Oh, Bogie. The ultimate film noir in my opinion, 1941's Best Picture-nominated "The Maltese Falcon" is the quintessential fast-talking, quick-movie 1940s detective movie that has quotes like the gem "When you're slapped, you'll take it and like it!" Genius.The story is relatively straightforward, but goes deep into the heart of human greed and people's willingness to lie to get ahead. Basically, a falcon statuette was forged in 1539 and bejeweled with priceless stones. Over 400 years later, the search is still on for the maltese falcon. This is what brings the four main eccentric characters together.
There's Bogie, who plays Sam Spade, the typical tough-talking private eye. Then there's her love interest (?) Brigid O'Shaughnessy, who has an incurable dishonesty when it comes to ... well, everything. And who could forget the creepy Peter Lorre as the effeminate and obviously emotionally scarred Joel Cairo. He gave me nightmares. And finally is a man that is first introduced to us as "the Fat Man." His actually name is Kasper Gutman, and Sydney Greenstreet brings him to (larger than) life and gives him all of the personality the character exhibits.
The movie really has it all -- more melodrama than you'd ever need, intrigue that leaves you hanging after each and every scene, and more than a few laugh-out-loud moments when Sam Spade shows his true, frustratedly cynical colors.
The film was made at a very low budget, and you can tell -- but I don't mean that in a negative way. The film is simple, the special effects are minimal, and there is more detail placed on the story and the development of the multi-layered characters. It is a beautiful directorial debut for John Huston, who would go down in cinema history as one of the most respected filmmakers ever.
The over-sized villains, the beautifully weird crooks, the ultimate femme fatale, and the gruffy hero no one wants to admire all make "The Maltese Falcon" a joy to watch again and again.
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