Rating: 
Summary: Who dunnit? Who cares?
Review: There are so many archetypes in this film because it is based on one of several books written by Dashiell Hammett who invested detective fiction with so many innovations of his own. The result is a delightful film in which private investigator Sam Spade (Bogart) attempts to answer a series of questions which somehow seem much more important to him than they do to those who see this film. The screenplay is based on one of Hammett's novels and was written by John Huston. This is also the first film Huston directed. He and Bogart worked together on four other classics: Key Largo and The Treasure of Sierra Madre (both released in 1948), The African Queen (1951), and Beat the Devil (1953). If anything, I find this film even more amusing now than I did when I first saw it. How about the names of the characters? Miss Wonderly/Brigid O'Shaughnessy (Astor), Joel Cairo (Lorre), and Kaspar Gutman (Greenstreet). Someone's tongue was firmly in the nearest cheek. The plot makes little (if any) sense but who cares? The film's greatness is explained by the consistently superior acting and by the dialogue which never loses its Snap! Crackle! and Pop! To his great credit, amidst all the harmless nonsense, Bogart maintains his gravitas. He seems genuinely interested in "getting to the truth" to explain why his partner was murdered, why the Maltese Falcon is so valuable, etc. We tag along so as not to miss any of his interactions with a truly colorful cast of characters. Yes, that's Elisha Cook, Jr. in the role of Wilmer Cook. (No relation.) And yes, that's Huston's father Walter as Captain Jacobi. If you have not already seen it, why wait? If you have, see it again. Somehow it gets better and better, time after time, year after year after year.
Rating: 
Summary: Extremely Overrated
Review: 'The Maltese Falcon' is considered a classic, but I found it extremely overrated. I just couldn't get into a film where everyone is trying to take possession of a statue falcon. Seemes pretty shallow to me.
Rating:
Summary: In 1539 The Knight Templars of Malta¿
Review: ...paid tribute to Charles V of Spain, by sending him A Golden Falcon encrusted from beak to claw with rarest jewels..."
The Falcon was lost in time and a mystery begins when a beautiful but enigmatic woman shows up at the Spade and Archer detective agency. She gives them a story that is implausible; however they are well paid. This leads to the death of Archer. Who did it and why? The police suspect Sam Spade. Who do you suspect? As the story unfolds many suspects show up and the mystery of the missing falcon continues.
I will not go through the whole story However there is many well know actors and Hammett dialog.
I only give stars to the movie and never the media. However I lucked out because this DVD (ASIN: 6305729328) is crisp and clear and B&W. You are not forced to watch the extras but have them as an added plus.
Rating:
Summary: Gets better with each viewing - A great, great classic
Review: The mark of a truly great film is that it not only holds up with each reviewing, but actually gets better and more impressive. While it is always exhilarating to enjoy the plot the first time through, once you know what is going to happen, you get to focus on other, smaller things that may have escaped you before. For instance, notice that each scene begins with either a camera or a character in motion. You don't just get a cut to the inside of a room, but a cut to a character entering a room. This gives the film as a whole a very active, energetic feel, as if the whole picture were alive. It puts you, the viewer, in the middle of the action, instead of merely passively sitting back and watching the scenes unfold before you. Subtleties like this help make this one of the truly great films Hollywood produced.Humphrey Bogart was not an A-list actor when this film came out. He was afterwards. Earlier in 1941 he had surprised Hollywood by excelling in a lead role in HIGH SIERRA, so his success in THE MALTESE FALCON was not a complete surprise. From this point onwards, Warners and other studios always were on the lookout for the next film for him to star in. Before, he got roles by default. Note: many think he got the lead in CASABLANCA by default, but in fact Warners had him cast in the role from the beginning, but spread some false information about who was to star in it (e.g., Ronald Reagan) in order to build suspense as to who would star. But CASABLANCA was intended as a Bogart vehicle from the start, thanks to THE MALTESE FALCON. Apart from the magnificent direction by John Huston (shown in such details as the active camera mentioned above), there are two major reasons this film succeeds so well. First, many point to this film as one of the very few that is as good as the novel upon which it is based. The reason for this in this case is the fact that John Huston stuck as close to the novel as was possible in Hays Office Hollywood (i.e., he had to tone certain