THE MALTESE FALCON [1941] review

Could modern actors memorize all the lines that Humphrey Bogart had to in THE MALTESE FALCON? He even acknowledges his character’s output of words in the movie, asking a stenographer if he’s going to fast. Somehow, the stenographer says it’s no problem and that he’s getting it all. Being a person who writes extremely slow, I would be quite impressed if the stenographer could actually write verbatim all that Sam Spade barked out. Spade, as Bogart plays him, could be the biggest bad-ass in movie history that never fired a gun. Spade is a character impossible to intimidate, who is supremely talented at intimidation himself. I haven’t seen that many film noir movies, but having see BRICK last year, it prepared me for the rapid fire dialogue delivery and P.I. lingo.

The story of FALCON involves only a small handful of characters all trying to not tell each other things, and usually lying when they are forced to talk. It’s Spade’s job to sort through all their stories and make sure he doesn’t wind up the one in the police’s hands in the end. Though he’s in quite a jam, he seems to relish it actually. He uses his wide net of allies in the city, from a driver with plenty of gas, to a hotel manager, but most of all his supremely faithful secretary whom he often entrusts with important missions.

…You can see hints of the famous Bogart facial tick a few times.

…The script, as mentioned, is jam packed with dialogue that is not too hard to follow, but the joy of the movie is watching Bogart enter various situations and throw his weight around. It’s hard to feel the impact of these old, classic movies I think. A certain appreciation can be had, but the impact of seeing a movie some 60+ years after its release having prior seen so many copies of it since is not the same for me as seeing a movie recently released. Or maybe FALCON just didn’t move me that much as I cared little about any character and never buy those two conversations and then a couple is in love storylines so popular in older movies, and even some modern ones.

Still, the movie never drags and keeps you thinking and thoroughly entertained, and contains one of the all-time classic movie lines at the end.

RELATED POSTS:

• DIRTY HARRY [1971] review
• FIVE EASY PIECES [1970] review
• IRON MAN [2008] review
• THE KITE RUNNER [2007] review
• KUNG FU PANDA [2008] review