The Maltese Falcon
The year was 1941 and our country had not yet gone to war. On October 3rd Warner Brothers released a black and white film that was destined to become one of the best American movies of all times. It starred Humphrey Bogart as the hard-boiled private eye Sam Spade. The action takes place in San Francisco while the storyline involves the search for a stolen statuette called the Maltese Falcon.
Bogart portrays Spade as hard and cynical, though still adhering to some personal code of honor regarding his profession. Bogart’s performance rescues him from a decade of middling roles in B gangster movies and positions him as a great movie star.
George Raft was originally offered the part of Sam Spade, but turned it down because he didn’t want to be directed by the newbie untried director John Huston, who for the next 40 years would be a prolific maker of movies. Huston also wrote the screenplay that set the stage for a decade in which unsentimental heroes talked tough and cracked wise. To describe the plot in a logical fashion is almost impossible.
In this movie are a number of unsavory villains, who want the Falcon (said to be made of gold and encrusted with jewels) for their own greedy purposes. There is 61 year old Sidney Greenstreet who makes his first screen appearance after 40 years of being on the stage. He is paired with Peter Lorre. The two men worked so well together that they make nine other movies including “Casablanca” in 1942.
This movie is partly based on fact. In 1530 the Order of the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem agreed to pay Spanish Emperor Charles V an annual tribute of a single falcon as ‘rent’ for the island of Malta. But the actual birds were living ones and not gold covered with jewels as created by Author Dashiell Hammett 75 years ago.
The moment everyone remembers from “The Maltese Falcon” comes near the end, when Brigit O’Shaughnessy (Mary Astor) has been collared for murdering Spade’s partner. She says she loves Spade. She asks if Sam loves her. She pleads for him to spare her from the law. And he replies, in a speech some people can quote by heart, “I hope they don’t hang you precious, by that sweet neck. The chances are you’ll get off with life. That means if you’re a good girl, you’ll be out in 20 years. I’ll be waiting for you. If they hang you, I’ll always remember you.”
This movie was nominated for Best Picture in 1942. However, the Academy Award went of “How Green is My Valley.” Sidney Greenstreet was nominated for the best supporting actor and John Huston for the best screenplay. Neither one received an Oscar for their parts in the Maltese Falcon.