The Maltese Falcon (1941) | |
| Director(s) | John Huston |
| Producer(s) | Henry Blanke (associate), Hal B. Wallis (executive) |
| Top Genres | Crime, Film Adaptation, Film Noir, Mystery |
| Top Topics | Book-Based, Detectives, San Francisco |
Featured Cast:
The Maltese Falcon Overview:
The Maltese Falcon (1941) was a Crime - Film Noir Film directed by John Huston and produced by Hal B. Wallis and Henry Blanke.
The film was based on the novel of the same name and also Black Mask Magazine Serial written by Dashiell Hammett published in 1930 (novel); year n/a (magazine).
SYNOPSIS
One of the most popular crime films of all time has Bogart playing Hammett's private detective Sam Spade as he sleuths the backyard of San Francisco in search of an elusive black bird statuette and crosses wits with Astor's treacherous Brigid O'Shaughnessy and fat man Kaspar Gutman (Greenstreet). Memorable supporting performances by Lorre and Cook, Jr., playing two of the quirkiest villains of the 40's, only add to the unsettling atmosphere of this cynical parable of greed and deceit. After a brief career as screenwriter, this was Huston's directorial debut, and launched a career that spanned nearly half a century. Based on the Hammett novel that was previously filmed in 1931 as Dangerous Female, in 1936 as Satan Met a Lady starring Bette Davis, and redone in 1975 as The Black Bird.
(Source: available at Amazon AMC Classic Movie Companion).
.The Maltese Falcon was inducted into the National Film Registry in 1989.
Academy Awards 1941 --- Ceremony Number 14 (source: AMPAS)
| Award | Recipient | Result |
| Best Supporting Actor | Sydney Greenstreet | Nominated |
| Best Picture | Warner Bros. | Nominated |
| Best Writing | John Huston | Nominated |
BlogHub Articles:
The Maltese Falcon (1931, Roy Del Ruth)
By Andrew Wickliffe on Mar 28, 2019 From The Stop ButtonNot to be too obvious, but I really wasn?t expecting a twist ending for The Maltese Falcon. But only because I?ve? read the book, seen the 1941 version, seen spoofs of it; I sort of figured I?d be able to guess the plot turns. And I did, right up until the end, when Falcon shows its been doing an en... Read full article
The Maltese Falcon (1931, Roy Del Ruth)
By Andrew Wickliffe on Mar 28, 2019 From The Stop ButtonNot to be too obvious, but I really wasn?t expecting a twist ending for The Maltese Falcon. But only because I?ve? read the book, seen the 1941 version, seen spoofs of it; I sort of figured I?d be able to guess the plot turns. And I did, right up until the end, when Falcon shows its been doing an en... Read full article
The Maltese Falcon (1931, Roy Del Ruth)
on Mar 28, 2019 From The Stop ButtonNot to be too obvious, but I really wasn?t expecting a twist ending for The Maltese Falcon. But only because I?ve? read the book, seen the 1941 version, seen spoofs of it; I sort of figured I?d be able to guess the plot turns. And I did, right up until the end, when Falcon shows its been doing an en... Read full article
The Maltese Falcon (1931, Roy Del Ruth)
on Mar 28, 2019 From The Stop ButtonNot to be too obvious, but I really wasn?t expecting a twist ending for The Maltese Falcon. But only because I?ve? read the book, seen the 1941 version, seen spoofs of it; I sort of figured I?d be able to guess the plot turns. And I did, right up until the end, when Falcon shows its been doing an en... Read full article
Review: The Maltese Falcon (1941)
By 4 Star Film Fan on Nov 2, 2016 From 4 Star FilmsDashiell Hammet’s “blonde satan” Sam Spade is an icon of not only 20th-century literature?but also 20th-century cinema, thanks in part to Humphrey ?Bogart and John Huston.?He’s the cynical, hard-nosed, unsentimental P.I. whose general unpredictability sometimes leads to angry... Read full article
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Quotes from
Sam Spade: If you kill me, how are you going get the bird? And if I know you can't afford to kill me, how are you going to scare me into giving it to you?
Kasper Gutman: Well, sir, there are other means of persuasion besides killing and threatening to kill.
Sam Spade: Yes, that's... That's true. But, there're none of them any good unless the threat of death is behind them. You see what I mean? If you start something, I'll make it a matter of your having to kill me or call it off.
Kasper Gutman: That's an attitude, sir, that calls for the most delicate judgment on both sides. Because, as you know, sir, in the heat of action men are likely to forget where their best interests lie and let their emotions carry them away.
Sam Spade: Then the trick from my angle is to make my play strong enough to tie you up, but not make you mad enough to bump me off against your better judgment.
Kasper Gutman: By gad, sir, you are a character.
Bryan: Who killed Thursby?
Sam Spade: I don't know.
Bryan: Perhaps you don't, but you could make an excellent guess.
Sam Spade: My guess might be excellent or it might be crummy, but Mrs. Spade didn't raise any children dippy enough to make guesses in front of a district attorney, and an assistant district attorney and a stenographer.
Bryan: Why shouldn't you, if you have nothing to conceal?
Sam Spade: Everybody has something to conceal.
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Facts about
John Huston hated the first two attempts to film "The Maltese Falcon". He felt particularly strongly about the fact that the studio had imposed a happy ending on the previous two examples.
"The Screen Guild Theater" broadcast a 30 minute radio adaptation of the movie on May 18, 1950 with Humphrey Bogart reprising his film role with his wife Lauren Bacall who was not in the original film.
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