The Maltese Falcon – Review

Moody credits featuring a literal falcon statue and music of the era sets the stage for the written opening narrative: A golden jeweled falcon made as tribute for King Charles V in 1539, sent by the Knight Templars, yet seized by pirates and mysteriously disappeared… will it ever be seen again? Surely not.

San Francisco: ‘Spade and Archer’ is written on the office window of a small PI office featuring Sam Spade (Bogart) chilling at his desk. He conveniently has a knockout hottie waiting to see him, Ms. Ruth Wonderly (Astor). She got his name from her hotel as a reliable PI, and is from New York but is in town looking for her sister. Ruth thinks she has run away with a man she barely knows, a Mr. Floyd Thursby. She is desperate to find her sister and get her away and back to her family out east.

Wonderly has had zero luck despite sending letters and searching the city. In walks Miles Archer (Cowan), who gets a recap of the situation and hears please from Ruth about what a dangerous man this Thursby is. He just gives the impression of a violent person. Sam and Miles agree to help, and come up with a plan. Wonderly pays the smiling men some cash and tells them she will meet Thursby in the hotel lobby later so they can follow him after.

An interesting set-up, and things may not all be as they seem. Suddenly a gunshot changes everything, and the plot is rushed into tension, paranoia and crime. More characters and plot twists are introduced, and it becomes harder to tell who is playing who and what is really going on.

It may be an aging film, but The Maltese Falcon remains a total classic. It stands the test of time as an entirely watchable noir crime story. The quick runtime keeps the plot clicking along. It is clearly a period piece, but the expert actors and interesting plot add up to a winning film. The dialogue is good and does not come across as hammy, and the mystery remains solid.

This is actually a remake of a 1931 film; however, I have not seen it, nor read the book each were based on.