The film premiered in New York City on 3 October 1941, and was an immediate success, eventually becoming one of the first 25 films selected by the Library of Congress to be included in the National Film Registry as "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".[7][8]
Plot
"In 1539 the Knight Templars[sic] of Malta, paid tribute to Charles V of Spain, by sending him a Golden Falcon encrusted from beak to claw with rarest jewels—but pirates seized the galley carrying this priceless token and the fate of the Maltese Falcon remains a mystery to this day."
—Introductory text appearing after the film's opening credits[9]
In San Francisco, private investigatorsSam Spade and Miles Archer meet prospective client Ruth Wonderly. She claims to be looking for her missing sister, who ran off from their home in New York and came to the city with a man named Floyd Thursby. Archer agrees to help get her sister back. However, later that night, the police inform Spade that Archer has been killed. Spade tries calling his client at her hotel to discover she has checked out. Back at his apartment, he is grilled by Police Detective Tom Polhaus and Lieutenant Dundy, who tell him that Thursby was murdered the same evening. Dundy suggests that Spade had the opportunity and motive to kill Thursby, who likely killed Archer.
Later that morning, Spade meets Wonderly, now calling herself Brigid O'Shaughnessy, who confesses that her story was made up. However, she convinces Spade to investigate the murders and also reveals that Thursby was her partner. He took advantage of her and probably killed Archer, but she claims to have no idea who killed Thursby. At his office, Spade meets Joel Cairo, who first offers him $5,000 to find a "black figure of a bird". When Spade is skeptical, Cairo pulls a gun on him and searches the room for it. Spade knocks Cairo out and goes through his belongings. When Cairo comes round, he hires Spade.
Gutman and Cairo meet with Spade.
Spade confronts O'Shaughnessy.
On his way to visit O'Shaughnessy later that evening, Spade is followed by a young man but manages to evade him. When he tells O'Shaughnessy about Cairo, her nervousness indicates she knows him. He arranges a meeting between the two at his apartment, where Cairo becomes agitated when O'Shaughnessy reveals that the "Fat Man" is in San Francisco. When Spade goes to Cairo's hotel in the morning, he spots Wilmer Cook, the young man who trailed him earlier. Wilmer works for Kasper Gutman, the "Fat Man". In his hotel suite, Gutman relates the history of the Maltese Falcon, then offers Spade his pick of $25,000 for the bird and another $25,000 after its sale, or a quarter of the proceeds from its sale.
Spade passes out because his drink is spiked. Wilmer and Cairo come in from another room and leave with Gutman. On coming round, Spade searches the suite and finds a newspaper with the arrival time of the freighter La Paloma circled. He goes to the dock, only to find the ship on fire. Later, the ship's captain Jacoby is shot several times and staggers into Spade's office before dying. The bundle he was clutching contains the Maltese Falcon. O'Shaughnessy calls the office, gives an address, then screams before the line goes dead.
Spade stashes the package at the bus terminal, then goes to the address, which turns out to be an empty lot. Spade returns home to discover O'Shaughnessy hiding in a doorway. He takes her inside and finds Gutman, Cairo, and Wilmer waiting for him, guns drawn. Gutman gives Spade $10,000 for the Falcon, but Spade tells them that part of his price is someone he can turn over to the police for the murders of Thursby and Captain Jacoby, suggesting Wilmer. After some intense negotiation, Gutman and Cairo agree and Wilmer is knocked out and disarmed.
Just after dawn, Spade calls his secretary, Effie Perine, to bring him the bundle. However, when Gutman inspects the statuette, he finds it is a fake and Wilmer escapes during the tumult. Recovering his composure, Gutman invites Cairo to return with him to Istanbul to continue their quest. After they leave, Spade calls the police and tells them where to pick up the pair. Spade then angrily confronts O'Shaughnessy, telling her he knows she killed Archer to implicate Thursby, her unwanted accomplice. She confesses, but begs Spade not to turn her over to the police. Despite his feelings for her, Spade gives O'Shaughnessy up, then submits the statuette as evidence, describing it as "the stuff that dreams are made of".
