The Maltese Falcon

It’s hard to think of many greater directorial débuts than John Huston’s first film, The Maltese Falcon. This iconic film noir is almost the first in its genre and also one of Humphrey Bogart’s earliest works.

The plot skips along at a breakneck speed. I gather Huston managed to shoot this in order, and that every scene they shot made it into the final edit. This efficiency seems to transfer to the screen, where not a word or movement is wasted.

The tension sneaks up on you in this one. By the end of the film your heart is racing and you aren’t quite sure how it got there.

Unforgettable performances, a dense atmosphere and an unpretentious but ultimately satisfying plot put The Maltese Falcon easily in the Pantheon of the greatest films ever made.

http://benoliver999.com/film/2017/02/07/themaltesefalcon/

By god, sir, this is a wonderful film. Perfect from start to finish, but special mention goes to Greenstreet and Lorre who ooze into the film with these delightful, specific mannerisms that elevate the characters to something so memorable. Bogart, of course, is the picture of perfection--world-weary, sharp as a tack, and running circles around all the other characters. The screenplay sparkles and the cinematography is stunning. One of my favorites.

film noir as French put it

"When you're slapped, you'll take it and like it."

It has been awhile since I've last watched the Maltese Falcon so when I started a fresh Letterboxd account I thought it would be great to rewatch this classic and to my surprise I love it even more!

The Maltese Falcon is just so damn good for so many reasons. For one, all the dialogue is great. They didn't need any visuals to tell this brilliant story. Secondly, I love that we only see stuff happening through Sam Spade's (Humphrey Bogart) eyes. So many things happening off screen, love it in this film. Thirdly, the acting is superb. The cast does an amazing job. Bogart embraces the anti-hero, Peter Lorre is always fun to watch and he brings such a nervousness to his character, Mary Astor is great at playing the "innocent lady" and how can we forgot about Sydney Greenstreet? What a way to make your on-screen debut!

And lets be honest, what a debut for John Huston right? Such a classic straight off the bat! And damn I'm happy Bogart and Huston found each other right off the bat, so many great films these two made together.

Anyway if you haven't seen the Maltese Falcon yet, what are you waiting for? You could even listen to it in the car while driving to work but you'll miss out on so many brilliant slaps.

Humphrey Bogart makes the movie. It's considered a classic much like Join steinbeck's books. The falcon represents desire, greed, hubris. Great movie of you get the inflection back when movies were more art than computer animation or things blowing up.

**Note the Bogart version was made in the 1940's but it was a remake of the 1931 movie of the same name, both based on the book of the same name.

A cornerstone of American film noir that cloaks Humphrey Bogart under a heavy coat and cockeyed fedora, feeds him all manner of growling, cynical dialogue and plants him in the heart of a whirling criminal vortex. Bogey plays Sam Spade, a hard-boiled private detective hired to pay attention and call bluffs, and we’ll need to do the same or risk being lost in the wake of so much bald, shameless deception. First-time director and experienced screenwriter John Huston has cooked up a script that travels roughly a mile a minute, a game of casual murder and high-stakes hypocrisy that’s played by a number of world-class liars. Sam always seems a step or two ahead of these crooks, or maybe that’s just what he wants them to think, because most everyone seems thrilled by the prospect of pulling one over on the famed smartest-dick-in-the-room. Even the jaded gumshoes, cops who know him by name, come pounding at Spade's apartment door in the wee hours to try their luck. In this filthy corner of the world, everybody talks ridiculously fast and bears an ulterior motive or two.

This isn’t a film one can watch passively. It’s hard enough to keep the plot straight with so many competing players and perspectives, not to mention the bubbling mass of scheme and subterfuge that muddies its waters. The famous MacGuffin is a priceless statue, lost and stolen and otherwise procured a hundred times over the centuries, but that’s little more than a prop. Empty inspiration for a gaggle of lowlifes to converge on San Francisco, muster a lot of noisy chaos, fire weapons, thump skulls, spread false information and generally complicate Spade’s wearisome life. Not that he minds the interruption. Relieved of his partner through violent means, Sam sheds no tears before planting a fat, wet one on the grieving widow and dismissing her into the night. He relishes this chance to act tough and play the game, betrayed to his audience (if not his subjects) by the toothy grin on his lips and the winking gleam in one eye. He’s a man in his element, finally given the chance to drop the act of respectability and get his hands dirty with a set of perps who deserve their taste of turnabout.

I keep coming back to how complicated _The Maltese Falcon_ feels. It’s a big boy story, no doubt about it, one that takes patience and work to decipher. Sam and company answer most every question in the exhaustive twenty-minute closing scene, a masterpiece of careful orchestration and fearless bravado, but that’s bound to ring hollow if you’re still lost or playing catch-up. Even in that case, there’s plenty to appreciate, from the wealth of style and attitude seen in the cinematography to the ice-cold character work from Bogart, femme fatale Mary Astor and a slimy, diminutive Peter Lorre. A slick, adept, challenging ride that still holds up today.

It's heavy. What is it?...... It's the stuff that dreams are made of.

For an 80 year old film, _The Maltese Falcon_ holds up remarkably. Well scripted and full of great performances, this film noir mystery bristles along at a great pace. I'm not sure the resolution quite matched the thrilling ride but it's definitely a great watch.

Cinema Paco 2. In. 4.25 / 5 Sound 3/5. Classic black cinema. Great movie with great performances

Very nice detective story with several twists in the end. This one is just classic noir with famme fatale and masculine detective. The screenplay is well written and you just watch the movie as if it's part of a novel (there actually is a base novel ;))