The Maltese Falcon (1941)

The Maltese Falcon (1941)

4/10

Starring

Humphrey Bogart

Mary Astor

Gladys George

Peter Lorre

Barton MacLane

Directed by John Huston

Why this movie is regarded as a classic is beyond me. Other than the nice cinematography, I felt the musical score and the plot itself were off. Some of the characters were absurd—their acting was okay, but their roles weren’t.

What’s the love relationship between Spade and O'Shaughnessy? It seemed like it was a checklist item the studio needed to include, not something that was part of the initial plan. I couldn’t understand how they fell for each other; it felt like an afterthought on film.

I’ve seen Humphrey Bogart in other films, and they’re quite enjoyable, but in this one, his character comes off as a lady-killer with no control over his aura. He’s also oddly good at punching—one punch is all he needs to knock people out.

From the moment the Maltese Falcon lands at Spade’s feet to the reason the fat man takes a knife to it without a care, I’ll leave it to you, the viewer, to make sense of it in the context of the general plot. The suspense in this movie is muddled in the writing. While trying to add too much suspense, it ends up being too weak in the thrill department. If I didn’t have control over the screen while watching this movie, I probably would have fallen asleep.

The movie’s plot introduces us to Sam Spade (Humphrey Bogart), a private detective with a chip on his shoulder. His wise-guy actions can come off as annoying and reckless, whether he’s facing a gun or being interrogated by the police. He gets a visit from a woman named O'Shaughnessy, who asks for his help to locate her sister—which turns out to be a lie. That lie leads us down a path where Spade’s partner gets killed. The man (Thursby) she claims ran off with her sister is also killed that night.

The police think Spade killed Thursby in revenge for his partner’s death, but things get awkward when they discover there was something going on between Spade and his partner’s wife. O'Shaughnessy ends up not being truthful, and Spade learns there’s more to this lady than he can figure out.

Then he meets another man named Cairo, who pulls a gun on him and offers him five thousand dollars if he can help find the Maltese Falcon, a priceless item. Soon, we learn that Cairo knows O'Shaughnessy, and there’s another player in the mix. The main focus of the plot is locating the Maltese Falcon and solving who killed Spade’s partner.

The movie was written and directed by John Huston in his directorial debut. It’s said that Huston was meticulous about the screenplay, which was based on a book of the same name by Dashiell Hammett. His planning made shooting the movie easy and on time, never overshooting the budget. If you’re into classics, many have said this is one of them—I just don’t agree.