The Maltese Falcon
Tags: mystery, boring, realism, murder, cult, atmospheric

Plot synopsis:
Private eye Sam Spade and his partner Miles Archer are approached by Miss Wonderly to follow a man, Floyd Thursby, who allegedly ran off with her younger sister. The two accept the assignment because the money is good, but Spade also implies that the woman looks like trouble, though she projects wholesome innocence.That night, Detective Tom Polhaus informs Spade that Archer has been shot and killed while tailing Thursby. Even later that night, two officers visit Spade at his apartment and inquire about Spade's whereabouts in the last few hours. Spade asks what the visit is really about. The officers say that Thursby was also killed and that Spade is a suspect, since Thursby likely killed Archer. They have no evidence against Spade at the moment, but tell him that they will be conducting an investigation into the matter.The next day, Spade gets a visit from Archer's wife, with whom he has been having an affair. The widow asks Spade if he killed Miles so that they could be together. Spade dismisses her and tells her to leave, and coldly orders his secretary Effie to remove all of Archer's belongings from the office. He then goes to a new address left in a note from his client, whose name he learns is Brigid O'Shaughnessy. He also finds out that Brigid never had a sister, and Thursby was her acquaintance who had betrayed her.Later, Spade is visited by another man, Joel Cairo, who offers Spade $5000 if the private eye can retrieve a figurine of a black bird that has recently arrived. While Spade has no idea what the man is talking about, he plays along. Suddenly, Cairo pulls a gun on Spade, and declares his intention to search Spade's office. But when he approaches Spade to search his person, Spade disarms him and knocks him unconscious. After cataloguing Cairo's belongings and questioning him in return, Spade returns Cairo's firearm and allows the man to search his office. Following this, Spade is again contacted by Brigid O'Shaughnessy. She offers her sympathies for the death of his partner. Spade senses a connection between O'Shaughnessy and Cairo, and casually mentions that Cairo has contacted him. O'Shaughnessy gets extremely nervous when she hears this. She tells Spade that she must meet with Cairo, and asks Spade to arrange a meeting. Spade agrees.When Cairo and Brigid O'Shaughnessy meet, they make references that the reader and Spade don't initially comprehend. Cairo says he is ready to pay for the black figurine. Brigid O'Shaughnessy, however, says she does not have it at the moment. They also refer to a mysterious figure, "G" ("the fat man" in the film), whom they seem to be scared of. The two then continue to talk about some events that happened overseas. Eventually, O'Shaughnessy insinuates that Cairo is a homosexual, and Cairo insinuates that O'Shaughnessy simply uses her body to get what she wants, and the two begin to fight. At this point, the police show up, coincidentally, to talk to Spade. Spade greets them at the door, but refuses to let them in. The officers say they know Spade was having an affair with Archer's wife; just as they are about to leave, they hear Cairo screaming for help. They force their way into Spade's apartment, and Spade invents a story that involves describing how Cairo and O'Shaughnessy were just play-acting. The officers seem to accept, if not believe, Spade's story, but they take Cairo with them down to the station for some "grilling". Spade sends Brigid to stay with Effie, where she will be safe.The next morning, Spade makes his way to the hotel where Cairo is staying. Cairo shows up disheveled, saying that he was held in police custody through the night. Meanwhile, Spade notices that he's being tailed by some kid named Wilmer Cook. He confronts the gunsel[1], and tells him that both he and his boss, "G," will have to deal with him at some point. He later receives a call from Casper Gutman, who wishes to meet with him. Gutman, a huge person weighing over 300 lbs, says he will pay handsomely for the black bird. Spade implies that he can get the item (though at this point this is a bluff), but wants to know what it is first.Gutman tells him that the figurine was a gift from the Island of Malta to the King of Spain a few hundred years ago, but was lost on ship in transit. It was covered with fine jewels, but acquired a layer of black enamel at some time, to conceal its value (estimated to be in the millions). Gutman learned of its whereabouts seventeen years ago, and has been looking for it ever since. He traced it to the home of a Russian General, then sent three of his 'agents' (Cairo, Thursby and Brigid O'Shaughnessy) to get it. The latter supposedly did retrieve the figurine, but learned of its value and decided to keep it for themselves. Spade starts to get dizzy at this point (Gutman has drugged him), and when he goes to leave, Wilmer trips him and knocks him out by kicking his temple.When Spade awakens, he returns to his office and tells the story