John Huston had been in Hollywood for several years now. He had been regarded as only Walter Huston's son, Walter being a succesful actor. Only now in 1941 had John been making any real imapct in his career. As fate had it, Humphery Bogart was cast in "High Sierra", a film drected by Raoul Walsh and written by Huston. Spured on by it's great popular and critical succes, Warner Bros. , the studio Huston was docked to, gave him the chance to write and direct his own films. Having great respect for the litereary work of Dashiell Hammett, Huston tackled what was widely regarded as Hammett's masterwork; "The Maltese Falcon".

Filmed twice, in 1931 as "Dangerous Lady" & in 1936 as a screwball comedy called, "Satan Met A Lady", Hammett's work had been fouled up twice on the screen. Under the hands of John Huston however, the book was faithfully adapted and masterfully crafted.

"The Maltese Falcon" is the tale of a shopworn private detective named Samuel Spade. When his partner is murdered on the job, he is dragged into not only a possible murder cahrge but into the realm of several individuals, each bent on attaining the possetion of a jew-encrusted falcon worth millions.

Huston was to have George Raft cast as Spade, but Raft declined, worried about having his carrer handed to a rookie director. Humphery Bogart was then cast as Spade. hose familiar with Bogart's life will know that he had seen his breakthrough role in "High Sierra", much like Huston. The stage was being set for one of the screens finest hours.

Huston's direction is fluid. In a year where Orson Welles was busy accross town filming "Citizen Kane" creating beautiful work along with Gregg Toland and reinventing modern cinema in general, Huston was busy on the Warners lot working not only with his actors but perfecting his technical craft with partner Arthur Edson. Edson filmed works like, "All Quiet on the Western Front" and would go on to work on such feats as, "Casablanca". His touch is distinctive. This isn't a glamorously shot film. It's dark, moody, with hints of elegance here and there but for the most part real.
The cemara movement and direction become fluid, natural. It's moodyness is perhaps most derived from German Expresionisim. Regardless, this will lay an indelable mark on the film enhancing it.

This is also a well paced film. It knows it's purpose, never dwells on anythiing to long and moves at a great speed and in fact enhances the book eliminating minor episodes and tightening the whole work up. Of course the script still is a testament to the greatness of Hammett's work, with alomst all the diolouge intact and most everything that made the book great present.

The actors themselves however are what really make this film great. IN a film about a treasure hunt, it's not the treasure we care about . It's the people, dispicable as they might be. They are intriguing from Casper Gutman ( Sidney Greenstreet, The Mask of Dimitros), the fat man of the world serching for the falcon for ages; or Joel Cairo (Peter Lorre, M), the feminine and perhaps homosexual hunter of the same treasure or the femme fetale, Brigid O'Shaunessey played by the underrated actress Mary Astor. O'Shaunessey is willing to do anything for the fortune, perhaps even murder and seduction. She is a master manipulator; apperantly warm and loving and yet really just a black widow. She would become the archetype for all femme fetals to come.

But the key to the film has been and remains Bogart. I've comented and written about his presence and acting ability and the more I think of it, the more I say that this is his greatest role. He inhabbits Spade wonderfully potraying Spade's engimatic personality perfect . He understands Spade, get to the center of his cold hardness, hardboiled state, his strange code of morals and honor and makes you sense that Spade was one like all of us with hopes and dreams now forced to retreat to a shell to take on a dark world of people willing to put their lives ahead of a falcon. The lynchpin of the film, he makes Spade a simpathetic charecter and one that enders him in our hearts.

Released in 1941, this was the first of Bogart's many trademark works. It was a critical and public hit that would define the Boagart persona for years to come. It would set him up for works like, "Casablanca" and "The Caine Mutiny". But it did more than that. It introduced to the world the genius of John Huston who would become a figure in American film to be reckoned with. What's more, it also marks the birth of film noir. Inspired by Hammett, Chandler and others, this wave of films would be christened as such by the French and would leave an indelable mark on our landscape. It leads the way to darker films about darker, truer subjects. It's a primary source of the French New Wave. Hints ofit are still seen to this day, from the direction, to the femme fetales to the cynical detective.

Indeed, to use a cliche improvised by Bogart while in front of the camera, "The Maltese Falcon" is indeed, "the stuff that dreams are made of."

I love this movie. But, there is one thing I could never understand. Why get rid of the statue at the end? The should've broken it open, there was probably candy inside of it! :p

Had to do it.