The Maltese Falcon (1941)

Directed by: John Huston | 101 minutes | crime, thriller | Actors: Humphrey Bogart, Mary Astor, Gladys George, Peter Lorre, Barton MacLane, Lee Patrick, Sydney Greenstraat, Ward Bond, Jerome Cowan, Elisha Cook Jr., James Burke, Murray Alper, John Hamilton

The term film noir is mainly reserved for specific films from the period 1941 to 1958. This film style and atmosphere is characterized by the nihilistic and existential world in which the main characters live. Also in films noirs you often find a hero – usually a detective – without ideals, who becomes entangled in the web of a femme fatale. The society and the system in the story are rock solid. The people are bad and the world remains corrupt despite everything. The first – and most important – in the film noir series is ‘The Maltese Falcon’, director John Huston’s debut and considered by many to be one of the greatest films of all time.

San Francisco in the 1940s. Private detective Sam Spade’s colleague is murdered when he is ordered by a mysterious beautiful woman to keep an eye on a certain Floyd Thursby who has run off with her younger sister. When Thursby is later found dead, Sam has become the prime suspect and he gets the entire police force after him. Sam investigates and finds out that the woman who gave the order is different from what she appeared to be. She is involved in a case involving the ‘Maltese Falcon’, an extraordinarily precious golden statue of a falcon.

George Raft would originally have played the lead role in ‘The Maltese Falcon’, had it not been for the fact that he ultimately turned down the role because he felt it was too much of a risk to work with an inexperienced director. So Humphrey Bogart, who was good friends with director Huston, was called in. In retrospect, we should be happy about that. Bogie, with his inseparable cigarette, left an indelible mark on film history with this role as Sam Spade and became one of the most acclaimed actors of all time. But not only Bogart plays an unforgettable role; Peter Lorre and Sydney Greenstreet are also legendary as the seedy mobsters Joel Cairo and ‘Fat Man’ Kasper Gutman. Greenstreet, who made his debut in this film at the age of 62 (!) received an Oscar nomination quite rightly.

‘The Maltese Falcon’ is based on the book of the same name by Dashiel Hammett. Many dialogues were taken verbatim from the novel. The film is very stylish and fast-paced. The plot may not be easy to follow on a first look (that’s another hallmark of traditional film noir), but that’s really not the most important thing either; dialogue and style is what it’s all about. The dark tone and bitter ending were new in 1941, as was a hero who is cool but also has very unsympathetic qualities, and of course the ‘femme fatale’ phenomenon; the dangerous, sensual woman who destroys everything and everyone, including herself.

Anyone who loves film should check out this timeless masterpiece by Huston. ‘The Maltese Falcon’ earned a place among the top twenty-five in the American Film Institute’s list of the hundred best American films. Quite rightly so, because this film has not been matched in all these years in the detective genre.