![]() Characters (including Brigid’s sister) are referenced without ever appearing, and the whereabouts of the falcon is never made clear.įortunately, writer-director John Huston focuses primarily on the interaction of the characters. ![]() The convoluted plot worked well enough in book form, but attempting to follow it closely in the big-screen version is probably a mistake. ![]() Spade’s attempts to solve the crimes and track down the statuette are complicated by Gutman’s devious nature and O’Shaugnessy’s severe aversion to the truth (she initially even lies about her name). Also in pursuit of the falcon are the corpulent, sinister Kasper Gutman (Sydney Greenstreet) and his effete cohort, Joel Cairo (Peter Lorre). The hard-boiled gem will be shown in Hoquiam on Saturday and Sunday as part of the 7th Street Theatre’s Silver Screen Classic series.īased on a Dashiell Hammett mystery novel, the film opens with Spade and his partner, Miles Archer (Jerome Cowan), being hired by the sultry but mysterious Brigid O’Shaughnessy (Mary Astor) for a seemingly routine assignment: to find her sister, who has supposedly run off with a seaman.īut when Archer is killed on a stakeout, it become clear that Brigid’s true objective is to locate the Maltese Falcon, a jewel-encrusted statuette of untold value. ![]() Many historians consider the 1941 version of “The Maltese Falcon” to be the first true film noir, and Spade as cinema’s first antihero. Audiences root for Spade anyway because he maintains a code of honor that transcends his shortcomings - and because the story’s other characters are even more amoral. ![]()
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