Die Spur des Falken

Seven decades have passed but the suspense and thrill of The Maltese Falcon still reign supreme. The movie, despite being in black & white, appears strikingly refreshing both to the eyes and the intellect. Primarily remembered as John Huston's directorial debut, the movie played a decisive role in giving Film-Noire its true identity as a genre. The Maltese Falcon also gave Humphrey Bogart his highly deserved super-stardom that had hitherto eluded him. Huston creates an environment of suspicion, doubt and uncertainty that is so convoluted that even Hitchcock would be proud of it. The movie has multiple layers of mystery and suspense that keeps the viewer engaged throughout.

Sam Spade is a private detective who runs an agency with his partner Miles Archer. An ostensibly naive lady, Miss Wanderly offers them a task to pursue a man, Floyd Thursby, who has allegedly run off with her younger sister. The over-simplicity of task arouses Spade's suspicion, but Wanderly's lucrative offer makes the duo overlook it initially. Miles is killed during the pursuit and the police inform Spade of the mishap. Spade only discreetly tells the police that Miles was after a man named Thursby without disclosing anything about Miss Wandely. The police soon find Thursby dead as well and suspect Spade for killing him in an act of revenge. Soon Miles Archer's widow shows up at Spade's office and insinuates of her romantic involvement with Spade, who shuns her away after she tries to incriminate him for the murder. The police come across an anonymous lead and begin suspecting Spade for killing his partner, Miles. The plot thickens with the entry a couple of obscure characters including Joel Cairo, who happens be an acquaintance of Miss Wanderly. He is in pursuit of a highly precious, antique, gold statuette of Maltese Falcon and offers Spade five grands to help him find it. A game of cat and mouse soon ensues, between the various stake holders, which becomes deadlier as the stakes are raised.

Humphrey Bogart perfectly fits into the shoes of Spade—a sleek and sharp sleuth—and makes it his own in a manner that only someone of his grit and caliber could. Bogart is in top form right from the inception to the finale, stealing the spotlight in almost every scene that is he is part of. Bogart could only demonstrate his prodigious talent and acting prowess in short bursts during his long "B movie" stint in which he was mostly type-casted as a gangster. The Maltese Falcon was Bogart's big break after years of anticipation and he didn't leave a single stone unturned to prove his mettle. Bogart shows his class and stamps his authority as a performer during the portrayal of Spade: he is ever so quick-witted thanks to his sublime articulacy and his prowess at repartee seems unparalleled; the inherent cynicism in Spade and the perspicacity with which he operates soon became Bogart's trademark and catapulted him to super-stardom. Many regard Bogart's performance in Casablanca as his absolute best, but I rate his portrayal of Spade second only to his supernal portrayal of Dobbs in The Treasure of Sierre Madre, where he took acting to hitherto unattainable and unforeseeable heights.

John Huston uses the Midas touch he had as a screenwriter to strike all the right cords in his directorial debut. 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 taut plot of the movie, which is masterfully adapted from the novel of the same name by Huston himself, is well complemented by the impressively written dialogs that are delivered with an equal prowess. Amidst the everlasting suspense the movie has an obvious undertone of dark humor that adds great value to the movie. 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. Despite being devoid of modern-day gimmicks the movie is incredibly high on suspense and holds the viewer in a vice-like grip throughout its runtime. It's a real shame that movies like these are seldom made these days. The tone of the movie is such that it makes suspense thrillers of today appear like kids cartoon.

PS. The movie is an ode to Bogart, Huston and all those who made it a reality. It's suspense cinema at its absolute best with a completely different treatment to themes propagated by the likes of Hitchcock. It's a must for all the Bogart fans worldwide, and absolutely essential for all those who have a penchant for Film-Noire as a genre. 10/10

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This one of the all-time grand films , a classic Noir Film with gritty interpretation , atmospheric settings and powerhouse filmmaking , at John Huston's first effort directorial . This is a story as explosive as his blazing automatics . Womanizer Sam Sapade is a two-fisted and cynical private detective operating in the big city . When his secretary tells him the new customer (Mary Astor) waiting outside his office is a knockout, he wastes no time before seeing her. It turns out she's a knockout with money. And she wants to spend it on his services as a private detective . This lovely dame with dangerous lies employs the services of the notorious private detective . She has some story about wanting to protect her sister. Neither he nor his partner, Miles Archer, believes it. But with the money she's paying, who cares? The job proves to be more dangerous than either of them expected. It involves not just the lovely dame with the dangerous lies, but also the sweaty Casper Gutman (Sidney Greenstreet) , the fey Joel Cairo (Peter Lorre) , and the thuggish young Wilmer Cook (Elisha Cook Jr) . Three crooks, and all of them are looking for the statuette of a black bird they call the Maltese Falcon . Spade is quickly caught up in the mystery and intrigue of a statuette known as the Maltese Falcon . 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) .

