The Maltese Falcon (1941)

11 out of 11 people found the following review helpful:

"There's only one Maltese Falcon."

teknofobe from Worcs, 28th January, 2004

Prior to 1941, Humphrey Bogart had been typecast as the 'gangster' or 'villain', but when his performance in "High Sierra" catapulted him into stardom, the studio need to invent him as a more sympathetic tough guy, a flawed hero -- and that is exactly what the "Maltese Falcon" was intended to do.

But as it turned out, the film was also the first chapter in the great genre of 1940's film noir -- an appealing thriller with complex, interesting characters and a plot that ... well, even director John Huston couldn't make sense of it. The opening scene sets the ultimate cliché, opening with the world-weary private detective sitting in his office, when a gorgeous femme fatale enters asking for his help. After Sam Spade's partner is murdered, he is drawn into a complex plot centred on a priceless artefact known as the Maltese Falcon.

The supporting cast area also terrific. In Peter Lorre's performance as the sneaky, conniving Joel Cairo you can see where Andy Serkis may have taken his inspiration for his portrayal of Gollum in "Lord of the Rings". Along with Sydney Greenstreet and Bogart, he formed a team who made several more films together, attempting to relive the success of this one. In fact, the following Bogart film "Across the Pacific" was practically marketed as a sequel even though it was a completely unrelated war movie.

The star would of course go on to even greater things, but this film is where his career really started.

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11 out of 19 people found the following review helpful:

The Bad Guy's Good Guy

jamiejk from Greater London, 2nd February, 2004

Perhaps it shouldn't come as a suprise that this, the directorial debut of John Huston, and the film that broke Humphrey Bogart out of the 'B' Movies, should be so damned *dark*... after all, it *is* considered the first real film noir. With Dashiell Hammet's hardboiled novel as its source material, "The Maltese Falcon" certainly lays out the cinematic foundations for the the genre: mean streets, trigger-happy heroes, dark shadows and duplicitous dames.

Still, the sheer nastiness of Bogart's Samuel Spade is jarring to the modern viewer, probably because of the way he pokes all our politically-corrct sore-spots. From the opening scene, in which Spade and partner carve up rights over an apparently distraught woman who walks into his office pleading for help, Spade is consistently misogynist, amoral, money-grabbing, brutal, mendacious and mean. And as we proceed through the labyrinth of schemes, crimes, deaths, danger, and deception surrounding the eponymous Falcon, there's very little to redeem him-- not even competence: for the treasure, when it arrives, practically falls into his lap.

None of this is to deny some innovative filmmaking from Huston, a charismatic performance by Humphrey Bogart, entertaining weirdness from Peter Lorre and some unmissable character acting from Sydney Greenstreet. But "The Maltese Falcon" is a uncomfortable viewing today, centering as it does on a noir anti-hero with none of the scruples, neuroses or hidden soft-sides that are obligatory for the post-modern tough guy.

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4 out of 5 people found the following review helpful:

Malta makes it big!

Tinderbox from England, 5th June, 2004

This is gripping, taut noir at its best: Bogart is brilliant as Sam Spade, a man out of his depth but who is obsessed with never showing it.

The plot twists come thick and fast, with Spade as our only liaison to the world of corruption and greed that he finds himself lost in.

The film is excellently directed, with some lovely, smoky black shots.

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2 out of 2 people found the following review helpful:

Bogie's the tops!

A Customer from London, England, 14th November, 2004

Maltese Falcon, classic 40s film noire.
The film has my favourites from the 1940s. Bogie, Greenstreet, Lorre, Cook, and Astor. Even when the plot gets a bit convoluted, it still appeals. Nothing being produced today even comes close. The power of suggestion is so much more effective than the graphic violence that current films seem to find necessary. Long live the 40s!!

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Flying High

ZiggyTheKid from , 12th January, 2010

The perfect film noir on show here, creeping shadowy sets, tense interplay between characters and a great eye for detail; its dosn't get any better than this.

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*** May contain spoilers ***

classic entertainment

lesliejung from , 20th October, 2009

okay, it is a bit wooden and contrived at times, but Bogie's classic lines about loving a woman and what it means to his integrity - the great and large sidney greenstreet, the actor and the young peter laurie - these are great actors in their time, convincingly portraying slightly hokey circumstances and events - hard to follow sometimes! we believe bogie falls for the girl and we believe she is untrustworthy if lovable. worth seeing again and again...

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Bogart, Lorre, and Greenstreet at their best

A Customer from Ashby de la Zouch, 17th May, 2009

The fact that this film is shown regularly on TV today indicates how good a film it was and is. Bogart as the goody and Lorre and Greenstreet as the badies all turn in excellent performances. When you see some of the rubbish that the cinema churns out these days, it is a shame some of the other films of the 40s are not screened more often. If you have not seen this film you should.

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wow

RogerRamjet from , 22nd April, 2009

68 years old! This film hold up really well for it's age. Great acting and very gritty. A must see

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