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The Maltese Falcon Overview:

The Maltese Falcon (1941) was a Crime - Film Noir Film directed by John Huston and produced by Hal B. Wallis and Henry Blanke.

The film was based on the novel of the same name and also Black Mask Magazine Serial written by Dashiell Hammett published in 1930 (novel); year n/a (magazine).

SYNOPSIS

One of the most popular crime films of all time has Bogart playing Hammett's private detective Sam Spade as he sleuths the backyard of San Francisco in search of an elusive black bird statuette and crosses wits with Astor's treacherous Brigid O'Shaughnessy and fat man Kaspar Gutman (Greenstreet). Memorable supporting performances by Lorre and Cook, Jr., playing two of the quirkiest villains of the 40's, only add to the unsettling atmosphere of this cynical parable of greed and deceit. After a brief career as screenwriter, this was Huston's directorial debut, and launched a career that spanned nearly half a century. Based on the Hammett novel that was previously filmed in 1931 as Dangerous Female, in 1936 as Satan Met a Lady starring Bette Davis, and redone in 1975 as The Black Bird.

(Source: available at Amazon AMC Classic Movie Companion).

The Maltese Falcon was inducted into the National Film Registry in 1989.

Academy Awards 1941 --- Ceremony Number 14 (source: AMPAS)

AwardRecipientResult
Best Supporting ActorSydney GreenstreetNominated
Best PictureWarner Bros.Nominated
Best WritingJohn HustonNominated
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The Maltese Falcon BlogHub Articles:

The Maltese Falcon (1931, Roy Del Ruth)

By Andrew Wickliffe on Mar 28, 2019 From The Stop Button

Not to be too obvious, but I really wasn’t expecting a twist ending for The Maltese Falcon. But only because I’ve… read the book, seen the 1941 version, seen spoofs of it; I sort of figured I’d be able to guess the plot turns. And I did, right up until the end, when Falcon shows its been doi... Read full article

The Maltese Falcon (1931, Roy Del Ruth)

By Andrew Wickliffe on Mar 28, 2019 From The Stop Button

Not to be too obvious, but I really wasn’t expecting a twist ending for The Maltese Falcon. But only because I’ve… read the book, seen the 1941 version, seen spoofs of it; I sort of figured I’d be able to guess the plot turns. And I did, right up until the end, when Falcon shows its been doi... Read full article

The Maltese Falcon (1931, Roy Del Ruth)

on Mar 28, 2019 From The Stop Button

Not to be too obvious, but I really wasn’t expecting a twist ending for The Maltese Falcon. But only because I’ve… read the book, seen the 1941 version, seen spoofs of it; I sort of figured I’d be able to guess the plot turns. And I did, right up until the end, when Falcon shows its been doi... Read full article

The Maltese Falcon (1931, Roy Del Ruth)

on Mar 28, 2019 From The Stop Button

Not to be too obvious, but I really wasn’t expecting a twist ending for The Maltese Falcon. But only because I’ve… read the book, seen the 1941 version, seen spoofs of it; I sort of figured I’d be able to guess the plot turns. And I did, right up until the end, when Falcon shows its been doi... Read full article

Review: The Maltese Falcon (1941)

By 4 Star Film Fan on Nov 2, 2016 From 4 Star Films

Dashiell Hammet’s “blonde satan” Sam Spade is an icon of not only 20th-century literature but also 20th-century cinema, thanks in part to Humphrey  Bogart and John Huston. He’s the cynical, hard-nosed, unsentimental P.I. whose general unpredictability sometimes leads to an... Read full article

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The Maltese Falcon Quotes:

Sam Spade: You killed Miles and you're going over for it.
Sam Spade: I hope you're not letting yourself be influenced by the guns these pocket-edition desperadoes are waving around, because I've practiced taking guns from these boys before; so we'll have no trouble there.
Sam Spade: We didn't exactly believe your story, Miss O'Shaughnessy. We believed your 200 dollars. I mean, you paid us more than if you had been telling us the truth, and enough more to make it all right.
Kasper Gutman: By Gad, sir, you are a character. There's never any telling what you'll say or do next, except that it's bound to be something astonishing.
Sam Spade: When a man's partner is killed, he's supposed to do something about it. It doesn't make any difference what you thought of him. He was your partner and you're supposed to do something about it. And it happens we're in the detective business. Well, when one of your organization gets killed, it's-it's bad business to let the killer get away with it, bad all around, bad for every detective everywhere.
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The Maltese Falcon Facts
"Academy Award Theater" broadcast a 30 minute radio adaptation of the movie on July 3, 1946 with Humphrey Bogart, Sydney Greenstreet and Mary Astor reprising their film roles.
From the start, Peter Lorre was always John Huston's first choice to play Joel Cairo.
When she landed the part of Ilsa in Casablanca, Ingrid Bergman watched this film repeatedly so as to study Humphrey Bogart's acting technique.
Two "Maltese Falcons" were used for the film because Humphrey Bogart dropped the original during shooting. The original falcon is on display in the movie museum at Warner Bros. studios; its tail feathers are visibly dented from Bogey's flub sixty years ago.
Most of the film was shot sequentially.
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