things down to pass the Code, like Joel Cairo's homosexuality, which was far more commented upon in the novel). Most of the best scenes are taken word-for-word from the novel, such as the "Fat Man's" great conversation with Sam Spade. Dashiell Hammett had a genius for hard-hitting dialog, and Huston wisely decided to leave it alone. Huston was brilliant at transparently adapting Hammett's novel with as little tinkering as possible. The third great reason for the film's success is the virtually perfect cast. Although Bogart wasn't the first choice for the film, it is now impossible to imagine anyone else in the role. The movie, in fact, made stars of many of the principles involved. Mary Astor had her career revived, Sydney Greenstreet immediately became one of the leading character actors in Hollywood, Elisha Wood Jr. became a familiar face in film, and Peter Lorre, who had made a long string of films in England and the US (including the Mr. Moto movies) since leaving Germany upon the Nazis rise to power, became a much more prominent figure in American film. Huston himself was one of the more prominent directors in Hollywood for the rest of his career, thanks to his great success in this, his first film. A final note: the film is remarkable for its cinematography, and is rightfully considered one of the first film noirs for its use of light and shadow. Interestingly, the person in charge of photography, Arthur Edeson, had been the cinematographer on the 1936 William Dieterle's SATAN MET A LADY, the second film version of Hammett's novel, the film (Huston's being the third). I'm not aware if his previous experience added to the quality of the film, but it is a fascinating coincidence.
Rating:
Summary: Film Noir at its Finist....the Falcon forever shines...
Review: This is an old classic detective movie starring Bogart at its finish. Set in the bay area back then and the plot is tight. This movie sets a trend for Bogarts for his later movies so if you haven't seen it yet, i highly recommend it especially if ur into old classic bogart movies. The lines come write off the novel and i enjoy every minute of it. A true classic that you can watch over and over again like Casablanca.
Rating: 
Summary: Wonderful Interpretation
Review: ... I'm not sure why. The Maltese Falcon should be enshrined in the pantheon of great movies for several reasons. First, it is almost an exact interpretation of the book - right down to the little detail of the way Spade is amused at his own hand shaking after confronting Gutman. Second - the performances. Bogart immortalized two of the 20th century's greatest detectives - Philip Marlowe and Sam Spade. Peter Lorre is unforgetable as Cairo and there is the inimitable Sydney Greenstreet as Gutman. True, I didn't picture Brigid O'Shaugnessy as Mary Astor, but that's a trifle here. This is a gem of cinema that allows us to travel to a time, place, and STYLE that doesn't exist anymore.
Rating:
Summary: THE STUFF THAT DREAMS ARE MADE OF, LOOKS A LITTLE DUSTY
Review: This is one of those Humphrey Bogart classics that always draws an audience. Bogart is Sam Spade and here he's in search of a mysterious statue rumored to be encrusted with jewels from the king of Spain. He's got company in the chase - a couple of murderers fronted by the considerable girth of Casper Guttman (Sidney Greenstreet) and a real vixen in the embodiment of Miss O'Shaughnessy (Mary Astor). This is the stuff that dreams are made of!
Unfortunately Warner Brothers DVD falls short of making the dream sparkle. The years have not been good to this classic and although most of the film exhibits a clarity and contrast level far superior to any version released to home video prior to this, the original film negative is still riddled with camera splices, water stains and scratches. There's also some fine detail shimmering and a hint of edge enhancement, coupled with some digital noise, that makes the print look rather grainy at times. Like Warners release of "The Big Sleep" or "Key Largo", these films need to be revisited by Warner with a completely new digital transfer. The sound is mono and well worn as well, though its sonic characteristics tend to hold up quite well under scrutiny. No extras here - a real shame!
Rating:
Summary: Dark and sexy
Review: So much has been written about this seminal motion picture. For the uninitiated it's a great introduction to Bogie; modern audiences used to sex-drenched movies will be surprised at the current of strong, overt sexuality that weaves its way through The Maltese Falcon's fanciful plot. Once again, more proof that other generations had carnal activities on their minds when they went to the movies! As for special features, this disc offers an interesting portrait of how the Bogart image evolved at Warner Brothers via an examination of movie trailers. The piece, which originally aired on TCM and is hosted by Robert Osborne, is a smart examination of movie star image as cultivated through the grinder of studio PR.