of the Maltese Falcon to Effie. Soon afterwards, an injured man, identified as Captain Jacobi of "La Paloma," shows up at the office; he drops a package on the floor and then dies of gunshot wounds. Spade opens the package, and finds the figurine falcon. Sam is called away from the office. To prevent losing the item, Spade stores the package at a bus station lost luggage counter and mails himself the collection tag. He first goes to the dock where "La Paloma" was anchored, but learns that a fire had been started on board. He then proceeds to the place Rhea Gutman said she was when she phoned earlier. There he finds a drugged-up, seventeen-year old girl, her stomach all scratched up by a pin in attempts to keep herself awake, who just manages to give him some information about the whereabouts of Brigid, which turns out to be a false lead.When he arrives back at his apartment, he finds O'Shaughnessy in a shadowy doorway. Inside, Wilmer, Cairo, and Gutman are there waiting. Gutman hands Spade $10,000 in cash in exchange for the bird. Spade takes the money, but in addition says that they need a "fall guy" to take the blame for the murders of at least Thursby and Jacobi, if not Archer as well. Reluctantly, both Cairo and Gutman agree to make Wilmer the fall guy. Gutman proceeds to tell Spade the missing pieces of the story. The night that Thursby was killed, he was first approached by Wilmer and Gutman. The latter attempted to reason with him, but Thursby remained loyal to Brigid O'Shaughnessy and refused to cooperate. Later things escalated, then Wilmer shot Thursby. Also, Brigid O'Shaughnessy had seduced Captain Jacobi and hid the Falcon with him. Later, Brigid O'Shaughnessy instructed Jacobi to deliver the package to Spade. Once Gutman learned of this fact, he attempted to remove Spade from the situation with the spiked drink. Wilmer managed to shoot the captain, but Jacobi still got to Spade's office to deliver the figurine. After finishing his story, Gutman warns Spade to be very careful with Brigid O'Shaughnessy as she is not to be trusted.Spade places a call to his secretary, Effie, and asks her to go the office and pick up the figurine. Effie brings it to Spade's apartment, and Spade hands the package to Gutman, who at this time is overwhelmed with excitement. He checks the figurine, but quickly learns that it is a fake. He realizes with dismay that the Russian must have discovered the true value of the falcon and made a copy. During this time, Wilmer manages to escape from Spade's apartment. Gutman quickly regains composure, and decides to go back to Europe to continue the search. Before he leaves, Gutman asks Spade for the $10,000. Spade returns $9000, saying he's keeping the remainder for his time and expenses. Then Cairo and Gutman leave Spade's apartment.Immediately after Cairo and Gutman leave, Spade phones the police department and tells them the entire story. Wilmer killed Jacobi and Thursby. He also tells them what hotel Gutman is staying at and urges them to hurry, since Gutman and Cairo are leaving town soon. Afterwards, Spade angrily asks Brigid O'Shaughnessy why she killed Miles Archer. At first, Brigid O'Shaughnessy acts horrified at this accusation, but seeing that she cannot lie anymore, she drops the act. She wanted to get Thursby out of the picture so that she could have the Falcon for herself, so she hired Archer to scare him off. When Thursby didn't leave, she killed Archer and attempted to pin the crime on Thursby. When Thursby was later killed himself, she knew that Gutman was in town and that she needed another protector, so she came back to Spade.However, she says that she's also in love with Spade and would have come back to him anyhow. Spade coldly replies that the penalty for murder is most likely twenty years, and he'll wait for her until she gets out. If they hang her, Spade says that he'll always remember her. He goes on to say that while he despised Miles Archer, the man was his partner, and that he's going to turn her in to the police for his murder as that was a line he could not cross in the industry of detective work. Brigid O'Shaughnessy begs him not to, but he replies that he has no choice. When the police get Gutman, Gutman will finger Sam and Brigid as accomplices. Thus the only way Spade can avoid getting charged is to say he played both sides against each other. He tells Brigid O'Shaughnessy that he has some feelings for her, but that he simply can't trust her. Just before the police arrive, Brigid O'Shaughnessy asks Spade if the Falcon had been real, and he'd gotten the entire $10,000, would it have made a difference. Spade replies that, while she shouldn't be so sure that he's crooked, more money would have been one more item on "her side."When the police finally show up at Spade's apartment, Spade immediately turns over Brigid O'Shaughnessy as Archer's killer. They tell Spade that the kid Wilmer was waiting for Gutman at the hotel and shot him when he arrived. Spade also hands over the $1000 bill, and the falcon to the police as evidence.

