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The Maltese Falcon Sponsored by El Paso Times 1941 | Not Rated | Crime, Mystery | d. John Huston Humphrey Bogart, Mary Astor, Peter Lorre |
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| “The stuff dreams are made of” – this Shakespearian line, famously inserted into the script and spoken by Humphrey Bogart as gumshoe Sam Spade, describes the rare jeweled bird that a host of shadowy characters pursue – and for which they are prepared to kill – in this definitive film version of Dashiell Hammet’s intricate detective novel. But it also describes the movie itself, which still mesmerizes audiences with its dream casting, crackerjack dialogue, and expert direction by John Huston (in his directorial debut). Bogart, in one of the roles that solidified his reputation as the ultimate hard-boiled detective, plays Spade with a mixture of smirking confidence, cynicism, and wit; Mary Astor, a Hollywood bad girl, plays the femme fatale who ensnares Spade in her plot to find the bird; and Sydney Greenstreet (in his first Hollywood role) and Peter Lorre round out the cast as delightfully shifty competitors in the hunt for the falcon. The resulting film clicks like a well-oiled revolver. Whether or not the Astor/Bogart team can find the bird before Greenstreet and Lorre, you’ll find a real treasure – and the stuff dreams are made of – in the Plaza’s big-screen feature, The Maltese Falcon. - Tom Schmid | ||