Rating:
Summary: The Stuff That Dreams Are Made Of On DVD
Review: Seldom has any novel been so successfully interpreted on screen: in approaching Dashiell Hammett's seminal private-eye novel, director John Huston not only stayed meticulously true to the plot, he also lifted great chunks on the novel's dialogue directly into the script--and then styled the pace, cinematography, and performances to reflect Hammett's stripped-for-action tone. And the result, to borrow a phrase from the film, is "the stuff that dreams are made of." THE MALTESE FALCON is a iconographic landmark in twentieth century cinema. The story is well known. Private eyes Sam Spade and Miles Archer are employed by an attractive but decidedly questionable Brigid O'Shaughnessy to track down a man named Thursby--but within hours of taking the case both Miles Archer and Thursby are shot dead, and Spade finds himself embroiled in a search for a legendary lost treasure: the figure of a falcon, encrusted with jewels. The cast is remarkable. Humphrey Bogart made a name for himself first on the stage and then in films with a series of memorable gangster roles, and was fresh from his great success in HIGH SIERRA; Sam Spade, which offered a new twist on his already established persona, was an inspired bit of casting. Mary Astor had been a great star in silent film, but the late twenties and early thirties found her dogged by scandal; perhaps deliberately playing on those memories, she brought a remarkable mixture of toughness, tarnish, and absolute believability to the role of the very, very dangerous Brigid. And the chemistry between Bogart and Astor is a remarkable thing, a simmering sexuality that more glossy casting could have never achieved. The supporting cast is equally fine. Although a great star in Europe and the star of a number of 1930s films, Peter Lorre was still something of an unknown quanity in American film; Sidney Greenstreet was a minor stage actor with no screen experience; Elisha Cook was a well-liked but neglected character actor. But THE MALTESE FALCON would fix all three firmly in the public mind, and to some extent all three would continue to play variations of their FALCON roles for the rest of their lives. FALCON is particularly noted as one of several films that craftily circumvented the notorious "Production Code" by effectively implying but never directly stating the various sexual relations between the characters. Spade has clearly had an affair with Archer's wife, Iva; Archer is clearly a man on the sexual make, and leaps at the chance to tail Brigid. Lorre's lines effectively expose Brigid as man-hungry, and the script and situations do everything but flatly state that Lorre's character is homosexual. Perhaps most startling is the implied sexual relationship between Sidney Greenstreet and the hoodlum Elisha Cook, and the concluding implication that Lorre may well replace Cook in Greenstreet's affections. Just as the plotlines swirl and twist, so do the layers of innuendo and the tangles of sexual uncertainty--all of it adding to the film's feel of uneasy decadence and grittiness. The DVD bonuses are enjoyable but slight--two film trailers and a documentary that uses trailers to show how Warner Bros. marketed Bogart during the 1930s and 1940s. But even if it came without any bonuses the DVD would still be greatly welcomed: although it has not been restored in a computer-corrected sense, this is the finest print I have ever seen of the film, far superior to anything available on VHS. A great film, a true essential, and strongly, strongly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: "The uhhh... stuff that dreams are made of."
Review: "The Maltese Falcon" is such a famous movie, and so often parodied, that it can be difficult to separate your mind from it's history and just enjoy it. If you can do that, you are in for a treat. This if Film Noir at it's finest. All the dames are dangerously beautiful, and all the detectives are hard-boiled. Never, ever trust the Fat Man or anyone named Joel Cairo. Tense, moody and harsh are all adjectives that describe this film. The dialog is as sharp and as clever as Jane Austin. "The cheaper the crook, the gaudier the patter." The ending scene is one of cinema's greatest. You just can't go wrong with a true classic of this caliber. The DVD is great. The black and white is crisp and clear, and completely essential to the mood of the flick. Why anyone ever colorized the Maltese Falcon is beyond me, but here it is completely restored. The extra feature, "Becoming Attractions," is very interesting. It examines the Hollywood selling of Humphrey Bogart from background "heavy" to leading man.
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