I was lucky enough this Christmas to receive "The Maltese Falcon" on DVD as a present from my loving girlfriend. She knows my thoughts about this classic film and decided it was time that I had a copy of my own. I am a very lucky boy.
"The 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 Archer is murdered by a party or parties unknown and an hour or so later Thursby is also killed.
Sam Spade then takes it upon himself to investigate these deaths. Are they connected? Surely they must be but why? Spade is considered 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 man calling himself Joel Cairo (played by the excellent Peter Lorre). Cairo offers Sam $5000 for the recovery of a bird statue which Cairo believes Sam either has hidden or knows the whereabouts of. Sam links this to Miss O'Shaughnessy and guesses that she is also looking for the item. It then becomes clear that a third person is looking for the statue, Kasper Gutman (Sydney Greenstreet), who eventually reveals all about the history of The Maltese Falcon (a Jewel encrusted statuette of a falcon covered in black enamel to disguise it's worth).
From here Sam sets about trying to find the Falcon as well as solve the two previous murders. Along the way he is also suspected of murdering Archer, it turns out he's been a bit too friendly with Archer's widow. I wont spoil the film by telling you what happens but it's got a great final 1/3 when everything starts to become clear.
This is truly one of the classic films of the 20th century and is a great debut from director John Huston who went on to direct other masterpieces such as The Asphalt Jungle, The African Queen, The Man Who Would Be King and Prizzi's Honor.
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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
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official deathless classics, bracingly tough even by post-Tarantino standards. Humphrey Bogart is Dashiell Hammett's definitive private eye, Sam Spade, struggling to kee...
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The Maltese Falconis still the tightest, sharpest, and most cynical of Hollywood's ... more
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![The Maltese Falcon [1941] [DVD]](http://picnica.ciao.com/uk/78521982.jpg "The Maltese Falcon [1941] [DVD]")
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