Warner Home Video
Region : 2
Format : Black & White; 1.33:1 regular
Sound : Dolby Mono English ; Italian
Length : 97mins
Extras : Trailer; 'Becoming Attractions: The trailers of Humphrey Bogat
Humphrey Bogart....Samuel 'Sam' Spade
Mary Astor....Brigid O'Shaughnessy/Miss Wonderly/Miss LeBlanc
Gladys George....Iva Archer
Peter Lorre....Joel Cairo
Barton MacLane....Detective Lieutenant Dundy
Lee Patrick....Effie Perine
Sydney Greenstreet....Kasper Gutman
Ward Bond....Detective Sergeant Tom Polhaus
Jerome Cowan....Miles Archer
Elisha Cook Jr.....Wilmer Cook
James Burke....Luke, House Detective Hotel Belvedere
Murray Alper....Frank Richman, Driver
John Hamilton....District Attorney Bryan
Charles Drake....Reporter (uncredited)
Chester Gan....Bit Part (uncredited)
Creighton Hale....Stenographer (uncredited)
Robert Homans....Policeman (uncredited)
William Hopper....Reporter (uncredited)
Walter Huston....Captain Jacobi (uncredited)
Hank Mann....Reporter (uncredited)
Jack Mower....Announcer (uncredited)
Emory Parnell....Ship's Mate (uncredited)
Directed by…John Huston
Writing credits
Dashiell Hammett (novel) John
Huston (screenplay)
Henry Blanke....associate producer
Hal B. Wallis....executive producer
Original Music by…Adolph Deutsch
Cinematography by…Arthur Edeson
Film Editing by…Thomas Richards
Art Direction by…Robert M. Haas (as Robert Haas)
Costume Design by…Orry-Kelly
Perc Westmore....makeup artist
Frank McCoy....makeup artist (uncredited)
Al Alleborn....unit manager (uncredited)
Claude Archer....assistant director (uncredited)
Oliver S. Garretson....sound
Leo F. Forbstein....musical director
Robert Foulk....dialogue director
Meta Carpenter....script supervisor (uncredited)
Arthur Lange....orchestrator (uncredited)
Film, like a lot of art is a very personnel thing, one
persons masterpiece is the next persons load of … For me ‘The Maltese Falcon’ is the best private-eye story
ever filmed.
Dashiell Hammett's story of double-dealing and double crosses in the search for
the ‘black bird’ had been brought to the screen twice before, (in 1931 as
‘The Maltese Falcon’ and in 1936 as ‘Satan Met a Lady’), and was the
directorial debut of John Huston, who had been a writer with Warner Bros., and
was to go on to become one of the great American directors. The film is also memorable for the first Starring role
by Humphrey Bogart; the first screen appearance of Sydney Greenstreet; and
thereby the first pairing of
Greenstreet and Peter Lorre.
All great films have to combine great acting, script and directing – John
Huston did the script himself and the supporting cast were so good together that
many of them were invited back to co-star in later Bogart films. Mary Astor
plays Brigid O'Shaughnessy (or is it Wonderly, or Leblanc?), whose lies seem to
mystify even her. Peter Lorre is Joel Cairo, the weaselly, effeminate little
crook, who would sell his mother for the right price. Sydney Greenstreet is the
fat man, Kasper Gutman, the urbane heavy (really heavy) imitated in about 200
movies since. Elisha Cook, Jr., plays the young-punk, whose felt hat and twin
automatics are bigger than he is. Ward Bond and Barton MacLane are the cops,
Jerome Cowan plays Spade's partner, the dandy Miles Archer. Gladys George plays
Archer's wife, Lee Patrick is Effie Perine, Spade's ever-loyal secretary and
assistant and even the director's father, actor Walter Huston, shows up in an
unbilled bit part as Jacobi, a steamer captain, shot and still clutching the
falcon in his dying grasp.
The object of all the mischief is (supposedly) a fabulous, jewel-encrusted
statuette of a falcon that has had people cheating, stealing, and killing for
over 400 years. Now, a new group of are after it, and their trail has led them
to San Francisco and the investigative agency of Spade and Archer. Trust no one
should be the byword of everyone in the story and the caution to anyone who
watches the film. Lies, treachery, deceit, and murder are the order of the day
as nearly all the characters in the film try to stab one another in the back in
their greed for the bird.
As hard-boiled detective Sam Spade, Bogart is the quintessential antihero. He is
a loner with no particularly noble ambitions or romanticized notions. When his
partner is murdered, he shrugs it off as part of the job. Everyone knows the
risks. When it comes to love and women, he is equally pragmatic.
The dialogue in Huston's screenplay was taken almost verbatim from the novel –
and the direction is assured and skilful so that viewers seldom notice the
complexity of the set-ups or the length of some of the shots. (One shot in the
hotel – going from room to room – is over 7 minutes). Some critics would tell you that Huston and ‘The Maltese
Falcon’ created the film noir style so favoured by crime films of the later
forties and fifties, that’s hardly true, but the film did more than any
previous film to popularise the style, with the film’s city setting,
frequently photographed at night, its murky shadows, and its grim, derisive
attitude toward people and their motivations all influencing our perceptions of
the story. The film's vitality and pacing do not permit
pondering the consequences of any one scene or action. Instead, we're
caught up in the pace of the film, pretty much swept along by its deeds, not
even particularly saddened or surprised by the down beat ending.
Warner Bros. appear to have used the best copy of the film they could find to
transfer to DVD and while it is excellent, it is not without its minor flaws. In
general, the black-and-white contrasts are strong, the black tones, especially,
almost always deep and solid. But there are occasional flecks and tiny
intermittent scratches, and periodic secondary fading that remind us that this
is not an absolutely pristine, digitally restored print. But why quibble. The
picture quality is first-rate.
The Dolby Digital mono sound is also quite good for its age, coming up as well
as could be expected. The dialogue is rendered crisply, and the background
music, naturally restricted in frequency and dynamics, is nonetheless clear and
persuasive.
The Region 2 extras are different from Region 1 – here all we have are a
trailer and the documentary ‘Becoming Attractions: The Trailers of Humphrey
Bogart’ which was made for the American Movie Classics channel. This is a look
at the career of Humphrey Bogart as seen through the trailers for his films,
showing the various ways his studio marketed him. It’s an interesting idea,
particularly for the film student.
On Region 1 there are a couple of other bits and pieces about private-eye films.
An indication of the enduring appeal of ‘The Maltese Falcon’ is the number
of parodies there have been, films such as ‘The Cheap Detective’, ‘The
Black Bird’ and ‘Murder By
Death’ are just a few that come to mind.
For those who like films with great acting, dialogue and direction you will have
to have this classic in your collection.
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