The Maltese Falcon (1941)

Directed by: John Huston
Starring: Humphrey Bogart

***

It's been a long time since I first say John Huston's first film, The Maltese Falcon. I remembered very little about it which told me it wasn't nearly as memorable as some of the great films of the forties (i.e. Casablanca and Double Indemnity) even though it possesses so many of the great film noir traits... crime, love and suspense. There was a point during The Maltese Falcon where I'd had enough of the one thing that was keeping the mystery of the film alive and that is the lies that every character seemed to be consistently spitting out. A lying dame is an important aspect to film noir but eventually the story needs to have more substance to drive it forward than the mere fact that women are untrustworthy.

Humphrey Bogart (cool as always) plays Sam Spade, a private detective who's hired for a bogus job by Bridget O'Shaughnessy (Mary Astor). She, as you may have guessed, has much bigger interests than tracking down her (non-existent) sister. Spade's involvement leads him of course to the hunt for the Maltese Falcon, a treasured statue worth a wealth of money for he who not only has his hands on it but he who knows what it is. Even though we're prompted to wonder if Spade's motives alter throughout the film from just doing his job to having his own interest in getting the Falcon, we never doubt that Spade is the good guy and perhaps the only good guy involved.

The wild goose chase is led on by the compulsive lying of O'Shaughnessy. As I mentioned, it got to the point where I was tired of the only thing keeping crimes from being solved and artifacts uncovered was the lies. It seemed like the movie was lying to me about knowing where it was going and those lies were covered up by more lies from the characters. That aside, like all film noir, loose ends are tied up and the conclusions make a whole lot of interesting sense. So that slow portion of the film in the middle could be forgiven thanks to the fact that the film wasn't lying at all, and it knew where it was going, it may have just been buying a little time.

That which I can't forgive this film for is its half-hearted effort at a Double Indemnity style love affair. Old movies have a knack for creating such a love affair based solely on the looks of the characters and the all important aggressive kiss the man lays on the dame shortly into the film. In Billy Wilder's Double Indemnity, the relationship may have seemed unmotivated but that's only because (SPOILER ALERT) it wasn't real. In The Maltese Falcon, the character's continued their claims of love for each other even after they'd successfully (or unsuccessfully) finished their jobs. But simply, I didn't buy the relationship and even worse, considered it completely unnecessary. Spade insists that O'Shaughnessy only intends to buy his trust with money but when she asks what else does she have, he lays the kiss on her... that's what she has. But please, just because they made out a little didn't make me trust her, so why would Sam Spade, a trained and smart private detective.

The Maltese Falcon is disappointing in comparison to its acclaim but its a solid film noir. It has the necessary traits to keep its audience glued and while there's some serious longwindedness to it at times, its never so complicated that a ten minute explanation of it all was needed to make me say, oh I get it. If it was 1941 and I walked out of the theater after seeing this film, I'd without a doubt be looking forward to what this rookie director has to offer in years to come.