Rating: 
Summary: "The stuff dreams are made of..."
Review: The Maltese Falcon is one of those often imitated but never surpassed films. It has set the standard for years for detective movies, but its dark atmosphere, fantastic script, and gripping tension have never really been achieved (possibly The Big Sleep, another Humphrey Bogart mystery, comes close) since. The plot is rather complicated, and to explain it in detail would be to give away the point of the movie. Still, the movie mainly deals with two elements: one is a seemingly innocent girl whose appeal for help to Sam Spade (Humphery Bogart) and his partner leads to several mysterious murders, and the other is the web of crime relating to the priceless Maltese Falcon. As the movie progresses, the relation between the two elements becomes clearer and clearer...but to say anymore would be to spoil too much! But even though the plot is very interesting and thrilling, what really makes this film special is the atmosphere, the script, and the acting. The black-and-white cinematography is great, and the scenes, which are kept shadowy, give the movie a chilling, dark atmosphere - it really is a film noir. The script is fantastic, and Humphery Bogart brings the wisecracking, tough Sam Spade to life. He is the perfect incarnation of the streetwise, cunning detective - always ready to fight, but smart enough to not have not do so very often. In another of Humphery Bogart's films, The Big Sleep, in which he plays a similar character, a girl tells Bogart that he is not very tall. His response is typical, and is the epitome of his attitude - yes, he admits, I'm not very tall, but "I try to be," he explains. His comment says it all: he is not tall, but he projects a fantastic tough guy image nonetheless. Anyhow, his performance is wonderful - it is his quintessential role! The other actors, especially the girl he deals with, are good as well. All in all, this is a must-see film - and it is OK for the whole family, although it may be a little hard to follow for younger children. I don't know how else to recommend this...get it soon!
Rating:
Summary: The Stuff Dreams Are Made Of!
Review: 'The Maltese Falcon' is the granddaddy of the modern detective movie, as well as the first of the 'film noir' genre, which should impress any film buff looking for an 'essential' film for his collection...But even if you're not, I'd STRONGLY recommend this DVD edition, as a terrific film with a first-rate cast! Hollywood legend has it that George Raft had been cast as detective Sam Spade, in this third version of the Dashiell Hammett novel (it had been filmed 10 years earlier, with Ricardo Cortez as Spade, and a few years later, with Bette Davis in the Astor role). Raft refused to work with novice director John Huston, however, and Humphrey Bogart, fresh from his breakthrough success in 'High Sierra', inherited the role...and a legendary team was formed! Huston was a master of sharp, witty dialogue and character, and nobody could play a loner with a code of honor better than Bogart; together, they were unbeatable! The premise involves a statue of a falcon said to have a fortune in jewels under the lead paint covering it, but this is really a tale of greed, betrayal, and murder. The cast of characters is unforgettable; in addition to Bogart's Spade, there is the beautiful and mysterious Brigid O'Shaughnessy (Mary Astor), slickly effeminate Joel Cairo (Peter Lorre), gregarious and self-centered Kasper Gutman (Sidney Greenstreet, in his finest role), and Gutman's young, psychotic hitman (Elisha Cook, Jr.). Even the minor characters are indelibly etched, with great performances by Lee Patrick, Jerome Cowan, Barton Maclaine, and Ward Bond. We follow Spade, as he journeys deeper and deeper into a spiderweb of deception, hunting for the statue and investigating his partner's murder, while becoming romantically involved with O'Shaughnessy. The film never loses momentum, and the climax has the kind of irony that became a John Huston trademark! The DVD edition offers a wealth of 'extras', including a fabulous retrospective of Bogart's years at Warner Brothers, using his 'trailers' as guideposts. Hosted by Robert Osborne, of Turner Classic Movies, this documentary is worth the price of the DVD, by itself! Treat yourself to a film you'll enjoy again and again! 'The Maltese Falcon' will be a prized film in your collection!
Rating: 
Summary: Come on, Warner Bros!
Review: How is it in this age of computer technology, Warner Bros. is still churning out these black-and-white DVD's? Colorization should be a given. As it is, I can't make out a thing in this non-colored transfer. Until the colorized version is released for everyone to enjoy, I'm not going to buy it.
Rating:
Summary: Cheers to Warner Bros for Not Colorising This Classic!
