The Maltese Falcon

Patrick Willems4.0

Gotta love Sydney Greenstreet and Peter Lorre, a wacky duo bumbling around the world for decades, killing random people because they want a dumb bird really bad

eely3.5

there’s a scene where humphrey bogart rolls, lights, and takes a drag off a cigarette and then gets held at gunpoint, disarms the man holding him at gunpoint, punches him in the face hard enough to knock him out cold, and then goes through all of his belongings all while the cigarette is perfectly balanced between his teeth, and that my friends is what i call talent

Rida5.0

Here's what I love about film noir: nobody gets to be an angel. No sentimentality, no melodrama, just tough characters who quip their way in and out of unsavory situations. Needless to say, The Maltese Falcon ticks every box on my list. And it isn't just a film noir; it's the first major film to be recognized as such, and therefore one of the most influential films in the genre. And boy, does it live up to expectations.Being both a cinephile and a bibliophile, I felt obliged to read the The Maltese Falcon before watching the film adaptation. Dashiell Hammett's novel was a perfect candidate for the big screen: minute descriptions, unique characters, and colorful dialogue that was just waiting to be brought to life by a Bogart or a Greenstreet. It's pleasantly surprising to realize just how faithful John Huston was to the book, from the intricate plot to the snappy dialogue.As a novel, The Maltese Falcon was compelling; as a film, it becomes even more enjoyable. The richness of the cinematography, the smooth unfolding of the plot, and the actors playing unfailingly slippery characters all make The Maltese Falcon one of the best film noirs I've ever seen.Huston astutely recognized that the complex plot was second tier to the inscrutable characters in the story; the falcon statuette represents nothing but the stuff that dreams are made of. It's something all the characters desperately want, but what's more interesting to viewers is not why or how they go about it, but how they deal with each other in the process of doing so.The Maltese Falcon is filled to the brim with iconic characters. There's the effeminate, dithering Joel Cairo, played to perfection by Peter Lorre at his most adorable. Mary Astor does wonderfully, too, though she is often overshadowed by the rest of the cast on account of the fact that her character wasn't endowed with any odd quirks. Sydney Greenstreet steals every scene he's in, making it hard to believe that it's his first film role, as he seems supremely comfortable in front of the camera.And then there's Humphrey Bogart, looking rather like a long-faced Al Pacino. He's an outsider looking in, able to spot phonies even when he's attracted to them. He slips in and out of the clutches of various untrustworthy characters with apparent ease. He's the cleverest of them all because he's never victim to his emotions. He's thoroughly nasty all right, and often heartless, but he may be so hard because he has suffered a deep wound, one that compels him to rid himself of any and all sentimentality on his part.That, of course, is what film noir is all about: hardened men of the night, clever dames, and memorable supporting characters all caught up in their pursuit of the American dream, only to find out that the dream isn't quite what they wanted after all. And Bogart was the perfect antihero, with his sudden, childlike smile and his air of unflappable cool.The Maltese Falcon contains multiple performances of such brilliance that they remain the most memorable aspect of the film, but those aren't its only plus points; it's well worth watching just for the pristine cinematography and the snappy dialogue. The Maltese Falcon is the perfect treat for anyone who loves film noir: slick, stylish, and understated. It's perfect, goddammit, and I loved every minute of it.