... Although this is not the only film of The Maltese Falcon that has been made, it is, as far as I and many a film buff is concerned, the definitive version, with Humphrey Bogart giving his arguably best performance ever. As Sam Spade, Bogart is a character of several layers. At first glance, ... Read review
The Maltese Falconis still the tightest, sharpest, and most cynical of Hollywood's ... more
official deathless classics, bracingly tough even by post-Tarantino standards. Humphrey Bogart is Dashiell Hammett's definitive private eye, Sam Spade, struggling to kee...
Postage & Packaging: £1.21 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
The Maltese Falconis still the tightest, sharpest, and most cynical of Hollywood's ... more
official deathless classics, bracingly tough even by post-Tarantino standards. Humphrey Bogart is Dashiell Hammett's definitive private eye, Sam Spade, struggling to kee...
Postage & Packaging: Free! Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours...
A gallery of high-living lowlifes will stop at nothing to get their sweaty hands on a ... more
jewel-encrusted falcon. Detective Sam Spade (Humphrey Bogart) wants to find out why - and who's gonna take the fall. This third screen version of Dashiell Hammett's ...
Postage & Packaging: £0.00 Availability: 3-5 working days
Who murdered Miles Archer? No one knows. But what Archer's partner, Private Eye Sam Spade ... more
(Humphrey Bogart), does know is that Archer was killed while investigating the disappearance of a priceless statue... and now Spade has three mysterious clients w...
It's San Francisco, 1928, and Sam Spade is a wisecracking, womanizing Private ... more
Investigator. Missing husbands and unfaithful wives are his usual stock-in-trade, but when the beautifully distressed Miss Wonderley calls he gets involved in a dangerous caper most people would run a mile from.
THE MALTESE FALCON (1930) set the standard by which the private eye genre is judged. Sam ... more
Spade is hired by the fragrant Miss Wonderley to track down her sister who has eloped with a louse called Floyd Thursby. But Miss Wonderley is in fact the beautiful and treacherous Brigid O'Shaughnessy and when Spade's partner Miles Archer is shot while on Thursby's trail Spade finds himself both hunter and hunted: can he track down the jewel-encrusted bird a treasure worth killing for before the Fat Man finds him?
Postage & Packaging:£0.00 Availability:3-5 working days
Sam Spade is hired by the fragrant Miss Wonderley to track down her sister who has eloped ... more
with a louse called Floyd Thursby. But Miss Wonderley is in fact the beautiful and treacherous Brigid O'Shaughnessy and when Spade's partner Miles Archer is shot while on Thursby's trail Spade finds himself both hunter and hunted: can he track down the jewel-encrusted bird a treasure worth killing for before the Fat Man finds him? THE AUTHOR B.1894 d.1961. After spells as newsboy freight clerk labourer messenger stevedore and advertising manager Hammett became an operative of the Pinkerton Detective Agency. His experiences as a private detective laid the foundation for his writing career.
Postage & Packaging:£0.00 Availability:3-5 working days
A gallery of high-living lowlifes will stop at nothing to get their sweaty hands on a ... more
jewel-encrusted falcon. Detective Sam Spade (Humphrey Bogart) wants to find out why - and who'll take the fall for his partner's murder. An all-star cast (including Sydney Greenstreet, Mary Astor, Peter Lorre and Elisha Cook Jr.) joins Bogart in this cracking mystery masterwork written for the screen (from Dashiell Hammett's novel) and directed by John Huston. This nominee for 3 Academy Awards (1941( - Best Picture, Supporting Actor (Greenstreet) and Screenplay (Huston) - catapulted Bogart to stardom and launched Huston's directorial career. All with a bird and a bang!
Production Year: 2004 - Drama - Director: Nick Cassavetes - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over, 12 years and over - Starring: Rachel McAdams, Ryan Gosling, Gena Rowlands
Production Year: 1997 - Drama - Director: Gillian Armstrong - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Ralph Fiennes, Cate Blanchett, Ciaran Hinds, Tom Wilkinson, Richard Roxburgh
Advantages: Superb dramatisation of the book Disadvantages: None
...isn't missing one. Even worse, the police think that Sam may have something to do with the murder of his sister and a man called Joel Cairo threatens him at gunpoint. Eventually, he works out that what everyone is getting worked up about is a statuette called the Maltese Falcon, given to Charles V of Spain by the Knight Templars of Malta - people will apparently pay anything to get hold of it and Brigid appears to be the key. Will Sam help them find ... ...based on a book of the same name by Dashiell Hammett. Although this is not the only film of The Maltese Falcon that has been made, it is, as far as I and many a film buff is concerned, the definitive version, with Humphrey Bogart giving his arguably best performance ever. As Sam Spade, Bogart is a character of several layers. At first glance, he is as unpleasant as some of the criminals he chases - he sleeps with his partner's wife and is apparently ... more
Sam Spade is a private eye, who becomes involved with a client calling herself Ms Wonderly, worried about a missing sister. When his partner is found murdered, he realises that not all is as it seems and Ms Wonderly is actually called Brigid O'Shaughnessy, and, if she has a sister, certainly isn't missing one. Even worse, the police think that Sam may have something to do with the murder of his sister and a man called Joel Cairo threatens him at gunpoint. Eventually, he works out that what everyone is getting worked up about is a statuette called the Maltese Falcon, given to Charles V of Spain by the Knight Templars of Malta - people will apparently pay anything to get hold of it and Brigid appears to be the key. Will Sam help them find the Maltese Falcon? And will he track down his partner's killer?
