movies 100 theaters

  • Subscribe to our RSS feed.
  • Twitter
  • StumbleUpon
  • Reddit
  • Facebook
  • Digg

domingo, 18 de julio de 2010

144. The Maltese Falcon (1941)

Posted on 19:13 by Unknown
Running Time: 101 minutes
Directed By: John Huston
Written By: John Huston, from novel by Dashiell Hammett
Main Cast: Humphrey Bogart, Mary Astor, Peter Lorre, Sydney Greenstreet, Elisha Cook Jr.

THE ARRIVAL OF FILM NOIR

On this day, as all of the movie going community can't stop spouting about "Inception", Christopher Nolan's newest film, I took the time to continue my journey through cinema and watch my next film, "The Maltese Falcon". While the film wasn't bad at all, I was even more excited to realize the arrival of a genre that I haven't had a chance to really get to know...film noir.

Bogart plays Sam Spade, a private detective, who upon the films opening is visited by the classy, elegant Brigid O' Shaughnessy. Although she doesn't give her real name at first, O'Shaughnessy claims to be searching for her sister, who she believes has gotten herself mixed up with a man by the name of Thursby. Sam and his partner Miles Archer agree to help the woman and Archer goes out later that night to tail Thursby. During the tailing, Archer is shot and killed and later that evening, Thursby is killed. When Sam finds out about the killings, he gets in touch with O'Shaughnessy, and this is when she confesses a few things, including her true identity, but the rest seems to be a muddled mix of facts and lies that O'Shaughnessy can't stop feeding Spade.

When he gets back to his office, Spade is visited by another character, Joel Cairo. Cairo is in search of an artifact and is prepared to offer Spade a reward if he can help him find it. The artifact that he is searching for is none other than our title piece, the Maltese Falcon. There's also talk of a "fat man" and in the meanwhile, Spade has recognized that he himself is being tailed by a rather shady looking fellow. On top of ALL that, Spade is also being questioned by the police, as they believe he may have had something to do with one, if not both of, the Thrusby/Archer killings. Eventually, the "fat man" is revealed to be Kasper Gutman, a man who has been searching, to no avail, for the falcon for seventeen years. It seems that the falcon was originally intended for Charles V of Spain, and through the years was stolen and changed hands more times than we know. When the dust settles the gift originally intended for Charles V ends up in the hands of big city sleuth Sam Spade, but how will Spade use the artifact to his advantage and who can he trust, if anybody?

The one thing that I really like about "The Maltese Falcon" is the fact that we always know just as much as Sam Spade. I'm not ashamed to admit that this movie is a little confusing, as we the viewer, along with Spade, try to figure out who killed who, why and what angle everyone is playing. As Sam Spade works his way along the seedy, noir-esque streets of the city, every piece of information he uncovers feeds us, the viewers, with more information to the grand scheme of things. Bogart is great and finally he shows up in the pages of the "1001" playing a hero and not a seedy villain (ie. Angels with Dirty Faces). The confusion of the plot took me out of this a little bit and add on to that the fact that these 1940s actors could really move their mouths when it came to saying their dialogue. I found myself on more than one occasion rewinding the disc, so that I could hear once more a stretch of explanation, usually from Mary Astor. All in all, this was a fun first-noir experience from the "1001" book and a must see for fans of crime, mystery and detective stories.

RATING: 6.5/10 '7' seemed too high, and '6' seemed too low, so that's my explanation for the rating of '6.5'. Also interesting to note that no movie from the 40s thus far, has fallen below a '5'. Great decade so far!

NEXT UP: Sergeant York...Gary Cooper has traded in his Deeds outfit for a York outfit and finally returns to the pages of the "1001".

July 18, 2010 7:13pm




Enviar por correo electrónicoEscribe un blogCompartir en XCompartir con Facebook
Posted in John Huston | No comments
Entrada más reciente Entrada antigua Inicio

0 comentarios:

Publicar un comentario

Suscribirse a: Enviar comentarios (Atom)

Popular Posts

  • 411. Khaneh siah ast/The House is Black (1963)
    Running Time: 22 minutes Directed By: Forugh Farrokhzad Written By: Forugh Farrokhzad Main Cast: (narration): Ebrahim Golestan, Forugh F...
  • From 30's to 40's
    I've spent a considerable amount of time getting to know the scope of cinema that was the 1930s. It was a colorful decade, full of lots ...