This first-rate and entertaining picture draws its riveting tale and power from the interaction of finely drawn roles as well as drama , emotion and moody atmosphere . This classic mystery thriller follows Dashiell Hammett's book fairly closely otherwise , he also wrote ¨The thin man¨. Twisted film Noir about murders , troubled relationships , treason , dark secrets , including an unforgettable dialog ; being based on the novel ¨The Maltese Falcon¨¨and screen-written by the same Huston . Frustrated at seeing his script for Juárez (1939) rewritten by Paul Muni, the film's star, John Huston vowed that from then on he would direct his own screenplays and therefore not have to see them get meddled with. He was fortunate in that he had a staunch ally in the form of producer Henry Blanke who was happy to fulfill Huston's wish. Word-for-word and scene-for-scene virtually the same as the original novel. It packs a good realization , an original script , haunting atmosphere , intriguing events ; for that reason madness and murder prevail .The climactic confrontation scene lasts nearly 20 minutes, one-fifth of the entire running time of the film. It involves all five principal characters, and filming required over one full week . 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 . For decades this film could not be legally shown on US television stations because of its underlying suggestions of "illicit" sexual activity among the characters (i.e., O'Shaughnessy's promiscuity, indications that Joel Cairo was a homosexual). Much of the movie is filmed over Humphrey Bogart's shoulder so that the audience can be in on his point of view. His scenes with Mary Astor are awesome and at their best compared to those he subsequently shared with Lauren Bacall in ¨Dark passage¨ , ¨Key Largo¨ , ¨The big sleep¨ and ¨To have and to have not¨ . The couple Bogart-Astor throws in enough sparks to ignite several lighters . This was the first pairing of cynical Humphrey Bogart and Femme Fatale Mary Astor . Mary Astor's off-screen notoriety was instrumental in her casting , she had been in several scandals concerning affairs she had been involved in during her marriage. And she was having an affair with John Huston during the making of the film. Magnificent support cast , here was the first pairing of Sydney Greenstreet and Peter Lorre, who would go on to make nine more movies together. Exciting as well as complex film , possessing a mysterious and fascinating blend of gripping thriller , serenity , baroque suspense in which especially stands out the portentous performances , evocative cinematography in black and white by Arthur Edeson and magnificent musical score by the classic Adolph Deutsch . And also shown in horrible computer-colored version . The motion picture was masterfully directed by John Huston ; filming was completed in two months at a cost of less than $300,000.

A former version in 1931 by Roy Del Ruth , it was also pretty good starred by Bebe Daniels as Ruth Wonderly , Ricardo Cortez as Sam Spade , Dudley Digges as Casper Gutman and Una Merkel as Effie Perine . In fact , Warner Bros. planned to change the name of the film to "The Gent from Frisco" because the novel's title had already been used for this The Maltese Falcon (1931) , the studio eventually agreed to keep the original title at John Huston's insistence.

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. The plot stalls and meanders throughout most of the film, as we encounter an assortment of strange characters and side issues. But this is not a plot-driven film. It is character-driven.

And the main character, of course, is PI Sam Spade (Bogart). He's not a particularly nice guy. He comes across as overconfident and egotistic. He smirks a lot. But he's tough as nails. And he knows how to nail the bad guys. A big part of the film is Spade's relationship to femme fatale Brigid (Mary Astor). They engage each other in a battle of wits. And there's more than a hint of romantic involvement between the two. 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, AKA the "Fat Man", is nothing if not erudite and self-assured. In one scene, Sam Spade makes a bold offer. 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. Acting varies from very good to overly melodramatic. The script is very talky. For the most part, the film is just a series of conversations that take place in interior sets.

Stylistic and cinematically innovative, "The Maltese Falcon" has endured as a film classic. I suspect the main reason for its continued popularity is the continued popularity of Bogart. But I personally prefer the performance of Sydney Greenstreet, the enticing fat man. Yet, together they would reappear in later films, one of which would follow, in 1942, as the classic of all classics.

With a fine combination of cast, characters, story, and atmosphere, this classic is one of the most entertaining films of its kind, enjoyable even after several viewings. It gets you right into the action and introduces you to a list of interesting personalities, who mesh together nicely and who are also matched well with the cast members. Beyond that, it's also effective as a character study involving greed, trust and distrust, and conflicting ethics.

Sam Spade is an ideal role for Bogart, giving him plenty to work with and some very good dialogue as well. Peter Lorre and Sydney Greenstreet are very entertaining, providing suitable foils for Bogart, and they really take the film up a notch. The rest of the cast also works well (worth mentioning is Elisha Cook, Jr., whose character doesn't do a lot, but who provides Bogart with some very amusing moments at his expense). The story is nicely adapted from the novel, and each scene is constructed well, with everything moving along nicely from start to finish.

If you are a fan of either film noir or mysteries, make this a must-see. There are very few films that work as well as "The Maltese Falcon".

Sam Spade and Miles Archer are detectives, the private type who you can give directives, after meeting with a dame, there then begins a deadly game, with a group who seem to have, their own perspectives; although they all have as their goal a missing falcon, and soon there are some folks, who find their souls gone, as beneath the dark veneer, there are those quite insincere, as you'll find after a number of liaisons; as the story ratchets up the threads combine, and at the centre of the plot's a large waistline, that speaks with eloquence and intent, as deep within, passions ferment, in a film that is a classic of its time.

Great cast, great story, great film - but isn't Sydney Greenstreet outstanding!