Review of The Maltese Falcon (1941) by Jeff L — 04 Nov 2010

Having just watched the film again, I think I can give you a pretty clear reason as to why I love it so much. This film is so rich in character and so fluid in its dialogue that even in the moments when you're scratching your head and trying to make heads or tails of what is going on with the plot, the film still manages to grip you and keep you enthralled.

That's the mark of a great director and a great film. Very few films achieve this distinction quite as much as the Maltese Falcon. On top of the already excellent movie. there is a great historical significance to the Maltese Falcon as well.

It was the first film to be directed by John Huston, who would go on to be one of the greatest Hollywood directors of all time. It was also the film that launched Sydney Greenstreet's career. It was one of the principle films in creating the genre of film noir.

Perhaps most importantly though, it took Humphrey Bogart from being a second rate gangster movie actor to being an A-List celebrity who would go on to be the most popular star of his era. Perhaps for these reasons alone this film should be commended, but that's not even the beginning.

Bogart plays the character of Sam Spade from the works of Dashiell Hammett. His perfomance set the standard for the genre for years to come, he plays a cold hearted PI that always has an answer for a problem and lets very few things bother him.

This sets the tone for the entire film.The plot would be very hard to describe, as it goes through so many twists that you'll be wondering if this is an M. Night Shaymalan film. But that's the beauty of this film, it's about character and more importantly dialogue.

That's all this film is literally. If you're an action junkie and cannot stand a film to not have a car chase in it, then I can't recommend this film to you. However if you're a patient person with a penchant for snappy dialogue, then this film has some of the most quick-witted that you'll ever see.

And who can of-course forget about the infamous "The stuff that dreams are made of" line. While this film is not quite as quotable as Casablanca, it certainly serves up that same rich acting and dialogue, and then some.

John Huston went from being a writer to directing this film, and for a first try I have to say that this is one of the greatest directorial debuts I have ever seen. You would have thought that he was directing for years by the way that he handles the material so smoothly.

Everything is tight and interesting in a way that it never gets boring. This film is loaded with rich cinematography and lighting. It fills you with that sense of foreboding, everything is so dark and ominous that you feel something could come around the corner at anytime.

That's true talent and from this film you could tell that Huston was going on to greatness.I am going to finish this review because I feel I am starting to ramble. I'll just say this, from a film that is supposedly the very first film noir, I have to this day seen only one better film noir in my life.

Watch this film now, it comes at my highest recommendation.