Cast
A promotional still showing O'Shaughnessy and Cairo clashing in front of the police
Hammett had once worked as a private detective for the Pinkerton Detective Agency in San Francisco, and he used his birth name "Samuel" for the story's protagonist. He wrote of the book's main character in 1934:
Spade has no original. He is a dream man in the sense that he is what most of the private detectives I worked with would like to have been, and, in their cockier moments, thought they approached.
Other characters in The Maltese Falcon were based on people whom he met or worked with during that time.[10] The character of sinister "Fat Man" Kasper Gutman was based on Maundy Gregory, an overweight British detective-entrepreneur who was involved in many sophisticated endeavors and capers, including a search for a long-lost treasure like the jeweled Falcon.[11] The character of Joel Cairo was based on a criminal whom Hammett arrested for forgery in Pasco, Washington, in 1920.[10]
The novel was serialized in five parts in Black Mask during 1929 and 1930 before being published in book form in 1930 by Alfred A. Knopf. Warner Bros. quickly bought the film rights of the novel, and made an adaptation the following year starring Ricardo Cortez and Bebe Daniels. The film closely followed the novel, including its references to homosexuality and a scene of Spade strip-searching Wonderly for a missing $1,000 bill. These topics made the film unscreenable a few years later under the Motion Picture Production Code, who refused to grant the studio a certificate when they tried to re-release it in 1935. The studio remade the story as the more Code-friendly Satan Met a Lady starring Bette Davis and Warren William. The film changed much of the novel's elements and became a comedy.[12][13] However, it was panned by critics and audiences alike, including Davis, who referred to it as "junk."
Pre-production
During his preparation for The Maltese Falcon, his directorial debut, John Huston planned each second of the film to the last detail, tailoring the screenplay with instructions to himself for a shot-for-shot setup, with sketches for every scene, so filming could proceed fluently and professionally.[14] Huston was adamant the film be methodically planned, thus ensuring the production maintained a tight schedule within their budget. It was shot quickly and completed for less than $400,000.[15]
Such was the extent and efficacy of Huston's preparation of the script that almost no line of dialogue was eliminated in the final edit.[16] Except for some exterior night shots, Huston shot the entire film in sequence,[17] which greatly helped his actors. Much of the dialogue from the original novel was retained. The only major section of the novel missing in the film is the story of a man named "Flitcraft", which Spade tells to Brigid while waiting in his apartment for Cairo to arrive.[18]
Huston removed all references to sex that the Hays Office had deemed to be unacceptable. He was also warned not to show excessive drinking. The director fought the latter, on the grounds that Spade was a man who put away a half bottle of hard liquor a day and showing him completely abstaining from alcohol would mean seriously falsifying his character.[11]
Bogart was not the first choice to play Sam Spade; the role was originally offered to George Raft. Raft rejected the role because he did not want to work with an inexperienced director, and had a stipulation in his contract from making remakes.[1] Huston was grateful that Bogart had quickly accepted the role and the film helped consolidate their lifelong friendship and set the stage for collaboration on other films. Bogart's convincing interpretation became the archetype for a private detective in the film noir genre, providing him acclaim and solidifying his onscreen persona. Ingrid Bergman watched Maltese Falcon over and over again while preparing for Casablanca in order to learn how to interact and act with Bogart.[11]
Bergman, Joan Bennett, Geraldine Fitzgerald, Paulette Goddard, Janet Gaynor, Olivia de Havilland and Loretta Young were all considered for the role of Brigid. Fitzgerald was offered the part, but she turned it down.[1]Eve Arden was considered for the role of Effie. Lee Patrick was initially considered for the role of Iva, but she later received the part of Effie.[1] Having difficulty casting Kasper Gutman, Huston screen-tested stage actor Sydney Greenstreet on the suggestion of producer Hal Wallis. Greenstreet, who was 61 and weighed between 280 and 350 pounds, had not appeared on film before. However, he managed to impress Huston with his sheer size, distinctive abrasive laugh, bulbous eyes, and manner of speaking.[11]
Filming