This film is based on a book of the same name by Dashiell Hammett. Although this is not the only film of The Maltese Falcon that has been made, it is, as far as I and many a film buff is concerned, the definitive version, with Humphrey Bogart giving his arguably best performance ever. As Sam Spade, Bogart is a character of several layers. At first glance, he is as unpleasant as some of the criminals he chases - he sleeps with his partner's wife and is apparently unconcerned when his partner dies - but as the film progresses, his good side emerges - despite his cynical nature, he does care for people and will go out of his way to ensure that right prevails. As a fictional character, Sam Spade is a real challenge for any actor, yet Bogart accepts the challenge and runs with it, resulting in a five star performance that knocks the socks off the excellent performances by his co-stars. Bogart's Spade is gritty, to the point, yet with a soft side that he occasionally shows just to make him more human and realistic. Plus he trots out his lines with the most amazing timing and delivered in the understated way for which he made his fortune. Superb.
Mary Astor plays Brigid O'Shaughnessy. Although she very much plays second fiddle to Bogart, she still gives a sterling performance as the hapless Brigid, who lies and practically steals to get what she wants. Like Sam Spade, she is a character with many different sides to her; one minute she is all wide-eyed innocence, the next a scheming woman who will stop at nothing to get what she wants, then she turns into a needy woman who wants nothing more than to have Sam look after her. I don't think that the role would have been impossible to fill if Astor wasn't around, far from it, but she does do a great job with what she has.
Another great character is Joel Cairo, played by Peter Lorre. Apparently born a Hungarian, there is something very gypsy-like about him with a touch of Chinese thrown in for good measure and it is unfortunately easy to imagine him as a hardened criminal just by the way that he looks. Added to this is his voice, which is slightly accented, quite high for a man and very very creepy. I really enjoyed every minute he was on the screen.
I can't leave out two more characters who add to the superb quality of the film; Lee Patrick, who plays Spade's long-suffering secretary, Effie, and Sydney Greenstreet as the greedy Kaspar Gutman. Effie is slightly in love with Spade, although she realises that a relationship with him will never work out, and knows exactly how to manage him. Like Cairo, Gutman is another excellent criminal, although Greenstreet doesn't obviously look like one - he very much uses the inflection in his voice to make Gutman seem slimy and underhand. Even more amazing, this is Greenstreet's first screen performance.
The Maltese Falcon is classed as film-noir, and very noir it is too. Unlike The Thin Man (another novel by Dashiell Hammett made into a film), which is much more comic, The Maltese Falcon is dark from beginning to end. Even the positive bits are coated in black. This is exactly what the book is like and so I think that the director, John Huston, has done a superb job of both directing the film and putting together the screenplay, particularly when you consider that this was Huston's directorial debut. In some ways, I prefer the film to the book (this very rarely happens to me) - whereas the story in the book is very complex, the film is easier to understand, without having been dumbed down. Some parts perhaps weren't made as clear as they could be - I certainly found that I needed to watch the film more than once before I was happy that I had fully understood everything - but ultimately that was more of a pleasure than a chore.
There are a couple of weak points to the film; the most obvious one is that some of the violence isn't always well-portrayed - sometimes the crack of a slap doesn't quite fit with the action - but the plot is fast enough that these problems are covered up and only noticeable after several viewings. For a film of its time (it was made in 1941), the special effects are actually very good.
Another plea from the heart (if you read my reviews regularly, you may be sick of reading this - sorry!) - this film is obviously in black and white and may put some off watching it, but please think again. This is a superb film that is no less so for not being in colour - in fact, I truly hope it is never re-made, because, for me, nothing will ever beat this version.
Despite this, the film will not appeal to everyone. There isn't much that is heart-warming about it, and it is certainly not comic, by any stretch of the imagination and I think that many younger viewers will find it hard to follow. For anyone else though, this is a classic that should not be missed. Highly recommended.
Advantages: Cast,directing, gripping plot Disadvantages: Very little...
I don't know if the term film noir had been invented before The Maltese Falcon was released in 1941, but if it hadn't, it would have been necessary to create it just for this film. (If you don't know what film noir means, watch this film to find out!) Humphrey Bogart is one of my all-time favourite actors and his portrayal of unemotional but honourable Private Detective Sam Spade is perfect. When a damsel in distress (Mary Astor) comes in with a ... ...has fallen for Spade and the police suspect him of one (or possibly more) of the killings that have recently taken place… it seems that the only person Spade can really trust is his long-suffering secretary, Effie (Lee Patrick). Right up till the very end it's difficult to know who's on whose side. I know it's too easy to give an acknowledged classic like The Maltese Falcon a top rating without really thinking about it, however this really does deserve ...
