The Maltese Falcon Details

"There's only one Maltese Falcon."

Prior to 1941, Humphrey Bogart had been typecast as the 'gangster' or 'villain', but when his performance in "High Sierra" catapulted him into stardom, the studio need to invent him as a more sympathetic tough guy, a flawed hero -- and that is exactly what the "Maltese Falcon" was intended to do.

But as it turned out, the film was also the first chapter in the great genre of 1940's film noir -- an appealing thriller with complex, interesting characters and a plot that ... well, even director John Huston couldn't make sense of it. The opening scene sets the ultimate cliché, opening with the world-weary private detective sitting in his office, when a gorgeous femme fatale enters asking for his help. After Sam Spade's partner is murdered, he is drawn into a complex plot centred on a priceless artefact known as the Maltese Falcon.

The supporting cast area also terrific. In Peter Lorre's performance as the sneaky, conniving Joel Cairo you can see where Andy Serkis may have taken his inspiration for his portrayal of Gollum in "Lord of the Rings". Along with Sydney Greenstreet and Bogart, he formed a team who made several more films together, attempting to relive the success of this one. In fact, the following Bogart film "Across the Pacific" was practically marketed as a sequel even though it was a completely unrelated war movie.

The star would of course go on to even greater things, but this film is where his career really started.

Hard-drinking private eye Sam Spade sleuths the backyard of San Francisco in search of an elusive black bird statuette while evading the setups of three disparate miscreants: the duplicitous Brigid, the perfumed Mr. Cairo, and the scheming Fat Man. Huston's brilliant directorial debut is aided by first-rate performances, excellent camera work, as well as the director's acute attention to detail while shooting the film.