Review of The Maltese Falcon (1941) by Macdara C — 02 Aug 2010

Like many classic films, The Maltese Falcon just can't be as impressive now as it was when it was released. The main reason, however, is not that the film aged badly; rather that almost every aspect of it was copied, homaged and parodied so many times since, that it may appear as a a cliche, when in fact it's the original. For good reason it's often known as the original Film Noir - not counting early proto-examples like M - as it defined almost every rule of the genre (not including, surprisingly enough, first-person narration) so well, that less than a decade later it was easy for directors like Carol Reed, Orson Welles and Billy Wilder to deconstruct them effectively, making The Maltese Falcon look like a too simplistic take on a genre only a few years after it was made.

But it stands quite well on its own merit, better in fact than many other thrillers of its time, thanks largely to the gorgeous black & white cinematography, and thanks to the excellent performances from the entire cast bust especially Humphrey Bogart and Sydney Greenstreet, who are incredibly realistic and convincing compared to what was the norm in American cinema at the time. While it doesn't quite stand the test of time as the masterpiece it's often named as, it does so as a very solid thriller.