Review: The Maltese Falcon is a superb movie. A bonafide classic masterpiece with top notch acting from the entire cast, Bogart, Lorre, etc! Meaning no disrespect towards Leonard Snerdley the reviewer who hates black and white movies and think they should be colorized, everyone is entitled to their opinions but still I just have to very strongly disagree with you! Being a film buff I think the old black and white classics are works of art and colorizing them is a bad idea and colorized movies look awful and fake! Cheers To Warners Bros for not coloriing this black and white cinematic treasure! Black and white is a beautiful art form!
Rating:
Summary: Classic gumshoe tale with a great cast
Review: This was John Huston's first film and some say his best. It features a most interesting cast led by Humphrey Bogart who, one can see, had a great time playing the devil-may-care and cynical private eye, Sam Spade, a creation of mystery novelist Dashiell Hammett, who also created another cinematic favorite, The Thin Man (1934) (and sequels) starring William Powell and Myrna Loy. Playing opposite Bogey as the tearful and treacherous Brigid O'Shaughnessy is Mary Astor, at the time in her mid-thirties and a veteran of many films going back to the silent era. Interestingly enough one of the films was The Runaway Bride (1930). In Hollywood the films never change, they just get make-overs. Peter Lorre plays the perfumed and villainous Joel Cairo in a style both humorous and sinister. His distinctive high pitched voice has become a staple of cartoon villains. Sidney Greenstreet, the rotund one, who catches up on his reading while they await the delivery of the falcon, plays Kasper Gutman, art connoisseur and sly crook. Elisha Cook Jr., the eternal little man with a gun, whose face seldom changes expression from that of hurtful vengeance, plays Wilmer Cook, Gutman's bodyguard. What makes this film the favorite of so many is the supremely confident manner in which Sam Spade deals with not only the motley assortment of crooks and con artists, but with the police, tearful women and the district attorney. He's a man's man whose rationality and good old fashioned common sense allow him to spot deception in the twinkling of an eye and give him the power to turn his back on love if there are strings attached. The cosmopolitan air and the sophisticated script allow the players full scope and they are fascinating to watch. Astor's fake tears and feigned innocence cause both Bogey and the audience to grin broadly. And the tête-a-têtes among all the characters, but especially between Greenstreet and Bogart and Lorre and Bogart--the big eyes, the greedy grabbing of guns--are the kind of scenes you can watch again and again with pleasure. Some see greed as the theme of this film, and indeed John Huston is very good at delineating the psychology of greed--witness also his The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948)--but in the existential character of Sam Spade we see an American legend come to life. He is the thinking man of action living life by his wits and an independent code, the kind of man who takes life as it comes but without ever losing his sense of humor, the kind of guy we'd all like to be. There are a couple of earlier version of this film, The Maltese Falcon (1931) with Bebe Daniels and Ricado Cortez, and one starring Bette Davis and Warren William called Satan Met a Lady (1936), neither of which I've seen, but I understand that the 1931 version is very good. With help from a script by Truman Capote, Huston made a kind of a spoof in Beat the Devil (1954). Incidentally, in this and in The Big Sleep (1946), Bogart never really plays the gumshoe with the kind of hard-nosed disregard for conventional morality as envisioned in the novels, but is politically-corrected for the mass movie audience. Note here however that the first thing Sam Spade does when he gets the guys unconscious is to go through their wallets. Bottom line: a classic and a treat. Don't miss it.
Rating:
Summary: Bogart at his best in a great detective film.
Review: "The Maltese Falcon" remains one of the great detective films of all time. Humphrey Bogart was never better than as Sam Spade investigating the death of his partner Myles Archer. He soon turns his attention to finding a famous and valuable statue, the Maltese Falcon. A great supporting cast of actors hinders his search. First is "the dame," Mary Astor, who knows how to lie, except to Bogart. Next is "the fat man," capably played by Sidney Greenstreet. Elisha Cook Jr. is "the gunsel" who works for Greenstreet, but who can't match Bogie for toughness and savy. Peter Lorre is the perfumed "weasel" trying to lay claim to the falcon, but who is slapped down by Bogart who tells him that when he is hit he will "take it and like it." Ward Bond shows up as a police officer trying to keep Bogie out of trouble, but he is having a hard time smoothing things over with his lieutenant. This great film is a close adaptation of Dashiel Hammett's classic novel of the same name. Viewers who love the film will enjoy the book just as much and be prompted to get Bogie's other famous detective film, "The Big Sleep." In my opinion Humphrey Bogart is the single greatest American actor and "The Maltese Falcon" showcases his considerable talents.
