The Maltese Falcon

The Maltese Falcon, said The Sunday Times, is 'The most intresting and imaginative detective film to come out of America, or anywhere else, since the first Thin Man, another Hammett story'. It was John Huston's first film as a director and rightly regarded by many as his best. Dashiell Hammett's novel had been filmed twice before but Huston's tense, exciting, and surperbly characterized script and fast-paced direction demonstrated how to turn an outstanding book into an equally outstanding movie. It confirmed Humphrey Bogart as a major star, giving him one of his finest roles as the tough and laconic private eye Sam Spade who lured into a dangerous and desperate race against villian Sidney Greenstreet in search of the priceless jewel-encrusted statuette that gives the film it's title. Bogart's marverllous portrayal made him the archetypal cinema private detective and, noted The Sunday Times, he 'Is as good as he can be'. The rest of the cast give just as memorable performances-Mary Astor as the ambivalent femme fatale who leads Bogart into danger, Sidney Greenstreet, earning an Oscar nomination for his first film, Peter Lorre, Elisha Cook Jr, Barton Maclane and Lee Patrick while the director's father, actor Walter Huston, makes a splendid unbilled appearance. The combination of the acting, Huston's direction and Oscar nominated screenplay make The Maltese Falcon (which received an Oscar nomination for Best Film) hard to beat for sheer excietment and is, as Monthly Film Bullein noted, 'Brilliantly acted, brilliantly directed'. © Warner Bros Pictures, Inc. Renewed by Untied Artists Television, Inc.