Review of The Maltese Falcon (1941) by Lord N — 09 Mar 2011

I am ashamed that I had not seen this film before now. Well, I have seen it now and here I am reviewing it and here you are reading my review. Isn't that lovely? Well, I have 8 or 9 lists of films to watch and after I watched this film, I crossed it off of most of them. These lists were things like the Best Picture winners and Nominees, The National Film Registry, and most AFI lists. It's that good.

Acting/Characters: As I'm sure you all know, Humphrey Bogart is the star of this one. He certainly steals the show and he does the best out of all of them. Of course, the rest of the cast is fantastic as well, but the star of this one is Bogart. He does a fantastic job as Sam Spade. I can't wait to see him in The Big Sleep. 10/10 from me.

Plot: I like (or in some cases can appreciate) old movies. Having said that, I think that the plot of this one is one of the very best that I have seen. It kept my attention throughout the entire run of the film and there wasn't a minute that I did not enjoy. I never knew where the plot was going next and I loved where it did go. I thought that every part of the plot was amazing. I knew nothing going into this film except that the titular Maltese Falcon holds the record for the most valuable movie prop because it sold at an auction for 34,000 dollars or something like that (Don't quote me on that of course). Knowing nothing is the best way to go into this and I highly enjoyed watching this. 10/10.

Screenplay: Let's just start off by saying that one of the quotes from this film is pretty high up on the AFI's list of top 100 quotes. The rest of the screenplay is just as good particularly the lines delivered by Sam Spade. Excellent screenplay so props to whoever wrote it. 10/10.

Likableness: Like I said,one of the best old movies I have ever seen. I would highly suggest it to anyone that has not seen it. You won't be disappointed. I wasn't. 10/10.

Final Score: 40/40 (P).

TRIVIA TIME: 1. Sam calls Wilmer a 'gunsel' many times throughout the film. Most people who watch the movie assume "gunsel" is just another word for "gun man," and many subsequent novels and films noir have misused the term as such. In reality, When Hammett wrote the novel The Maltese Falcon, he described Wilmer as a "catamite" (a young man in a sexual relationship with an older man). The publisher objected, so Hammett changed it to "gunsel," an obscure bit of street slang with the same meaning. Because so few people were familiar with the term, it snuck past the Breen Office and into the finished film.

2. Word-for-word and scene-for-scene virtually the same as the original novel.

3. Two "Maltese Falcons" were used for the film because Humphrey Bogart dropped the original during shooting. The original falcon is on display in the movie museum at Warner Bros. studios; its tail feathers are visibly dented from Bogey's flub sixty years ago.

4. The revolver used to shoot Miles is correctly identified by Sam as a Webley-Fosbery. All Sam says about it is, "They don't make 'em anymore." Much more than that, it was an experiment to get a handgun to automatically reload and cock itself between shots. We're familiar with a typical semi-automatic pistol with a moving slide, but this was a revolver that used its backward momentum to cock the hammer and rotate the cylinder, readying it for the next pull of the trigger. They are very sought after by collectors.

5. The "Maltese Falcon" itself is said to have been inspired by the "Kniphausen Hawk," a ceremonial pouring vessel made in 1697 for George William von Kniphausen, Count of the Holy Roman Empire. It is modeled after a hawk perched on a rock and is encrusted with red garnets, amethysts, emeralds and blue sapphires. The vessel is currently owned by the Duke of Devonshire and is part of the Chatsworth collection.

6. Gutman and Wilmer are referred to as "Fat Man" and "Little Boy". These inspired the names used for the two atomic bombs dropped on Nagasaki and Hiroshima respectively.

7. Mary Astor was having an affair with John Huston during the making of the film.

8. John Huston recruited Mary Astor to play a prank on his father, Walter, after the elder Huston had filmed his cameo. Astor called up Walter, telling him she was producer Hal Wallis' secretary, and that Wallis thought he'd over-acted during his scene. Huston was enraged, declaring that he'd never been accused of over-acting in his life, but agreed to return the next day to re-shoot the scene. John then took the phone from Astor, identified himself as Wallis, and repeated the criticism. Walter grew even more furious, declaring that he'd already agreed to the re-shoot, and it was only when John exploded in laughter on the other end of the phone that Walter realized his son was playing a prank on him.