Rating:
Summary: A Very Clever Film
Review: The film is very clever and kind of twists you up a bit at the end. You have to pay attention to really capture the essence. Some greedy lowlifes want to get the Maltese falcon which apparently was part of the treasure given to the Knights Templar from the kingdom of Spain. Does anybody remember the Knights from the Da Vinci Code. Anyways, detective Sam Spade gets involved. His partner gets killed early on in the story and he hooks up where his partner left off. The cops think he killed his partner and most everybody sees him as a good for nothing. He plays it like that, trying to play his hand to the highest bidder, acting as if he wants the money, that thats all he is concerned with. The lowlifes project that on to him, because thats what they see in themselves. The cops don't trust him. He seems to be a one man show but is it for the money or for the need to see justice proclaimed. Bogart does a real good job in his character and the film noir is never better! The dialog is snappy and intelligent. I'm glad I am watching these movies. I thought the classics would be sort of silly, and old fashioned but this film shows real clarity. Lisa Nary
Rating:
Summary: The stuff dreams are made of . . .
Review: This is a fine noir treatment of the Dashiell Hammett hard-boiled novel, and Humphrey Bogart is great as the cynical, highly controlled, and yet passionate Sam Spade. The Warner's supporting cast is familiar to any Bogart fan: Sidney Greenstreet as "the Fatman", Elisha Cook Jr. as the wannabe tough-guy thug, and Peter Lorre as the sleazy but dangerous criminal entrepreneur who would betray his mother for the golden bird. Mary Astor has a tough role to play in this film: vulnerable yet ruthless, scheming, and yet with a smoldering passion that ignites Bogart's own desire. She pulls it off, although Sam Spade was clearly thinking with the more private part of his anatomy when he fell for her. Watching the film, you can just see she's trouble, but Spade wouldn't be the first guy to let his drum major do his thinking for him. Yet he never loses his cool. And in the end, the seductive femme fatale gets what's coming to her. As for the bird, well the gleam of desire in the eyes of everyone in the film when they finally get it in their hands shows what it means . . . as Bogie said, "It's the stuff that dreams are made of." Great dialogue, great cast, great film.
Rating:
Summary: Bogart at his best in a great detective film.
Review: "The Maltese Falcon" remains one of the great detective films of all time. Humphrey Bogart was never better than as Sam Spade investigating the death of his partner Myles Archer. He soon turns his attention to finding a famous and valuable statue, the Maltese Falcon. A great supporting cast of actors hinders his search. First is "the dame," Mary Astor, who knows how to lie, except to Bogart. Next is "the fat man," capably played by Sidney Greenstreet. Elisha Cook Jr. is "the gunsel" who works for Greenstreet, but who can't match Bogie for toughness and savy. Peter Lorre is the perfumed "weasel" trying to lay claim to the falcon, but who is slapped down by Bogart who tells him that when he is hit he will "take it and like it." Ward Bond shows up as a police officer trying to keep Bogie out of trouble, but he is having a hard time smoothing things over with his lieutenant. This great film is a close adaptation of Dashiel Hammett's classic novel of the same name. Viewers who love the film will enjoy the book just as much and be prompted to get Bogie's other famous detective film, "The Big Sleep." In my opinion Humphrey Bogart is the single greatest American actor and "The Maltese Falcon" showcases his considerable talents.
Rating: 
Summary: Defining Bogart
Review: Of all the movies and reviews of Humphrey Bogart, let this one stand and pronounce that the scene when he slaps Peter Lorre's face and tells him, "shut-up and like it..." is the defining moment in Bogart's career and especially this movie. Well crafted, but a bit loose on plot developement, The Maltese Falcon is what too many mystery/suspense movies trying to live up to an assumed description of what a "noir" film is supposed to be about, pledge their loyalties. Entertaining more than a fine film, The Maltese Falcon is a tour de force performance for Bogart. If you are a fan, then this is a must see. The camera work is also a good source for cameramen wannabes.
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