Categories

  • Aditya Chopra
  • Agnes Varda
  • Albert Brooks
  • Alejandro Jodorowsky
  • Aleksandr Dovzhenko
  • Alexander Mackendrick
  • Alexander Payne
  • Alfred Hitchcock
  • Amy Heckerling
  • Anatole Litvak
  • Andre Delvaux
  • Ang Lee
  • Arthur Penn
  • Barbet Schroeder
  • Ben Sharpsteen
  • Blake Edwards
  • Bob Clark
  • Bob Fosse
  • Bong Joon-ho
  • Busby Berkeley
  • Carl Reiner
  • Carl Theodor Dreyer
  • Carlos Saura
  • Carol Reed
  • Chantal Akerman
  • Charles Chaplin
  • Charles Crichton
  • Charles Vidor
  • Chris Marker
  • Christopher Nolan
  • Claude Chabrol
  • Curtis Hanson
  • Daniel Myrick
  • Danis Tanovic
  • Dario Argento
  • Dariush Mehrjui
  • David Cronenberg
  • David Hand
  • David Lean
  • David Zucker
  • Derek Jarman
  • Don Siegel
  • Dorothy Arzner
  • Douglas Sirk
  • Edgar G. Ulmer
  • Eduardo Sanchez
  • Edward Dmytryk
  • Edward F. Cline
  • Edward Yang
  • Elaine May
  • Elia Kazan
  • Elmar Klos
  • Emeric Pressburger
  • Emile de Antonio
  • Eric Rohmer
  • Ernest B. Schoedsack
  • Ernst Lubitsch
  • Errol Morris
  • F.W. Murnau
  • Federico Fellini
  • Fei Mu
  • Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck
  • Forugh Farrokhzad
  • Franco E. Prosperi
  • Francois Girard
  • Frank Capra
  • Frank Darabont
  • Frank Lloyd
  • Franklin J. Schaffner
  • Fred Schepisi
  • Fred Zinnemann
  • Fritz Lang
  • Garry Marshall
  • Gaspar Noe
  • Gene Kelly
  • George A. Romero
  • George Cukor
  • George Marshall
  • George Roy Hill
  • George Stevens
  • George Waggner
  • Georges Franju
  • Gillo Pontecorvo
  • Gregory La Cava
  • Gualtiero Jacopetti
  • Guy Hamilton
  • Hal Ashby
  • Hal Hartley
  • Hamilton Luske
  • Hans Petter Moland
  • Harold Ramis
  • Hayao Miyazaki
  • Hector Babenco
  • Hideo Nakata
  • Hiroshi Teshigahara
  • Howard Hawks
  • Humphrey Jennings
  • Ingmar Bergman
  • Ivan Reitman
  • Jacques Tourneur
  • James Foley
  • James L. Brooks
  • James Whale
  • Jan Kadar
  • Jan Svankmajer
  • Jane Campion
  • Jay Roach
  • Jean Renoir
  • Jean Vigo
  • Jean-Luc Godard
  • Jean-Pierre Jeunet
  • Jean-Pierre Melville
  • Jerome Robbins
  • Jerry Lewis
  • Jim McBride
  • Jim Sharman
  • Jim Sheridan
  • Jiri Menzel
  • Joe Wright
  • Joel Coen
  • John Boorman
  • John Carney
  • John Carpenter
  • John Ford
  • John Frankenheimer
  • John G. Avildsen
  • John Hughes
  • John Huston
  • John Landis
  • John Lasseter
  • John McTiernan
  • John Schlesinger
  • Jonathan Dayton
  • Jonathan Demme
  • Josef von Sternberg
  • Joseph L. Mankiewicz
  • Joseph Losey
  • Julien Duvivier
  • Karel Reisz
  • Ken Loach
  • Kenji Mizoguchi
  • Kenneth Anger
  • Kevin Costner
  • Kevin Smith
  • Kim Ki-duk
  • King Hu
  • King Vidor
  • Larry Charles
  • Lars von Trier
  • Lawrence Kasdan
  • Leni Riefenstahl
  • Leo McCarey
  • Lewis Milestone
  • Lindsay Anderson
  • Lloyd Bacon
  • Lowell Sherman
  • Luis Bunuel
  • Ma-Xu Weibang
  • Marcel Carne
  • Mark Sandrich
  • Marlon Brando
  • Martin Ritt
  • Mel Brooks
  • Mel Stuart
  • Merian C. Cooper
  • Mervyn LeRoy
  • Michael Curtiz
  • Michael Haneke
  • Michael Moore
  • Michael Powell
  • Michael Snow
  • Michelangelo Antonioni
  • Mike Hodges
  • Mike Nichols
  • Miklos Jancso
  • Nelson Pereira dos Santos
  • Norman Jewison
  • Norman Z. McLeod
  • Olivier Dahan
  • Orson Welles
  • Otto Preminger
  • Paolo Cavara
  • Park Chan-wook
  • Paul Haggis
  • Paul Thomas Anderson
  • Penny Marshall
  • Peter Bogdanovich
  • Peter Greenaway
  • Peter Jackson
  • Peter Watkins
  • Peter Weir
  • Phillip Noyce
  • Pier Paolo Pasolini
  • Preston Sturges
  • Quentin Tarantino
  • Randa Haines
  • Raoul Walsh
  • Ray Lawrence
  • Rene Clair
  • Richard Attenborough
  • Richard Lester
  • Richard Linklater
  • Rob Reiner
  • Robert Aldrich
  • Robert Benton
  • Robert J. Flaherty
  • Robert Mulligan
  • Robert Redford
  • Robert Rossen
  • Robert Wise
  • Roger Corman
  • Roman Polanski
  • Rouben Mamoulian
  • Sacha Guitry
  • Sam Mendes
  • Sam Raimi
  • Sam Wood
  • Sergei Parajanov
  • Sergei Yutkevich
  • Sergio Leone
  • Sidney Lumet
  • Stan Brakhage
  • Stanley Donen
  • Stephen Frears
  • Steve James
  • Steven Soderbergh
  • Steven Spielberg
  • Stuart Rosenberg
  • Takashi Miike
  • Tay Garnett
  • Terence Fisher
  • Theo Angelopoulos
  • Thomas Vinterberg
  • Tim Burton
  • Tod Browning
  • Valerie Faris
  • Vera Chytilova
  • Victor Fleming
  • W.S. Van Dyke
  • Wes Craven
  • William A. Seiter
  • William A. Wellman
  • William Cameron Menzies
  • William Dieterle
  • William Friedkin
  • William Keighley
  • William Wyler
  • Wim Wenders
  • Wojciech Has
  • Wolfgang Reitherman
  • Woody Allen

