Everyone’s looking for it and they’ll do anything to get it! The Maltese Falcon, that is. It’s not just the opulent treasure in the mind’s eye of every San Francisco low-life, it’s also one of the first shining examples of Hollywood noir, a stunningly confident directing debut for John Huston, and a sordid melodrama which transformed Humphrey Bogart from B-movie sideman to star romantic lead. Mary Astor co-stars as the hot-blooded but inscrutable femme fatale who drags hard-boiled private eye Sam Spade (Bogart) into the hunt for the Falcon. Peter Lorre and Sydney Greenstreet (in his Academy Award-nominated film debut!) round out the conspiratorial cast as dandy-gangsters with twisted loyalties. The paradigm for film noir to come, this loaded, sordid mystery gets right to the tragic truth about love and crime: “It’s the stuff that dreams are made of.”
“Mr. Huston gives promise of becoming one of the smartest directors in the field.” – Bosley Crowther, The New York Times
“One of the best examples of actionful and suspenseful melodramatic story telling in cinematic form. Unfolding a most intriguing and entertaining murder mystery, [The Maltese Falcon] displays outstanding excellence in writing, direction, acting and editing – combining in overall as a prize package of entertainment” – Variety
Ariel Schudson discusses The Maltese Falcon on the New Beverly blog.
