Director: John Huston
Distributor: Warner Bros.
Top Billed Actors: Humphrey Bogart, Mary Astor, Gladys George
Won 0 Oscars
Nominated for 3 more:
Outstanding Motion Picture - Warner Bros.
Best Supporting Actor - Sydney Greenstreet
Best Screenplay - John Huston
Plot: After the mysterious death of his partner, a private detective gets entangled in a plot to acquire a bird statue for a fat guy.
Distributor: Warner Bros.
Top Billed Actors: Humphrey Bogart, Mary Astor, Gladys George
Won 0 Oscars
Nominated for 3 more:
Outstanding Motion Picture - Warner Bros.
Best Supporting Actor - Sydney Greenstreet
Best Screenplay - John Huston
Plot: After the mysterious death of his partner, a private detective gets entangled in a plot to acquire a bird statue for a fat guy.
The Maltese Falcon (1941) is the stuff that dreams are made of. Okay, I will try to be a little less hokey, but boy does this picture, considered the first major film noir, evoke the depths of cinematic dreams. In his directorial debut, John Huston follows in the footsteps of newly-elevated writer/directors like Orson Welles and Preston Sturges (Billy Wilder would soon follow as well). However, Warner Bros. did not want Huston to go all out like Welles did in Citizen Kane (1941) so a tight budget and time frame was enacted for this picture. Huston meticulously storyboarded and notated every camera movement, blocking, and any other pertinent details to create an extremely efficient shooting schedule. The result was a film shot under-budget and well ahead of schedule. It also helped first-time screen actor Sydney Greenstreet. Although he was a stage veteran, his debut here as Kasper Gutman must have made him nervous. On top of that, his very first scene is the now famous seven-minute take in which Gutman provides a lot of backstory on the Falcon until we eventually learn that Sam Spade (Humphrey Bogart) is drugged. Huston's extensive planning paid off. The final result has yielded numerous accolades. It didn't win any Academy Awards but it has been included on a number of AFI Top 100 lists, the WGA Greatest Screenplays list, and was included in the first batch of film selected for the National Film Registry in 1989.
What makes this film so enduring is the sheer amount of entertainment it provides. A lot of times, I will praise a movie's cinematography, acting, editing, or production design. This film as all that in spades (pun intended) but it's damn fun to watch. This is my first viewing and I haven't been so engrossed into a narrative for quite some time. Following Bogart's Sam Spade as he navigates through half-truths, boldface lies, and gunpoint meetings is such a great time. Every time I thought I had a grasp of where the story was headed, I would learn something new. This narrative allows you to think along with it but still finds ways to surprise you. I imagine the film holds up just as much, if not more, on a second viewing. After knowing how all of these characters are related, I'm sure the earlier scenes will be even more revealing. Not only is this dense yarn enjoyable to see unfold, the character of Sam Spade is an all-timer and the perfect conduit to be accompanied by. He rolls his own cigarettes, aptly disarms men who think they have the edge, breaks away from pesky tails, and has three women at his beck and call. He's the prototype noir detective and the cool factor played by Bogart cannot be overstated. The cinematography also plays an important role in unraveling this story. With Spade in the driver's seat as the detective, the camera often shows us his point-of-view as it shows us what he is seeing in a given scene. It moves up as Spade gets up from a chair or moves back down as he sits. It's an engaging way to try and piece together this mystery. It also frames Gutman so he's the most menacing and large character he could be, juxtaposing with Greenstreet's hearty laugh. The camerawork is something I look forward to admiring more on a repeat watch when I'm not trying to scramble to understand the intricate workings of this mystery.
The only knock I have against this film is that it had to wiggle its way around the Code. I read that Peter Lorre's character is supposed to be homosexual and that Mary Astor's character is supposed to be promiscuous. Perhaps the subtexts are there, but I never found Astor to be overtly sexual. Her character would have made a bit more sense to me if Huston was allowed to portray her in a more revealing and loose way. Astor's performance is still very good and one that I like even more than her Best Supporting Actress win in The Great Lie (1941) (in that same year, no less), but that darn Code made the complicated plot that much more tricky.
Overall, Humphrey Bogart's Sam Spade is the consummate film noir detective in the consummate film noir. John Huston's exacting direction and elaborate and perfectly paced adaptation create an entertaining and expertly shot mystery for the ages.
My Score: 9/10
What makes this film so enduring is the sheer amount of entertainment it provides. A lot of times, I will praise a movie's cinematography, acting, editing, or production design. This film as all that in spades (pun intended) but it's damn fun to watch. This is my first viewing and I haven't been so engrossed into a narrative for quite some time. Following Bogart's Sam Spade as he navigates through half-truths, boldface lies, and gunpoint meetings is such a great time. Every time I thought I had a grasp of where the story was headed, I would learn something new. This narrative allows you to think along with it but still finds ways to surprise you. I imagine the film holds up just as much, if not more, on a second viewing. After knowing how all of these characters are related, I'm sure the earlier scenes will be even more revealing. Not only is this dense yarn enjoyable to see unfold, the character of Sam Spade is an all-timer and the perfect conduit to be accompanied by. He rolls his own cigarettes, aptly disarms men who think they have the edge, breaks away from pesky tails, and has three women at his beck and call. He's the prototype noir detective and the cool factor played by Bogart cannot be overstated. The cinematography also plays an important role in unraveling this story. With Spade in the driver's seat as the detective, the camera often shows us his point-of-view as it shows us what he is seeing in a given scene. It moves up as Spade gets up from a chair or moves back down as he sits. It's an engaging way to try and piece together this mystery. It also frames Gutman so he's the most menacing and large character he could be, juxtaposing with Greenstreet's hearty laugh. The camerawork is something I look forward to admiring more on a repeat watch when I'm not trying to scramble to understand the intricate workings of this mystery.
The only knock I have against this film is that it had to wiggle its way around the Code. I read that Peter Lorre's character is supposed to be homosexual and that Mary Astor's character is supposed to be promiscuous. Perhaps the subtexts are there, but I never found Astor to be overtly sexual. Her character would have made a bit more sense to me if Huston was allowed to portray her in a more revealing and loose way. Astor's performance is still very good and one that I like even more than her Best Supporting Actress win in The Great Lie (1941) (in that same year, no less), but that darn Code made the complicated plot that much more tricky.
Overall, Humphrey Bogart's Sam Spade is the consummate film noir detective in the consummate film noir. John Huston's exacting direction and elaborate and perfectly paced adaptation create an entertaining and expertly shot mystery for the ages.
My Score: 9/10