Review: Considered by many film historians as the very first noir film, "The Maltese Falcon" is cinematically important also for making Humphrey Bogart into a Hollywood star, and for being the debut of John Huston as film Director.The film's story is complex and convoluted, typical of detective films of that era, and involves a valuable statuette.
But Brigid is the one who propels Spade into the deceiving and double-crossing world of bad guys who yearn with greed for the priceless Maltese Falcon.Enter Kasper Gutman, that thoroughly rotund and intimidating (in a gentlemanly sort of way) king of greed, portrayed with verve and panache by the inimitable Sydney Greenstreet.
Gutman responds articulately: "That's an attitude sir that calls for the most delicate judgment on both sides, because as you know sir, in the heat of action, men are likely to forget where their best interests lie ...".And Peter Lorre is a hoot as Gutman's mischievous elf, Joel Cairo, who tries, without success, to threaten Sam Spade, but only succeeds at getting on Sam's nerves.The film's high contrast B&W lighting renders an effective noir look and feel, one that would be copied in films for years to come.
Primarily remembered as John Huston's directorial debut, the movie played a decisive role in giving Film-Noire its true identity as a genre.
Almost everyone in the supporting cast gives a memorable performance with special mention of Peter Lorre as the deceptive Joel Cairo, Sydney Greenstreet as the witty yet dangerous Kasper Gutman and Mary Astor as the scheming Brigid O' Shaughnessy.
The cinematography undoubtedly features amongst the best works of the time.The Maltese Falcon is not merely a Noire masterpiece but also a testament to the true spirit of cinema that has kept itself alive despite decades of relentless mutilation and sabotage in the name of commercial movie-making.
"The Maltese Falcon", scripted and directed by Hollywood first-timer John Huston (from Dashiell Hammett's novel), would go on to become an American film classic.
Humphrey Bogart chews the scenery in his star-making turn as acid-tongued private eye Sam Spade, whose association with the beautiful and aloof Brigid O'Shaughnessy (Mary Astor), neurotic Joel Cairo (Peter Lorre), and morbidly obese Kasper Gutman (Sydney Greenstreet, in his Oscar-nominated screen debut) over the recovery of the title object, sets in motion a movie experience that is as much crackling as it is dazzling.
Usually the original is best and the remakes are the inferior product.These characters that John Huston wrote and breathed life into with his direction are so vital and alive even 65 years after the premiere of The Maltese Falcon.
There are some who will argue that this first film is Huston's best work and I'd be hard up to dispute that.After a long career on stage The Maltese Falcon was the screen debut of Sydney Greenstreet.
As Sam fights to get hold of a black bird ¨the stuff that dreams are made¨ (a line suggested by Humphrey Bogart was voted as the #14 movie quote by the American Film Institute) .
Here Bogart is extraordinary and as cool as ever ; he plays as the tough-talking P.I. Although George Raft was originally cast as Sam Spade , he allegedly turned it down because it was "not an important picture," taking advantage of a clause in his contract that said he did not have to work on remakes .
