Cheap Maltese Falcon (Video) (John Huston) Price

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Customer Reviews of Maltese Falcon

One of the most widely imitated / parodied films of all time!
`The Maltese Falcon', written and directed by the young and upcoming talent, John Huston, is also the first big starring role for Humphrey Bogart and the first appearance on film of Sydney Greenstreet. That also makes this the first appearance of the famous `Casablanca' trio of Bogart, Lorre, and Greenstreet on film. While `Casablanca' may be, hands down, the most widely quoted film in history (It had six (6) quotes out of the 100 most quotable film lines of all times. I think all of the James Bond films together had but two!), `The Maltese Falcon' may be the most widely copied and parodied. The best known parody is probably Rowan and Martin's `The Maltese Bippie' movie. My favorite is the Nick Danger side of the Firesign Theater's second album, `How Can You Be Two Places at Once When You Are Not Anywhere At All'. <
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>The squib on the back of the DVD case claims this is the `best detective drama ever'. I would argue that it is certainly not the best, but it is one of the very best, made to seem better by its innovative style, being at the dawn of that most distinctive American film style, `film noir'. I suspect it launched `film noir' with its very distinctive photographic style where the camera point of view always seems to be below the actors' waist. It always seems as if the camera is looking up at the actors. <
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>By many counts, I think the last great `film noir', `Chinatown' is a much better detective, or at least `private detective' movie than `The Maltese Falcon', as the dual mystery of murder and parenthood is so much more interesting and it is unraveled in a much cleaner way, with few if any awkward scenes which seem to litter `The Maltese Falcon' from the very start, with the wooden scene in which Bogart's movie partner, Miles Archer is murdered by an unseen gunman. <
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>Other artificialities are the easily parodied name changes of Mary Astor's character and the way it is revealed at the very end that she pulled the trigger for the murder of one of the film's several victims. <
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>The other side of the coin is how well the story is constructed on the whole, and the genius behind the character of Sam Spade, which has as much to do with Dashiell Hammett's novel as with Bogart's portrayal. He's the tough guy who doesn't actually carry a gun, is on good terms with the police and other private detectives, and is careful to stay just inside the law, unlike the loose canon anti-heroes of a later time. He is the perfect model for the later Jake Geddes of `Chinatown'. <
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>The story also does well by opening in a very straightforward manner, to become suddenly one great big muddle of questions with the appearance of Peter Lorre's character, Joel Cairo. The plot gets even more interesting when `gunsul' Elijah Cook, Jr. and `the fat man', Sydney Greenstreet show up. Amazingly, this is a story built almost entirely from exposition, primarily from Astor, Lorre, and Greenstreet's characters, about the elusive object of the story, the `black bird' statue. <
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>Oddly, the story's resolution is so much better when it turns out the statue is revealed to be a fake, or at the very least, a simple lead figurine, instead of a disguised jewel encrusted treasure. <
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>`The Maltese Falcon' is a very important movie, but not for its great detective story, but rather for its acting, direction, camera work, and the invention of a major new genre in American film. <
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One of the greatest movies ever, disappointing print
I haven't watched THE MALTESE FALCON in years. Long ago enough to forget many of the particulars while retaining a fairly accurate memory of the plot. Heck, a bunch of clips from this groundbreaking film make it onto those `classic movies' specials, anyway. So, before the latest re-watch I had this one pegged as a solid four - yeah, yeah, great movie, probably over-rated and corny, though; a little arthritic and out-of-date. <
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> Well, color me delighted. THE MALTESE FALCON is still lean, whip-quick and fighting tough. Bogie still won't take a fall for any dame; Mary Astor is still a dame most guys would take a tumble for - just ask Archer - but only a fool would believe; Sydney Greenstreet is still the erudite and eerily bemused arch fiend; Elisha Cook still gets slapped around a lot, and Peter Lorre still soaks his handkerchief in gardenia water. Everyone is still looking for the bird. <
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> Most movie fans have heard of THE MALTESE FALCON, and many have already seen it. That being the case there's not much point in rehashing the plot, or heaping more praise on the fine cast or the superb, propulsive, tight direction of (then) neophyte director John Huston, who herein proves that his eye for character and ear for dialogue was there from the beginning. If you haven't seen this one, and you love movies, it's essential you do so as soon as possible. <
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> The only disappointment I experienced had to do with the quality of the print, which was certainly adequate for most movies, but much too washed out and scratchy - even missing a few feet of film in a non-critical scene - for a film that usually finds its place onto top-100 and top-25 lists. In 99 cases out of 100 adequate is okay with me, but THE MALTESE FALCON is a classic, and it deserved to be washed and de-scratched. A rare treat, a great film that has proudly withstood the test of time. <
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THE STUFF DREAMS ARE MADE OF & AFI'S #23 ......!!!