Principal photography took place on the Warner Bros. backlot from June 9 to July 18, 1941, with some reshoots on August 8.[1] Following a preview screening on September 5, studio head Jack L. Warner ordered reshoots to simplify the opening scene. These reshoots took place on September 10 with Ernest Haller as cinematographer, since original cinematographer Arthur Edeson was unavailable.[1]
Cinematography
Director of photography Arthur Edeson, who had a background that included Universal's monster films, used low-key lighting and arresting angles to emphasize the nature of the characters and their actions, such as the scene where Gutman explains the history of the Falcon to Spade, drawing out his story so that the knockout drops in Spade's drink will take effect.[11]Roger Ebert describes this scene as "an astonishing unbroken seven-minute take",[19] and script supervisor Meta Wilde remarked of this scene:
It was an incredible camera setup. We rehearsed two days. The camera followed Greenstreet and Bogart from one room into another, then down a long hallway and finally into a living room; there the camera moved up and down in what is referred to as a boom-up and boom-down shot, then panned from left to right and back to Bogart's drunken face; the next pan shot was to Greenstreet's massive stomach from Bogart's point of view. ... One miss and we had to begin all over again.[20]
Fred Sexton, an American artist, sculpted the Maltese Falcon statuette prop for the film.[21] The "Maltese Falcon" itself was based on the "Kniphausen Hawk",[citation needed] a ceremonial pouring vessel made in 1697 for Georg Wilhelm von Kniphausen, Count of the Holy Roman Empire. It is modeled after a hawk perched on a rock and is encrusted with red garnets, amethysts, emeralds, and sapphires. It is currently owned by the Cavendish family[22] and is part of the collection at Chatsworth House.[23]
Several 11.5-inch (29cm) tall falcon props were made for the film. One of the falcons was given to actor William Conrad by studio chief Jack L. Warner; it was auctioned in December 1994 for $398,500,[24] the highest price paid for a film prop at that time.[25] A 45-pound metal prop that appeared in the film was sold at auction on November 25, 2013, for over $4 million.[26]
Reception
Critical
A model of the Maltese Falcon
Following a preview in September 1941, Variety called it "one of the best examples of actionful and suspenseful melodramatic story telling in cinematic form":
Unfolding a most intriguing and entertaining murder mystery, picture displays outstanding excellence in writing, direction, acting and editing—combining in overall as a prize package of entertainment for widest audience appeal. Due for hefty grosses in all runs, it's textured with ingredients presaging numerous holdovers in the keys—and strong word-of-mouth will make the b.o. wickets spin.[27]
Upon its release, Bosley Crowther described it as "the best mystery thriller of the year", saying "young Mr. Huston gives promise of becoming one of the smartest directors in the field"; according to Crowther, "the trick which Mr. Huston has pulled is a combination of American ruggedness with the suavity of the English crime school—a blend of mind and muscle—plus a slight touch of pathos".[13] The widely read trade paperThe Film Daily agreed with Crowther's assessment of the film and focused special attention as well on Huston's directorial debut. In its 1941 review of the "beautifully made" production, the paper asserted: "John Huston's direction of his own screenplay is as brilliant as any of the jewels which are alleged to encrust the falcon whose possession is the crux of the story".[28]
As a measure of modern or more current reactions to the film, the review-aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes reports The Maltese Falcon holds an approval rating of 99% based on 106 reviews, with an average rating of 9.20/10. The site's critics consensus reads: "Suspenseful, labyrinthine, and brilliantly cast, The Maltese Falcon is one of the most influential noirs—as well as a showcase for Humphrey Bogart at his finest."[29] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 97 out of 100, based on 15 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".[30] It is a part of Roger Ebert's series The Great Movies and was cited by Panorama du Film Noir Américain as the first major film noir.[19][31]
Box office
According to Warner Bros.' records the film earned $967,000 domestically and $805,000 foreign.[2]
It was one of the first 25 films selected by the Library of Congress for inclusion in the National Film Registry as "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".
"The stuff that dreams are made of." – No. 14. The expression is based on Act 4 of William Shakespeare's play The Tempest, wherein Prospero says, "We are such stuff / As dreams are made on".