Movie Review: "The Maltese Falcon" (1941)Director John Huston (1906-1987), just 34 years old, adapts the classic "hard-boiled" mystery-novel by author Dashiell Hammett (1894-1961) on his own to present a shooting draft to Warner Bros.
in the "Golden Hollywood" season of 1940/1941, when over-seas WW2 rages, which gets nevertheless put on the fast-track at Hollywood's major studio with a breakthrough role for leading man Humphrey Bogart (1899-1957) as legendary private-eye character Sam Spade, losing his detective partner in the opening sequence before he stands alone in ultra-atmospheric San Francisco office space to unfold a film-noir of excellence in twisted story-telling machinery, not without having high-end entertainment factors along the way due to splendid supporting cast Mary Astor (1906-1987) as the uneasy, demanding feminine, Peter Lorre (1904-1964) as Joel Cairo entering Spade's office in taking-charges moods of pride and show-stealing actor Sydney Greenstreet (1879-1954) to hold-your-breath showdowns in a tiny hotel-room-suit all surrounding the believed to be priceless title-given world-traveling statuette, before Bogart, Greenstreet and Lorre play together again in Michael Curtiz directed "Casablanca" the year after.
"The Maltese Falcon" directed by set-ruling John Huston and shot to striking angles, shades and layers by black-and-white master cinematographer Arthur Edeson (1891-1970); together with the cast they deliver fabulous character signatures, Bogart becoming the star-actor from there on to his death, a plot twisting suspense with slides of easing-cool humor that even the dusty décor can not bring the picture down after 75 years out to be witnessed by any generation because its terrific and furthermore arguably "The Best Film-Noir in Motion Picture History".© 2018 Cinemajesty Entertainments LLC.
The performance of a lifetime by Humphrey Bogart, the masterclass of acting from one of the greatest German actors of all time, Peter Lorre, yet sprinkled by some magnificent performances from Mary Astor, Lea Patrick, Sydney Greenstreet, Elisha Cook Jr. and others, couple that to the twists and turns, the drama and suspense, the movie "The Maltese Falcon" is indeed legendary so much so that it's legacy survives even today, The Maltese Falcon statuette being sold at a whooping $4 million at an auction.
Bogart takes guns away from the gunsel (which is quite unnecessary to the plot), and Huston also adds a typical hard-boiled scene in a hotel lobby.Nor can Bogart be allowed to appear as sleazy as Sam Spade was in the original book, so his affair with his partner's wife is played down - in fact in typical 1940s misogynist-fashion poor Iva gets all the blame!
While investigating the murder he finds himself getting involved with dangerous men, seeking the myth of a Maltese Falcon statue, so valueable, they're willing to do anything it takes to get it.This movie is most of the way a real original film-noir, where our head character and supposed good guy finds himself getting involved in something larger and more dangerous than he should be able to handle.
The movie, despite having quite a number of flaws, is overall an interesting experience, that will leave you guessing and hold your interest for most of the time, even though it has its drop downs, it's still a pretty well done mystery story, following the classic film-noir model much of the way.
THE MALTESE FALCON does have much going for it: It's got one of Humphrey Bogart's greatest performances as tough detective Sam Spade; some sensational dialogue; smart casting in Peter Lorre, Sydney Greenstreet and Elisha Cook, Jr.
Sam Spade, a tough private detective gets involved in a murderous hunt for The Maltese Falcon, a legendary statuette thought to contain diamonds.What can I possibly say that hasn't been said, written and studied by the greatest film critics and industry members, about The Maltese Falcon before?
Well nothing by way of new stuff or a differing slant on the plot, I can merely concur and hopefully jolt prospective first time viewers into believing the reputation afforded this stunning piece of cinema.First off I have to let it be known that The Maltese Falcon is far from being my favourite Bogart movie, in fact it's not even my favourite Bogart movie from 1941, it's well trumped in my affections by High Sierra, but few films ever get as close to being perfect as the Maltese Falcon clearly is.
The cast are across the board perfect in performances, Bogart (Spade) is peerless, Mary Astor, Peter Lorre, Sydney Greenstreet (film debut) and Elisha Cook Jr. stand out, but every other member of this cast add something good to this picture.
for Bogart, Lorre, and Greenstreet, with Ingrid Bergman instead of Mary Astor.Many other reviews remark upon the historic significance of The Maltese Falcon, and I acknowledge the movie deserves props for Bogie's turn as Sam Spade and for snappy dialog.
IMDb Top 250: 103The Maltese Falcon is one of the most famous film noirs, the film that made Humphrey Bogart a star, and an American classic.I have no idea why.