Blog Archive

  • ►  2012 (81)
    • ►  mayo (10)
    • ►  abril (20)
    • ►  marzo (11)
    • ►  febrero (1)
    • ►  enero (39)
  • ►  2011 (216)
    • ►  diciembre (30)
    • ►  noviembre (19)
    • ►  octubre (17)
    • ►  septiembre (2)
    • ►  agosto (23)
    • ►  julio (47)
    • ►  junio (9)
    • ►  mayo (1)
    • ►  abril (25)
    • ►  marzo (20)
    • ►  febrero (22)
    • ►  enero (1)
  • ▼  2010 (190)
    • ►  diciembre (2)
    • ►  noviembre (32)
    • ►  octubre (32)
    • ►  septiembre (27)
    • ▼  julio (8)
      • 144. The Maltese Falcon (1941)
      • 143. The Wolf Man (1941)
      • 142. The Lady Eve (1941)
      • 141. Citizen Kane (1941)
      • 140. The Bank Dick (1940)
      • 138. Pinocchio (1940)
      • 137. Dance, Girl, Dance (1940)
      • 136. The Grapes of Wrath (1940)
    • ►  junio (4)
    • ►  mayo (1)
    • ►  marzo (25)
    • ►  febrero (34)
    • ►  enero (25)
  • ►  2009 (12)
    • ►  diciembre (12)
Con la tecnología de Blogger.

Datos personales

Unknown
Ver todo mi perfil