"The Maltese Falcon" is certainly considered one of the all-time classics. It's an early, if not the very first film noir. This features tough, complex characters with actual motivations. And they're not exactly morally pure, either.
I saw "The Maltese Falcon" for the first time on the day before I watched the bafflingly praised "Her" (Spike Jonze - 2013). If there were ever a starker contrast in the behavior of characters between two movies, I don't think you'd find it. And if you ask which characters I'd rather hang around with in real life, it would be the tough as nails Humphrey Bogart or the smart and sassy Mary Astor.
I can't say I was crazy for this film. It hasn't dated very well. There's a lot of old mannerisms and phrases. Every character speaks extremely fast and I just never bought into the romantic spark between Sam Spade and Brigid O'Shaughnessy. But this thing moves along at a brisk pace and Bogart's Spade is rough and smooth as silk at the same time. Mary Astor is actually the most impressive. She brings a complex and manipulative character to the screen as O'Shaughnessy. And she owns with an explosively emotional performance in the final scenes.
@whitsbrain have you never seen films from the 30s and 40s? To say they didn't age well because of the way actors talked and acted is incredibly silly.
Review by whitsbrainVIP 5BlockedParent2022-01-15T17:12:21Z
"The Maltese Falcon" is certainly considered one of the all-time classics. It's an early, if not the very first film noir. This features tough, complex characters with actual motivations. And they're not exactly morally pure, either.
I saw "The Maltese Falcon" for the first time on the day before I watched the bafflingly praised "Her" (Spike Jonze - 2013). If there were ever a starker contrast in the behavior of characters between two movies, I don't think you'd find it. And if you ask which characters I'd rather hang around with in real life, it would be the tough as nails Humphrey Bogart or the smart and sassy Mary Astor.
I can't say I was crazy for this film. It hasn't dated very well. There's a lot of old mannerisms and phrases. Every character speaks extremely fast and I just never bought into the romantic spark between Sam Spade and Brigid O'Shaughnessy. But this thing moves along at a brisk pace and Bogart's Spade is rough and smooth as silk at the same time. Mary Astor is actually the most impressive. She brings a complex and manipulative character to the screen as O'Shaughnessy. And she owns with an explosively emotional performance in the final scenes.