The Film Noir That Dreams Are Made Of. The Bible forbids us from murder, adultery, and theft, but the characters in "The Maltese Falcon" do not have the time to think about their eternal fates in the fiery pits of Hell.
That John Huston had never directed a film before.I saw "The Maltese Falcon" for the first time five years ago, sitting in the pitch-black room of my grandfather's study with his dinosaur laptop on a Saturday night.
In his (arguably) career-defining role, Humphrey Bogart portrays Sam Spade, a smug private eye hired by the beguiling Miss Wonderly (Mary Astor).
Greenstreet and Lorre completely subvert the pitfalls most character actors face, immediately so large in their presences that Bogart and Astor frequently feel like supporting actors.Still more witty, unforgettable, and clever to me is "The Big Sleep" — "The Maltese Falcon" comes at a close second.
Private detective Sam Spade (Humphrey Bogart) finds himself with a murdered partner and a female client (Mary Astor) who is not who she says she is.
Complicating matters is the arrival of two men, Kasper Gutman (Sydney Greenstreet) and Joel Cairo (Peter Lorre), seeking a priceless falcon statuette that Spade's client may know the whereabouts of.One of those classic films I can watch over and over.
The Maltese Falcon is a 1941 detective/crime noir film, directed by John Huston and stars Humphrey Bogart, Mary Astor and Lee Patrick.
While it does have a few saving grace moments overall The Maltese Falcon is a rushed, terribly written and at times a unnecessarily confusing film with unlikable characters and uninteresting plot.
The scene itself was very well shot and gives the story a strong start ( which unfortunately later falls apart), the next is the very ending scene in which Sam Spade (our protagonist) utters that famous line 'The stuff that dreams are made of' which ends the film brilliantly and completes both the character of Spade and the movie's narrative in a conclusive and well rounded manner.
i enjoyed this most famous version of the story.it's as good as the previous two.Humphrey Bogart plays the Sam Spade role and is good,there's no question there.but the real standout to me is Peter Lorre as Joel Cairo.Lorre exudes menace from every pore.he owns the movie in my opinion.i also liked Sydney Greenstreet as Kasper Gutman.overall,this third version is comparable to the other two.i can't say it's any better or worse.i think the reason it's so acclaimed is because it's directed by John Huston and Stars Humphrey Bogart,which doesn't automatically make it a better movie.don't get me wrong.it's a good film but i wonder how many people have actually watched the two previous version of this story first,and would this version bee rated as high if more people had seen the other versions first?anyway,for me, this third version of The Maltese Falcon is a 7/10.
Dashiell Hammett story becomes much-acclaimed directorial debut for John Huston, with definitive role for Humphrey Bogart as hard-boiled detective Sam Spade, here solving the murder of his partner while chasing down a priceless artifact which dates back to the 1500s.
Set-bound noir seems awfully constricted, but Bogart is fully into his role and has a great time; supporting performances from Peter Lorre (a perfumed question mark) and Sydney Greenstreet are also excellent.
I'm not sure I 'get' The Maltese Falcon; a film lauded with so much praise and given so much in the way of attention over the years that it has embedded itself within cinematic history as one of the greats of the classical Hollywood era.
Hollywood's star system may have died a death as the face of American cinema slowly shifted onto different levels, but it seems people just cannot get enough of this one hundred minute Humphrey Bogart vehicle that allows people to hark back to a time when set-shot, scuzzy, black and white film noirs were the mainstay for the cinematic crowd out for that genre; and people could see their acting heroes do what ever one-dimensional, 'tough guy' act it was that they did.A pet-dislike with The Maltese Falcon, although others will say it's all part of its genius, that I have is its low-key and minute look at a period in each of its character's lives.
And if you can follow the plot of "Falcon," you're either smarter or paying more attention than I.But I don't know that anyone watches movies like this for the plot, and while I didn't see the "Great Film" in this that others seem to see, I still appreciate its place in screen history for kick-starting two things: film noir and the career of Humphrey Bogart.As long as Bogie's on screen, no one else really even matters, not even Mary Astor in a sizzling role.