CaptainDisaster 14.06.2005
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of The Maltese Falcon (DVD)
Advantages: Great acting, great dialogue Disadvantages: May not be for those who prefer lots of action
...I wouldn't say I'm the world's greatest fan of Film Noir or even of Humphrey Bogart. I like them, but other genres are higher on my list. When I first watched this, although I had heard of Humphrey Bogart, I had no idea what he looked like. I hadn't seen terribly many black and white films either. One fine day, some years ago, my mom got Turner Classic Movies. I can't remember why I turned it over onto TCM or even if it just happened to be on when ... ...and when I got to the end, I realised I needed to see it from the beginning as it was that good. And when I watched it again from the beginning, I thoroughly enjoyed it and have since watched it several times. == The Story == Humphrey Bogart plays Sam Spade, a private detective in 1930’s San Francisco. One day a woman walks into his office asking him to take on her case. She says that her sister has got involved with a man and that she wants him ...
Rebeccs 14.12.2009
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of The Maltese Falcon (DVD)
Advantages: a good way of spending some time in front of the telly Disadvantages: none
...asked me what I wanted, the answer was the Maltese Falcon DVD, which was delivered on the day. As I have mention before I have, a taste for old films, so to me this was the prefect present.
The first thing you notice about the DVD is the picture on the case, it is in the style of a picture poster of the 1940’s-50’s and it shows the two main stars of the movie, Humphrey Bogart and Mary Astor. The cover I would be happy hanging on my wall ... ...area. Warner Home Video distributes the DVD, and should be available in any good video shop, the price is unknown to me as it was a present.
The film was produced in 1941, and was directed by John Huston, and it marked his directorial debut, can be classed as film noir, and was nominated for three Academy Awards.
The main two stars are Humphrey Bogart, who plays Sam Spade, private eye and Mary Astor who plays Miss Wondely (what a name) the classic ...
oldgoth 09.03.2004
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of The Maltese Falcon (DVD)
Advantages: An excellent film, a joy to watch Disadvantages: Should be shown at a decent time on TV
...Maltese Falcon" is adapted from the novel by Dashiell Hammett, which I must admit I've never read but it's considered to be a classic. The film begins in the detective agency of Sam Spade (Humphrey Bogart) and Miles Archer (Jerome Cowan). A mysterious woman calling herself Miss Wonderly (Mary Astor), and looking like a classic femme fatal, enlists the help of the detectives to track a man called Thursby. However, on the first night of this task Miles ... ...to be a suspect in the murder of Thursby as retaliation for his slain partner, but did Thursby kill Archer? Sam's only link is the mysterious Miss Wonderly and when she contacts him he grills her for information and finds out that in fact her name is actually Brigid O'Shaughnessy and she is apparently in fear of her life. She asks Sam to protect her. He has no idea why she is afraid but it becomes a little clearer when he receives a visit from a ...
Davie123 10.01.2003
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of The Maltese Falcon (DVD)
...ever movie, a classic in the true sense of the word. This film oozes the atmosphere of the time, all the performances are first class and Sydney Greenstreet is excellent.
A beautiful woman enters the office of Spade and Archer detective agency and delivers a cock and bull story about her missing sister...and so the hunt for The Maltese Falcon begins after Miles Archer is shot dead..
Directed by John Huston (so it has to be good !) this is a truly ...
RolyPoly 01.03.2003
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: somewhat helpful Review of The Maltese Falcon (DVD)
Original Theatrical Trailer, Humphrey Bogart Trailers
Aspect Ratio
1.33 Full Screen
Sound
Dolby Digital Mono
Dubbing Sound
Dolby Digital Mono English Italian
Professional reviews
Review
"...The real spark in this suavest of mysteries is provided by its eccentric collection of villains..." -- 5 out of 5 stars (Total Film, p.84, 01/03/2000)
DVD Description
Hard-drinking private eye Sam Spade sleuths the backyard of San Francisco in search of an elusive black bird statuette while evading the setups of three disparate miscreants: the duplicitous Brigid, the perfumed Mr. Cairo, and the scheming Fat Man. Huston's brilliant directorial debut is aided by first-rate performances, excellent camera work, as well as the director's acute attention to detail while shooting the film. Based on the crime novel by Dashiell Hammett. Academy Award Nominations: 3, including Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor (Sydney Greenstreet), and Best Screenplay. Previous versions of the story were filmed in 1931 (a.k.a. DANGEROUS FEMALE) and in 1936 (as SATAN MET A LADY, starring Bette Davis), and poorly redone in 1975 (THE BLACK BIRD).
Compare The Maltese Falcon (DVD) to other similar Drama »
![The Maltese Falcon [1941] [DVD]](http://picnica.ciao.com/uk/78521982.jpg)
![The Maltese Falcon [Special Edition]](http://picnica.ciao.com/uk/103259212.jpg "The Maltese Falcon [Special Edition]")
