{"id":40809,"date":"2018-08-27T12:18:27","date_gmt":"2018-08-27T19:18:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=40809"},"modified":"2020-11-27T19:56:10","modified_gmt":"2020-11-28T02:56:10","slug":"maltese-falcon-the-1931","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=40809","title":{"rendered":"Maltese Falcon, The (1931)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>&#8220;I aim to give service at all times &#8212; night and day.&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Maltese-Falcon-1931-Poster.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Maltese-Falcon-1931-Poster-196x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"196\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-40812\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Maltese-Falcon-1931-Poster-196x300.jpg 196w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Maltese-Falcon-1931-Poster-84x128.jpg 84w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Maltese-Falcon-1931-Poster.jpg 392w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 196px) 100vw, 196px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Synopsis:<\/strong><br \/>\nWhile investigating the death of his partner (Walter Long) [whose wife (Thelma Todd) he was having an affair with], a womanizing private eye Sam Spade (Ricardo Cortez) with a loyal secretary (Una Merkel) becomes romantically involved with a beautiful client (Bebe Daniels) who is one among several people &#8212; including gun-wielding Dr. Cairo (Otto Matieson), portly Casper Gutman (Dudley Diggs), and Gutman&#8217;s gunsel (Dwight Frye) &#8212; interested in securing a valuable statue known as the Maltese Falcon.\n<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p>\n<strong>Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Detectives and Private Eyes<\/li>\n<li>Femmes Fatales<\/li>\n<li>Murder Mystery<\/li>\n<li>Roy Del Ruth Films<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Review: <\/strong><br \/>\nAlthough it&#8217;s much less widely viewed than the <a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=5698\">1941 John Huston remake<\/a>, this early screen adaptation of <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/The_Maltese_Falcon_(novel)\">Dashiell Hammett&#8217;s detective novel<\/a> &#8212; directed by Roy Del Ruth &#8212; remains a solidly enjoyable tale of deception, femmes fatales, greed, and hard-boiled investigation. The film&#8217;s success is due to a combination of factors: a charismatic performance by silent screen star Cortez; fine turns by all the supporting players; atmospheric cinematography; and a refreshingly sassy Pre-Code script &#8212; including an unstated but obvious romantic relationship between Digges and Frye:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;Your little boyfriend just checked out.&#8221;<br \/>\n&#8220;That&#8217;s too bad. His services would have been&#8230; invaluable. And I loved him&#8230; like a son.&#8221;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Film fanatics will likely enjoy comparing and contrasting the two <em>Falcon<\/em> movies &#8212; as well as the retitled 1936 version <a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=6088\"><em>Satan Met a Lady<\/em><\/a>, which most critics hate but I find light-heartedly enjoyable. (Then again, I haven&#8217;t read the original novel in years, so don&#8217;t have a strong point of reference.)<\/p>\n<p><strong>Redeeming Qualities and Moments: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Ricardo Cortez as Sam Spade<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Maltese-Falcon-Cortez.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Maltese-Falcon-Cortez.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"720\" height=\"540\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-40815\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Maltese-Falcon-Cortez.png 720w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Maltese-Falcon-Cortez-128x96.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Maltese-Falcon-Cortez-300x225.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 720px) 100vw, 720px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Notable supporting performances<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Maltese-Falcon-Diggs.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Maltese-Falcon-Diggs.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"720\" height=\"540\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-40816\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Maltese-Falcon-Diggs.png 720w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Maltese-Falcon-Diggs-128x96.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Maltese-Falcon-Diggs-300x225.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 720px) 100vw, 720px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>A cleverly risque script<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Maltese-Falcon-PreCode.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Maltese-Falcon-PreCode.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"720\" height=\"540\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-40818\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Maltese-Falcon-PreCode.png 720w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Maltese-Falcon-PreCode-128x96.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Maltese-Falcon-PreCode-300x225.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 720px) 100vw, 720px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Atmospheric cinematography<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Maltese-Falcon-Cinematography.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Maltese-Falcon-Cinematography.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"720\" height=\"540\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-40813\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Maltese-Falcon-Cinematography.png 720w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Maltese-Falcon-Cinematography-128x96.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Maltese-Falcon-Cinematography-300x225.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 720px) 100vw, 720px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Must See? <\/strong><br \/>\nYes, as a fine Pre-Code flick. Listed as a film with Historical Relevance and a Personal Recommendation in the back of Peary&#8217;s book. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Categories<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?page_id=1784#goodshow\">Good Show<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Links: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0022111\/\">IMDb entry<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tcm.com\/tcmdb\/title\/1764\/the-maltese-falcon#articles-reviews?articleId=337445\">TCM Review<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;I aim to give service at all times &#8212; night and day.&#8221; Synopsis: While investigating the death of his partner (Walter Long) [whose wife (Thelma Todd) he was having an affair with], a womanizing private eye Sam Spade (Ricardo Cortez) with a loyal secretary (Una Merkel) becomes romantically involved with a beautiful client (Bebe Daniels) who is one among several people &#8212; including gun-wielding Dr. Cairo (Otto Matieson), portly Casper Gutman (Dudley Diggs), and Gutman&#8217;s gunsel (Dwight Frye) &#8212; interested&#8230;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"><a class=\"btn btn-default\" href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=40809\"> Read More<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">  Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-40809","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reviews"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40809","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=40809"}],"version-history":[{"count":19,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40809\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":55370,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40809\/revisions\/55370"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=40809"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=40809"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=40809"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}