TIM MAKES ANGELA WATCH: The Maltese Falcon (1941)

 

The Maltese Falcon (1941), starring Humphrey Bogart & Mary Astor. Written and directed by John Houston. Based on the 1929 novel by Dashiell Hammett. 

TIM SAYS: 

Dashiell Hammett pretty much invented the hard-boiled school of fiction. (Other authors contributed as well, but Hammett is the guy who turned it into a legitimate form of literature.) His short stories were brilliant and when he began to produce novels, they were even better. 

The Maltese Falcon was adapted in movies in 1931 and 1936, but its this 1941 version that really strikes gold. Houston's script is 98% faithful to the novel in both plot and dialogue. His direction and the cinematography was influencial enough to help eventually usher in Film Noir. 

And the cast could not be more perfect. Humphrey Bogart's career is stuffed to overflowing with iconic roles, but his portrayal of Sam Spade is arguable his best. Mary Astor is the prototype femme fatale, while Peter Lorre, Syndey Greenstreet and Elisha Cook, Jr are among the best bad guys ever.

Angela and I were going to see it in the theaters a month or so ago when it played as one of TCM's Big Screen Classics. But I no longer have Free Will and so, when Angela decided to pass on it, so did I. But I insisted we watch it at home and, because she is an Awesome Wife, she agreed to this. 

One thing that stood out to me as we watched it together was the interesting fact that Gutman and Cairo (Greenstreet and Lorre) obviously think of themselves as master criminals. But when it comes right down to it, neither are really competent. Their careers as criminals--as far as we can see--is one failure after another. Elisha Cook's Wilmer parallels this--he thinks of himself as a top gunman, but he's really just a loser that Sam easily disarms multiple times without effort. 

Sam Spade, in the end, is the only person in the movie who really knows what he's doing, even when he doesn't have all the facts. He is often improvising as he looks for the Falcon and tries to solve the three murders that take place during the story, but he always does so intelligently. The villains think they can wrap him around their fingers, but it's Sam who has the upper hand.

ANGELA SAYS:

I put off watching this movie for a couple of weeks because I wasn't really looking forward to it. I enjoy old movies and Humphrey Bogart is great, so I knew I wouldn't hate it. BUT, I wasn't very impressed with the Maltese Falcon when I read it. I know you can't call it cliched since it created the cliches, but Brigid just annoyed me. I couldn't picture her as a classic femme fatale, and I felt like Spade half believed her, or at least wanted to.

I have to say, the movie impressed . For me, this is one of the rare times when the movie is better than the book. Mary Astor was masterful as Brigid O'Shaughnessy. She played the damsel in distress well enough that she had ME wanting to believe her. Bogart did a good job of leading her along just enough to make her think she was succeeding before cutting her off. It was clear he doubted her from the lost sister story at the beginning to the assertions of love at the end.

The twists and turns of the story were fun to follow and all the supporting characters worked well. The henchmen were hilarious in their ineptitude. And you begin to feel sympathy for Wilmer in his role as scapegoat. I know he killed two people; although he couldn't manage to finish the job with Captain Jacoby well enough to get the Falcon. He tries to be dangerous, but will clearly lose his weapon to pretty much anyone he faces.

Finally, I loved Sydney Greenstreet in the role of Kasper Gutman. You could see his theater roots in the way he over emoted a bit, but he did an excellent job. He gave the impression of a favorite uncle who would indulge your whims, but he was clear in his willingness to cast Wilmer as the scapegoat. His subtle facial expressions and humorous attitude clearly hid a devious mind.

So to conclude, this movie worked for me MUCH better than the book; maybe it was the addition of the video, since the script and dialogue was nearly identical to the book. Regardless, the cast was excellent and the pacing, lighting and directing pulled me into the story. I kind of hope there are still people out there searching for the Falcon.