In the wake of the film's success, Warner Bros. immediately put a sequel tentatively titled The Further Adventures of the Maltese Falcon into development. Huston was set to direct the sequel, with Jack Warner approaching Dashiel Hammett to write a screenplay. However, Huston and Bogart's high demand and the studio's inability to agree on a salary with Hammett caused the plans to be dropped.[1][11]
The film was adapted for radio several times. The first was for the Silver Theater broadcast on the CBS radio network on February 1, 1942, with Bogart as star.[32]Philip Morris Playhouse staged an adaptation August 14, 1942, with Edward Arnold starring.[33] CBS later created a 30-minute adaptation for The Screen Guild Theater with Bogart, Astor, Greenstreet and Lorre all reprising their roles. This radio segment was originally released on September 20, 1943, and was played again on July 3, 1946.[34]
Humphrey DeForest Bogart, nicknamed Bogie, was an American actor. His performances in classic Hollywood cinema films made him an American cultural icon. In 1999, the American Film Institute selected Bogart as the greatest male star of classic American cinema.
John Marcellus Huston was an American film director, screenwriter and actor. He wrote the screenplays for most of the 37 feature films he directed, many of which are today considered classics. He received numerous accolades including two Academy Awards and three Golden Globe Awards. He also received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1960 and the BAFTA Fellowship in 1980.
The Maltese Falcon is a 1930 detective novel by American writer Dashiell Hammett, originally serialized in the magazine Black Mask beginning with the September 1929 issue. The story is told entirely in external third-person narrative; there is no description whatsoever of any character's thoughts or feelings, only what they say and do, and how they look. The novel has been adapted several times for the cinema.
Peter Lorre was a Slovak-born American actor, active first in Europe and later in the United States. He began his stage career in Vienna, in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, before moving to Germany, where he worked first on the stage, then in film, in Berlin during the late 1920s and early 1930s. Lorre caused an international sensation in the Weimar Republic–era film M (1931). Directed by Fritz Lang, Lorre portrayed a serial killer who preys on little girls.
Samuel Dashiell Hammett was an American writer of hard-boiled detective novels and short stories. He was also a screenwriter and political activist. Among the characters he created are Sam Spade, Nick and Nora Charles, The Continental Op and the comic strip character Secret Agent X-9.
Sydney Hughes Greenstreet was a British and American actor. While he did not begin his career in films until the age of 61, he had a run of significant motion pictures in a Hollywood career lasting through the 1940s. He is best remembered for the three Warner Bros. films - The Maltese Falcon (1941), Casablanca (1942), and Passage to Marseille (1944) - with both Humphrey Bogart and Peter Lorre. He portrayed Nero Wolfe on radio during 1950 and 1951. He became an American citizen in 1925.
Sam Spade is a fictional character and the protagonist of Dashiell Hammett's 1930 novel The Maltese Falcon. Spade also appeared in four lesser-known short stories by Hammett.
The Cheap Detective is a 1978 American mystery comedy film written by Neil Simon and directed by Robert Moore.
Satan Met a Lady is a 1936 American detective film directed by William Dieterle and starring Bette Davis and Warren William.
Conflict is a 1945 American black-and-white suspense film noir made by Warner Brothers. It was directed by Curtis Bernhardt, produced by William Jacobs from a screenplay by Arthur T. Horman and Dwight Taylor, based on the story The Pentacle by Alfred Neumann and Robert Siodmak. It starred Humphrey Bogart, Alexis Smith, and Sydney Greenstreet. The film is the only pairing of Bogart and Greenstreet of the five in which they acted together where Bogart rather than Greenstreet is the villain or corrupt character. There is also a cameo appearance of the Maltese Falcon statue.
Hammett is a 1982 American neo-noir mystery film directed by Wim Wenders and executive produced by Francis Ford Coppola. The screenplay was written by Ross Thomas and Dennis O'Flaherty, based on the novel of the same name by Joe Gores. It stars Frederic Forrest as detective story writer Dashiell Hammett, who gets caught up in a mystery very much like one of his own stories. Marilu Henner plays Hammett's neighbor, Kit Conger, and Peter Boyle plays Jimmy Ryan, an old friend from Hammett's days as a Pinkerton agent. The film was entered into the 1982 Cannes Film Festival.