IN A NUTSHELL: IT IS ALL ABOUT CHARACTER <
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>This is probably the best film noir, detective thriller of all time. It is economically-plotted, fast-paced and bubbling with cinematic chemistry. Sydney Greenstreet made a career for himself with his awesome, supporting-role performance that earned him an Oscar nomination. <
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>WHAT IT IS: [some plot spoilers included in this FAST SYNOPSIS] <
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>The film seems to be about a petty case for a small-time detective agency, Spade & Archer. The detectives get caught up by Mary Astor who goes by a host of aliases, who pays a $200 retainer to Spade and his partner Miles Archer (Jerome Cowan) if they'll protect her from Floyd Thursby. The detectives don't believe or care to believe in Ms. Astor's [Brigid O'Shaughnessy] story, but they believe in her $200. Later that evening, Archer is shot to death while on the job as is Thursby. Who did it and why becomes the reason for Sam Spade to get involved and therein lies the plot of this film. <
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>The next day, Sam Spade [Bogart] is then introduced to and held at gunpoint by Joel Cairo (Peter Lorre) who mentions the "statue of a large bird" to Spade for the first time. Spade slowly discovers that Brigid is not quite the nice girl she pretends to be and that she has been involved in international intrigue over some vague-sounding, medieval treasure. It turns out that Brigid, Cairo and Gutman are all involved in the search for a foot-high, jewel-encrusted statuette in the shape of a falcon. Cairo and Gutman individually offer Spade increasing amounts of cash for delivery of the Maltese Falcon, but they demonstrate that they might just as likely kill him as pay him. Only slowly do we see that Cairo and Gutman are working together. <
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>The climax concerns both the delivery of the bird and the delivery of the ensemble of strange, international criminals into the hands of the police. As an epilogue, Sam Spade tells Ms. O'Shaughnessy about the code of private investigators, mainly that a man is obliged to do something when his partner gets killed. When Bogart says it, it really sticks, even now after 65 years. <
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>In the end, Sam and Brigid take separate paths down to their own Hells. Brigid takes the elevator in police custody and Sam takes the stairs of his accord. <
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>THE CAST - PRODUCTION CREW - AWARDS <
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>Humphrey Bogart - Sam Spade <
>Mary Astor - Brigid O'Shaughnessy <
>Peter Lorre - Joel Cairo <
>Sydney Greenstreet - Kasper Gutman the Fat Man <
>Ward Bond - Detective Tom Polhaus <
>Barton MacLane - Detective Lt. Dundy <
>Gladys George - Iva Archer <
>Lee Patrick - Effie Perine <
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>----- PRODUCTION <
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>John Huston - Director / Screenwriter <
>Dashiell Hammett - Book Author <
>Arthur Edeson - Cinematographer <
>Adolph Deutsch - Composer (Music Score) <
>Leo F. Forbstein - Musical Direction/Supervision <
>Tom Richards - Editor <
>Hal B. Wallis - Production Designer <
>Robert M. Haas - Art Director <
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>----- AWARDS <
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>Best Picture (nom) 1941 Academy <
>Best Screenplay (nom) John Huston 1941 Academy <
>Best Supporting Actor (nom) Sydney Greenstreet 1941 Academy <
>Best Acting (win) Humphrey Bogart 1941 National Board of Review <
>Best Acting (win) Mary Astor 1941 National Board of Review <
>U.S. National Film Registry (win) 1988 Library of Congress <
>100 Greatest American Movies (win) 1998 American Film Institute <
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>ABOUT THE DVD: <
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>This is a less-than-wonderful transfer with some audio glitches, especially in the last part of the film. Video quality was very good, but not up to the standard of the "Criterion" restorations. Nevertheless, this DVD plays at least as well as any of the many video releases of this film. Also, I found it impossible to utilize all the features on the menu as have some other Amazon reviewers. Specifically, the filmography only worked for Bogart but none of the other actors. <
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>The featurette, "Documentary: Becoming Attractions: The Trailers of Humphrey Bogart", were interesting but not specifically relevant to this film as much to Bogart's transition from supporting actor to leading man. <
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>DVD Features: <
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>Available Subtitles: English, French <
>Available Audio Tracks: English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono) <
>Documentary: Becoming Attractions: The Trailers of Humphrey Bogart, a documentary look at Bogart's Warner Bros. career through trailers of his films, hosted by Turner Classic Movies' On-Air Personality Robert Osborne <
>2 Theatrical Trailers <
>A History of Mystery Essay <
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>BOTTOM LINE: A CRUCIBLE OF TEMPTATION AND CHARACTER - A POTENT DUO <
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>Yes, it is all about character. Cairo and Gutman offer increasing amounts of cold, hard cash while femme fatale Brigid, offers hot, soft love, and more love to tempt Spade, but in exchange for WHAT? HIS SOUL PERHAPS?! In any event, tempt this cheap detective as they may, he isn't joining in and their numbers are all up -- literally because of Spade's character, which stands up to several kinds of severe temptation. This gem is thought by many to be the greatest detective mystery of all time and the first real film noir.