The Maltese Falcon(1941)

'The Maltese Falcon' was made on a low budget, even by 1941 standards, of $300,000, and was originally released as a B picture by Warner Brothers. The public response to the movie was so positive that it was quickly re-assessed to an A status. It was a resounding success both critically and financially, and its reputation has continued to grow ever since. It was nominated for three Academy Awards: for Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor (Sydney Greenstreet), and Best Adapted Screenplay (for Director, John Huston.)

It was further honored in 1989 when it was selected by the Library of Congress, for preservation in the United States National Film Registry. In the American film Institute's 2007 list of top 100 Movies it is ranked at number 31.

The movie is considered to be one of the first of film noir genre movies which became so popular during the next two decades. It certainly has many of the noir properties: it is influenced by hard boiled crime fiction, it has a troubled hero in a city setting, with the action taking place almost entirely in anonymous and claustrophobic hotel rooms and offices frequently photographed at night, murky symbolic shadows - which are withheld until the elevator door casts jail-bar shapes across the face of the duplicitous heroine at the end, and a general sense of doom and cynicism.

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Plot

Huston's clever and complex script drives the film forward well, and the mystery of the falcon and the murderer is resolved by Spade in a highly entertaining manner, with plenty of plot twists and turns along the way.

Production

Director John Huston who, remarkably, wrote the screenplay, as well as making his directorial debut, remained faithful to the original Hammett novel, particularly the dialogue which is quite superb. Whereas other great Hollywood directors pursue their own visions, Huston was at his best when making faithful adaptations of minor classic novels. Having served an apprenticeship as a writer, he selected the book from Warner Brothers' catalogue of properties and was so confident in the strength of his material that his script consists essentially of a transcription of Hammett's dialogue although removing any references to sex that the censors might find unacceptable. For instance, the homosexuality of Joel Cairo is shown quite clearly in the novel but is only hinted at in the movie.

Huston was fortunate enough to be able to obtain a letter-perfect cast down to the smallest bit parts. Warner Brothers had originally wanted the popular George Raft for the Spade role but he turned it down, refusing to do a remake. Huston's first choice was Bogart, who had become a dependable leading man in films such as 'They Drive by Night' in 1940 and 'High Sierra' in early 1941. The studio wanted Geraldine Fitzgerald for the role of Brigid but she passed to do a play, leaving the way clear for Huston and Bogart to choose Mary Astor.

Huston carefully tailored the screenplay shot by shot, and did his own detailed sketches for every scene, in the same way exactly as Hitchcock made his movies. Huston also, unusually, shot most of the scenes sequentially. He gave the actors free rein to work out their scenes themselves, following his carefully detailed script. It was a happy film to make, with the cast, crew and director often socialising together after filming. Huston's careful planning paid off - the film kept to schedule and never went over budget.

Behind the camera Huston used the experienced cinematographer, Arthur Edeson and the lighting, framing and composition of some scenes are ground-breaking. Many scenes are shot over Bogart's shoulder so that the audience sees what Sam Spade sees.

The film's tense atmosphere is heightened by low camera angles and clever use of ceilings to suggest confinement. Close ups and shadows are used to emphasize the dark personalities of most of the characters. When Wilmer wakes up, we see Gutman, Cairo, Spade and Brigid looking at him from Wilmer's viewpoint and we know what they, and Wilmer, are thinking without a word being said.

Summary