The Maltese Falcon (1941)
The American film noir, The Maltese Falcon (1941), follows a San Francisco private detective as he navigates the schemes of three immoral adventurers who are all vying for possession of a valuable falcon statuette. Directed and written by John Huston in his debut as a director, the movie is based on Dashiell Hammett’s 1930 novel of the same name. At the start of the film, Spade and Archer take on a new case when Ruth Wonderly arrives seeking assistance in finding her sister, who has supposedly run off to San Francisco with a man named Floyd Thursby. After Archer’s untimely death and Thursby being murdered on the same night, the police begin to suspect Spade as having both opportunity and motive for the acts.
Later that morning, Spade has a rendezvous with Wonderly, who now goes by the name of Brigid O’Shaughnessy. She admits to fabricating her previous tale and persuades Spade to look into the homicides. In addition, she discloses that Thursby was her accomplice and took advantage of her. However, she claims ignorance regarding Thursby’s killer. At his office, Spade encounters Joel Cairo, who initially offers him $5,000 to locate a ‘black bird statue’. When Spade displays skepticism, Cairo pulls out a weapon and rummages through the room in search of it. Spade takes Cairo down and examines his belongings. Once Cairo regains consciousness, he hires Spade for assistance. Later that evening, as Spade sets off to visit O’Shaughnessy again, he notices a young man tailing him but manages to shake him off.
Date of download: 2015-11-11T17:22:34+00:00
Cast:  Humphrey BogartSamuel Spade  Mary AstorBrigid O'Shaughnessy  Gladys GeorgeIva Archer  Peter LorreJoel Cairo  Barton MacLaneLt. of Detectives Dundy  Sydney GreenstreetKasper Gutman |
The American film noir, The Maltese Falcon (1941), follows a San Francisco private detective as he navigates the schemes of three immoral adventurers who are all vying for possession of a valuable falcon statuette. Directed and written by John Huston in his debut as a director, the movie is based on Dashiell Hammett’s 1930 novel of the same name. At the start of the film, Spade and Archer take on a new case when Ruth Wonderly arrives seeking assistance in finding her sister, who has supposedly run off to San Francisco with a man named Floyd Thursby. After Archer’s untimely death and Thursby being murdered on the same night, the police begin to suspect Spade as having both opportunity and motive for the acts.
Later that morning, Spade has a rendezvous with Wonderly, who now goes by the name of Brigid O’Shaughnessy. She admits to fabricating her previous tale and persuades Spade to look into the homicides. In addition, she discloses that Thursby was her accomplice and took advantage of her. However, she claims ignorance regarding Thursby’s killer. At his office, Spade encounters Joel Cairo, who initially offers him $5,000 to locate a ‘black bird statue’. When Spade displays skepticism, Cairo pulls out a weapon and rummages through the room in search of it. Spade takes Cairo down and examines his belongings. Once Cairo regains consciousness, he hires Spade for assistance. Later that evening, as Spade sets off to visit O’Shaughnessy again, he notices a young man tailing him but manages to shake him off.
