after this borrowed from Huston's directorial debut classic. If you want to understand this genre of film, this is the movie to start with.

Humphrey Bogart is magnificent as usual. His Sam Spade is cool, calm, and charismatic. He is truly one of the greatest characters brought to the screen. He benefits from Huston's excellent job behind the camera, making the perfect mix between plot and writing to complement each other. I love the confusion in the film, how neither the characters nor the audience knows who exactly has the maltese falcon, and whom is on who's side. Add terrific characters, superb dialogue, and you are left with an instant classic.

In addition, Mary Astor gives a great performance. The rest of the cast is rounded out by Bogart's futureCasablanca buddies, Sydney Greenstreet and Peter Lorre. Both are great in this film.

Incidentally, Bogart utters one of the greatest lines of all time in this film- "When a man's partner is killer, he's supposed to do something about it." This is a terrific and very fitting ending to a superb film.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating- 9.5



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Casablanca, Gone With the Wind, Vertigo, The African Queen