The Maltese Falcon

"The Maltese Falcon" is a classic among detective films. It is the first of a series of films that the French named film noir. In this dark cinematic universe all the players are more or less shady and cynical. Even the hero's morals are frayed at the edges.

The Maltese Falcon is also remarkable because it is the directing debut of the veteran director John Huston, and because Humphrey Bogart makes his name as the hard-boiled and morally dubious detective Sam Spade, who gets mixed up in a case involving a mysterious statuette that a host of dubious characters are prepared to use every trick in the book to get hold of.

Sam is approached by a young lady, Brigid O'Shaughnessy, who seeks help and protection. Her pursuers are the fat rich man Gutman, the oily Joel Cairo and Gutman's imbecilic henchman Wilmer.

The plot constantly surprises by taking new turns, and the dialogue is dazzling, but in the long run the torrent of words becomes exhausting. Mary Astor seems almost miscast as the femme fatale, but that makes it all the more surprising that she is so far from what she appears to be.