Whenever I see this film I am always impressed with how good the story is.These days we are used to brilliant crime/mystery series and movies on TV and cable, but back in its day "The Maltese Falcon" was head and shoulders over just about every film in the genre, which often had unbelievable stories and lightweight characters.It not only had that great story, but crackling dialogue and a perfect cast.
From Bogart as Sam Spade, Mary Astor as Brigid O'Shaughnessy to Peter Lorre and Sydney Greenstreet as Joel Cairo and Kaspar Gutman, the cast almost seemed divinely inspired.When I finally read the book, I discovered that the great story and that crackling dialogue is in there: "When you're slapped, you'll take it and like it", "I distrust a man who says when", and all the others, they were author Dashiell Hammett's all along.But what director John Huston and the cast did was to bring the characters to life; they gave them shadings beyond Hammett's words.
But in this case the film added the magic.Although Hammett came up with the plot and just about every word we hear spoken, it's hard not to picture Bogart as Sam Spade even when Hammett describes him as a blonde Satan.No, something unique happened on that film, it was Huston's first directing job and he just laid out the pages, edited them a bit, and shot the whole thing pretty much in sequence - and he sharpened the ending.In his impressively researched "The Lost One: A Life of Peter Lorre", author Stephen D.
Greenstreet became an overnight star thanks to his brilliant performance here, thoroughly deserved.Director John Huston does a marvellous job of bringing the book to the screen, and I think this is the THIRD version of the story to be filmed!
This is one of those remakes that ensures the earlier versions are pretty much forgotten today.The snappy dialogue is some of the best and most memorable ever put on screen, so I'm not going to repeat it here; but the film creates its own dark world full of shady characters always out to keep Spade from getting close to the truth.
This is a riveting story of a private detective named Sam Spade (played by Bogart) whose partner gets murdered but at first no one even knows who did it.
There is a lot of top notch performances especially from Humphrey Bogart,Peter Lorre,Sydney Greenstreet (in his film debut),and Mary Astor.
John Huston's first film, The Maltese Falcon, from Dashell Hammiet's novel, makes itself a classic on the first watch with two things- great story development and a great lead/breakthrough.
Most of the people who have seen this film argue that it is not understandable how the private detective Sam Spade (Humphrey Bogart) arrived to his conclusions, finding out the real guilty people of the murder of his partner.
This is one of Bogart's three best performances (Casablanca and the big sleep are close) and some of his scenes are among the best in movie history.Second, the script, written by the director John Huston based on the great author dashiell Hammett book.The dialogue moves a hundred miles an hour and is one of the top five dialogues you will ever see.The camera work is brilliant, between the setups of the shots, the camera movement, the lighting and the use of space.The pace of this film is what sets it apart from 99.9 percent of movies you will ever see.
It is a world where Sam Spade feels comfortable, making strategic moves in a game with ever-changing rules.Two other actors grace this film with their classic portrayals: Sydney Greenstreet as Kasper Gutman, and Peter Lorre as Joel Cairo.
I liked THE MALTESE FALCON and think it's a very good example of Warner Brothers Film Noir.
Maltese Falcon, The (1942) **** (out of 4)One of the all time great mysteries has Humphrey Bogart playing Private Detective Sam Spade.
By the time Huston came along, cinema was acquiring a brutal honesty and his version is far closer to the original story than the previous two adaptations.Whatever its noir credentials, the Maltese Falcon also works as a great piece of entertainment.
It isn't the worst thing in the world, it has some good scenes, but I don't think it's the best of classic Hollywood, nor of film noir, nor even of Humphrey bogart (see 'The Big Sleep', 'Treasure of the Sierra Madre' etc.).
But it nonetheless features some impressively staged camera-work & tight editing which makes sure every scene has a role to play.Coming to the performances, The Maltese Falcon packs in a dependable cast in Humphrey Bogart, Mary Astor, Gladys George, Peter Lorre, Sydney Greenstreet & others and everyone is very poised in their given roles.
The film is at its best when the screen is shared by Bogart & Greenstreet and for that alone, The Maltese Falcon is worth a watch..
After watch Casablanca and seeing what a great job Humphrey Bogart did he did in that film, he killed it with the Maltese Falcon.