The Maltese Falcon is a 1931 American pre-Code crime film based on the 1930 novel The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett and directed by Roy Del Ruth. The film stars Ricardo Cortez as private detective Sam Spade and Bebe Daniels as femme fatale Ruth Wonderly. The supporting cast features Dudley Digges, Thelma Todd, Walter Long, Una Merkel, and Dwight Frye. Maude Fulton and Brown Holmes wrote the screenplay; one contemporaneous report said that Lucien Hubbard was assisting them.
The Maltese Falcon may refer to:
Manpower is a 1941 American crime melodrama directed by Raoul Walsh and starring Edward G. Robinson, Marlene Dietrich, and George Raft. The picture was written by Richard Macaulay and Jerry Wald, and the supporting cast features Alan Hale, Frank McHugh, Eve Arden, Barton MacLane, Ward Bond and Walter Catlett.
Across the Pacific is a 1942 American spy film set on the eve of the entry of the United States into World War II. It was directed first by John Huston, then by Vincent Sherman after Huston joined the United States Army Signal Corps. It stars Humphrey Bogart, Mary Astor, and Sydney Greenstreet. Despite the title, the action never progresses across the Pacific, concluding in Panama. The original script portrayed an attempt to avert a Japanese plan to invade Pearl Harbor. When the real-life attack on Pearl Harbor occurred, production was shut down for three months, resuming on March 2, 1942, with a revised script changing the target to Panama.
The Black Bird is a 1975 comedy film written and directed by David Giler and starring George Segal and Stéphane Audran. It is a comedic sequel to the John Huston film version of The Maltese Falcon (1941) with Segal playing Sam Spade's son, Sam Spade, Jr., and Lee Patrick and Elisha Cook Jr. reprising their roles of Effie Perrine and Wilmer Cook. It was Giler's first and only directorial effort.
The Treasure of the Sierra Madre is a 1948 American Neo-Western film written and directed by John Huston, and starring Humphrey Bogart, Tim Holt, Bruce Bennett, and Walter Huston - the director's father. Based on B. Traven's 1927 novel of the same name, the film follows two downtrodden men who join forces with a grizzled old prospector, in searching for gold in Mexico.
Three Strangers is a 1946 American film noir crime drama directed by Jean Negulesco and starring Sydney Greenstreet, Geraldine Fitzgerald, and Peter Lorre, and featuring Joan Lorring and Alan Napier. The screenplay was written by John Huston and Howard Koch. It was produced and distributed by Warner Brothers.
Fred Sexton was an American artist and creator of the Maltese Falcon statuette prop for the 1941 Warner Bros. film production, The Maltese Falcon.
Mister Dynamite is a 1935 American action film directed by Alan Crosland and written by Doris Malloy and Harry Clork. The film stars Edmund Lowe, Jean Dixon, Victor Varconi, Esther Ralston, Verna Hillie and Minor Watson. The film was released on April 22, 1935, by Universal Pictures.
1 2 3 Warner Bros financial information in The William Schaefer Ledger. See Appendix 1, Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television, (1995) 15:sup 1, 1–31 p. 22 doi:10.1080/01439689508604551
↑ Luhr, William (1995). The Maltese Falcon. Dir. John Huston. Rutgers Films in Print. New Brunswick: Rutgers UP. p.27. ISBN978-0813522371. Retrieved August 5, 2010.
↑ Thompson, David (2017). Warner Bros: The Making of an American Movie Studio. New Haven; London: Yale University Press.
↑ Huston decided that the final scene of the novel (and the script), wherein Spade disgustedly returns to Iva Archer, would not be filmed. Huston believed the film should end the way it was, thus making Spade's character more honorable as the story progressed. Lax, Eric. Audio commentary for Disc One of the 2006 three-disc DVD special edition of The Maltese Falcon.
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