{"id":5698,"date":"2009-06-25T13:36:32","date_gmt":"2009-06-25T20:36:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=5698"},"modified":"2022-02-21T23:28:40","modified_gmt":"2022-02-22T06:28:40","slug":"maltese-falcon-the-1941","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=5698","title":{"rendered":"Maltese Falcon, The (1941)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>&#8220;I don&#8217;t mind a reasonable amount of trouble.&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/06\/Maltese-Falcon-1941-Poster.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/06\/Maltese-Falcon-1941-Poster-198x300.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"198\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-56943\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/06\/Maltese-Falcon-1941-Poster-198x300.png 198w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/06\/Maltese-Falcon-1941-Poster-677x1024.png 677w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/06\/Maltese-Falcon-1941-Poster-85x128.png 85w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/06\/Maltese-Falcon-1941-Poster-179x270.png 179w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/06\/Maltese-Falcon-1941-Poster.png 731w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 198px) 100vw, 198px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Synopsis:<\/strong><br \/>\nWhen his partner (Jerome Cowan) is murdered while doing investigation work for a beautiful, mysterious woman (Mary Astor), private detective Sam Spade (Humphrey Bogart) digs more deeply into the case, and soon finds himself caught up in a desperate search for an invaluable relic known as the Maltese Falcon.\n<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p>\n<strong>Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:<br \/>\n<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Detectives and Private Eyes<\/li>\n<li>Elisha Cook Jr. Films<\/li>\n<li>Femmes Fatales<\/li>\n<li>Humphrey Bogart Films<\/li>\n<li>John Huston Films<\/li>\n<li>Mary Astor Films<\/li>\n<li>Murder Mystery<\/li>\n<li>Peter Lorre Films<\/li>\n<li>Sydney Greenstreet Films<\/li>\n<li>Ward Bond Films<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Response to Peary&#8217;s Review: <\/strong><br \/>\nAs Peary notes, this third cinematic adaptation of Dashiell Hammett&#8217;s novel (following Roy Del Ruth&#8217;s 1931 version, and William Dieterle&#8217;s <a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=6088\"><em>Satan Met a Lady<\/em><\/a> in 1936) is a &#8220;rare imitation that was more impressive than the original&#8221;. The story itself &#8212; which remains remarkably faithful to Hammett&#8217;s vision &#8212; is rather convoluted, and requires multiple viewings to fully absorb; instead, what&#8217;s really special about this &#8220;true masterpiece&#8221; is its &#8220;incredible pacing&#8221; &#8212; accomplished &#8220;by Huston&#8217;s rapid-fire editing <em>within<\/em> scenes and dialogue that shoots back and forth&#8221; &#8212; and the &#8220;impeccable casting&#8221; choices, most notably 62-year-old Sidney Greenstreet (in his screen debut) as obese Kasper Gutman; the &#8220;incomparable Peter Lorre&#8221; as Gutman&#8217;s &#8220;neurotic, emotional, effeminate, gushy partner&#8221; (as Peary notes, &#8220;one second he&#8217;s giggling, the next he&#8217;s crying&#8221;); and, of course, Humphrey Bogart as Sam Spade, a &#8220;complex character&#8221; who&#8217;s simultaneously &#8220;witty, patient, sadistic, and cynical&#8221;. Arthur Edeson&#8217;s impressive &#8220;low-key camera work&#8221; deserves mention as well, given that it &#8220;helped make <em>film noir<\/em> the dominant style of forties detective films&#8221;. As Peary notes, this &#8220;landmark picture&#8221; &#8212; which he nominates as one of the Best Pictures of the Year in his <a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-static\/AlternateOscars.html\"><em>Alternate Oscars<\/em><\/a> book &#8212; &#8220;set the style and tone for hardboiled detective films&#8221;, and is most definitely worthy repeat viewing for all film fanatics. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Redeeming Qualities and Moments: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Humphrey Bogart as Sam Spade (Peary nominates him as Best Actor of the Year in his <a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-static\/AlternateOscars.html\"><em>Alternate Oscars<\/em><\/a> book)<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/06\/maltese-bogart.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/06\/maltese-bogart.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-5700\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Peter Lorre as Joel Cairo<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/06\/maltese-lorre.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/06\/maltese-lorre.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-5701\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Mary Astor as Brigid O&#8217;Shaughnessy<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/06\/maltese-astor.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/06\/maltese-astor.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-5702\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Sydney Greenstreet as Kasper Gutman<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/06\/maltese-greenstreet.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/06\/maltese-greenstreet.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-5703\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Lee Patrick as Effie, Spade&#8217;s loyal secretary<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/06\/maltese-effie.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/06\/maltese-effie.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-5704\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Elisha Cook Jr. as Gutman&#8217;s wide-eyed &#8220;gunsel&#8221;, Wilmer<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/06\/maltese-cook.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/06\/maltese-cook.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-5705\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Arthur Edeson&#8217;s noirish b&#038;w cinematography<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/06\/maltese-cinematography2.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/06\/maltese-cinematography2.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-5708\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>John Huston&#8217;s masterful directorial style<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/06\/maltese-direction2.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/06\/maltese-direction2.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-5707\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Huston&#8217;s screenplay (by way of Dashiell Hammett&#8217;s now-classic pulp novel)\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Must See? <\/strong><br \/>\nYes. This acknowledged cult classic should be seen and enjoyed multiple times by film fanatics. Discussed at length in Peary&#8217;s <a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?page_id=5986\"><em>Cult Movies<\/em> (1981)<\/a>. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Categories<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Cult Movie<\/li>\n<li>Genuine Classic<\/li>\n<li>Important Director<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p> (<span style=\"color:red;font-weight:bold;\">Listed in <a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-static\/1001Movies.htm\"><em>1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die<\/em><\/a><\/span>) <\/p>\n<p><strong>Links: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0033870\/\">IMDb entry<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/1941\/10\/04\/archives\/the-maltese-falcon-a-fast-mysterythriller-with-quality-and-charm-at.html\">NY Times Original Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.rogerebert.com\/reviews\/great-movie-the-maltese-falcon-1941\">Roger Ebert&#8217;s Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.reelviews.net\/php_review_template.php?identifier=684\">ReelViews Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.dvdtalk.com\/dvdsavant\/s2132boga.html\">DVD Savant Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.filmsite.org\/malt.html\">Greatest Films Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tcm.com\/tcmdb\/title\/2805\/the-maltese-falcon#articles-reviews\">TCM Articles<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.timeout.com\/movies\/the-maltese-falcon\">Time Out Capsule Review<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t mind a reasonable amount of trouble.&#8221; Synopsis: When his partner (Jerome Cowan) is murdered while doing investigation work for a beautiful, mysterious woman (Mary Astor), private detective Sam Spade (Humphrey Bogart) digs more deeply into the case, and soon finds himself caught up in a desperate search for an invaluable relic known as the Maltese Falcon. Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors: Detectives and Private Eyes Elisha Cook Jr. Films Femmes Fatales Humphrey Bogart Films John Huston Films Mary&#8230;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"><a class=\"btn btn-default\" href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=5698\"> 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":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5698","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-responses-to-peary"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5698","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=5698"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5698\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":81616,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5698\/revisions\/81616"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5698"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5698"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5698"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}