Review of The Maltese Falcon (1941) by Brad B — 08 Dec 2009
John Huston's directorial debut and what a debut. In one sweep he created an entire new genre of movie character! The hardbitten tough guy private eye. This is the prototype on which every detective since in both movies and television is based. This is the beginning.
This is a fun movie and holds up very well even in today's movie world, although the younger generation may not be able to handle the black and white its still very very watchable.
Hollywood before this movie had made other P.I. movies, in fact this is the third time out for this particular story, however they were never done well enough to really establish this type of a character and story as a genre unto itself until Huston took this crack at it.Meticulous casting all the way around from Bogart right through Greenstreet, Lorre and Astor make this film crackle!
If you are a fan of P.I. movies and haven't seen it then you owe it to yourself to screen this one cause this is where the private detective as a romantic hero and film category of it's own began!!!!
The photography, atmosphere and dialogue are flawless. A definite classic for anyone that considers themselves a collector!
This review of The Maltese Falcon (1941) was written by Brad B on 08 Dec 2009.
The Maltese Falcon has generally received very positive reviews.
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