The Maltese Falcon

The Maltese Falcon in 1941 is one of the most popular and classic detective mysteries of all time, and many film historians believe it is the first of Hollywood's dark film noir genre. Not only that, this movie also is the genre of crime and drama. The Maltese Falcon released on October 18, 1941. The low-cost film reflects John Huston (previously a screenwriter) outstanding directorial debut, who produced the American classic for Warner Bros. efficiently and skilfully. The starring of this movie are Humphrey Bogart, Mary Astor, Gladys George and so on. The objective of this movie is to obtain the Maltese Falcon statue as well as solve the murder mystery of Floyd Thursby and Miles Archer.

Sam Spade is a hero of this movie. He is a detective, who able to take care of himself in any situation and able to get the best of anybody he comes in contact with, whether a criminal or a bystander. He is a suspect by police to be the murder of his partner Miles. In addition, Brigid O’Shaughnessy goes under the name of Ruth Wonderly, and she leads several men to their deaths. She is a compulsive liar, and lies to only the man who can help her and than claims in the end to love him. Joel Cairo is a very sleazy man who first informs Spade of the Falcon’s value. Cairo offers Spade a very large sum of money for procurement of the statue with no questions asked. Casper Gutman is the leader of the force opposing Spade to procure yhe Falcon. Gusman has been after the priceless statue for decades and has previously collaborated with both Cairo and O’Shaughnessy to find the bird. Due to the trio’s past, all opposing sides race against each other to find the statue each vying for Spade’s help.The Maltese Falcon is a diamond encrusted gold statue of a falcon that was supposedly crafted for King Charles of Spain on a crusade in the Middle Ages. Centuries later, the bird was covered in a black enamel as to hide its value from the untrained eye.

There are some motives in this movie. For example, greed has led to the downfail of many great men. Hammett makes this clear in the novel and movie by showing the greed can destroy even the wealthiest and most powerful of people. Along with this, Hammett also emphasizes honesty and how that is a good measure of true success. The author uses greed to maintain a permanate element of distrust and paranoia between characters. In addition, the theme is a minor one closely relating to deceit. Many characters are judged solely on appearance. Such as Hammett describes  Spade in the beginning of this movie, many characters’ vivid descriptions help Spade eventually solve the mystery. The theme of appearance is intertwined largely to trust. Besides, loyalty was a huge issue in this movie. In this movie, we can see that Hammett emphasizes this through Ms. Perine and shows that loyalty is a very commendable characteristic that most people do not have and at times not even Mr. Spade. Hammett also shows how willing most people are to throw away their loyalty if it seems adventitious to them. Hammett also shows how powerful loyalty is and how easily disloyalty can lead to hatred and betrayal in this movie.The attitude in this movie is a cynical mood of people living during the great depression. A pessimistic view of the world and mirrored the growing anxieties that plagued American society following World War 2.

The synopsis of this movie is the story revolves around a private detective named Sam Spade and his confrontations with a bunch of troublesome folks, involving the root mystery of a precious statuette of a Falcon that was sent as tribute to Charles V of Spain by the Knight Templars of Malta but never reached and remains a mystery to this day.

The dark moment is when it is revealed that the Maltese Falcon is a fake. The lighting of this movie used the balanced that low-contrast lighting to high-contrast lighting and deep shadows. Besides, the camera angles that use in this movie is tend to be eye level. With the exception of the subjective camera when Spade is drugged. The setting in The Maltese Falcon is San Francisco, California port city. It is depicted as a dark and corrupt place. For example, the Spade’s apartment on San Francisco Post Street and Spade’s office. Moreover, the editing of this movie is seamless. The story is also told in linear time, without the flashbacks and voice-over-narration that usually creates a sense of doom in a film noir.

Personally, I would recommend this movie to anyone who loves to watch. Hammett ia s master of words and did a delightful job at telling an engaging story. This movie is thrilling but the true masterpiece lies in the 1941 Warner Brothers rendition of the book starring Humphrey Bogart. The script of the movie is essentially straight from the novel and Bogart’s portrayal of Spade is one that will never be forgotten.