Stripping off the veneer of the Maltese Falcon

It's always a treat to watch Bogey on a big screen without commercial interruptions. Such was the case yesterday when CineVerse featured "The Maltese Falcon," which prompted an in-depth group dialogue about the 1941 film noir classic. Much of what was conversed is summarized below.

WHAT MAKES THIS FILM MEMORABLE AND STAND THE TEST OF TIME 70 PLUS YEARS LATER?
· The steely charisma and distinctive acting style of Bogart, who commands every scene and demands your attention
· The curious assortment of characters in the story, as well as the outstanding casting of excellent character actors, especially Sidney Greenstreet and Caspar Gutman, but even the lesser parts, like Ward Bond as the cop and Elisha Cook Jr. as Wilmer
· The economy of direction: John Huston makes so much out of so little; this was a lower-budget production primarily shot in only a few rooms, and lacking a clear plot and action scenes; he creates magic with dialogue, tight editing, crafty angles and camera movement, and top notch performances; collectively, these elements create a film that moves deftly, with no fat or frivolous scenes, that feels perhaps too short instead of too long
· Interestingly, it’s the movie’s style, not its story, that propels it forward; it’s story is less about plot than character, as evidenced by the use of a McGuffin device (the black bird, which advances the story, but doesn’t really have any true significance); also, usually a “talky” picture is an inferior one, as film is a visual medium that relies on images more than words; but “talky” works perfectly here.

HOW WAS THE MALTESE FALCON THE FIRST OF ITS KIND IN MANY WAYS?
· It’s credited as being the first true film noir in that it incorporates many of the hallmark elements of noir style: a gritty urban crime story, a shady antihero lead, a femme fatale leading men to danger, high contrast lighting (dark shadows contrasting with lighter elements in the same frame)
· It’s the first movie directed by John Huston, who, along with a few other peers, became the first of a new breed of writer-director talents, including Orson Welles, Preston Sturges, and Billy Wilder
· It made a bona fide star out of Bogart, who had been previously delegated to bad-guy bit roles primarily in B movies
· It was the first pairing of Bogart, Greenstreet and Lorre, who would go on to appear together in several other films (Lorre and Greenstreet teamed up for 10 total films)
· It set the template for the private eye detective movie, establishing an antihero lead who engages in questionable acts of morality/immorality and who knows at least as much information if not more than the audience

HOW WOULD THE MALTESE FALCON HAVE BEEN CONTROVERSIAL AND EYE-OPENING FOR ITS TIME (1941)?
· Sam Spade is not your typical protagonist who can claim moral authority; he is a shady character who isn’t afraid to lie, connive and use people, and he gets away with this behavior; this was somewhat different for an investigator character up to this point
· The film hints at many sexual deviancies: Spade is having an affair with his dead partner’s wife; Spade is sleeping with his client Brigid; Cairo is an obviously gay and effeminate character; Gutman is suggested as having a relationship with Wilmer and Cairo; Cairo carries a phallic symbol cane that he caresses creepily and puts near his mouth
· The movie dispenses with fluff, glamor and sympathy: the characters aren’t glamorized; there are no tacked on comic relief scenes or musical interludes, which were still popular at this time; we aren’t given any backstory about Spade that demands our sympathy

THE NAMES OF THE CHARACTERS IN THIS MOVIE ARE ACTUALLY QUITE REVEALING. CAN YOU GIVE EXAMPLES?
· Sam Spade: a man who can call a spade a spade and isn’t afraid to bury his partner while also sleeping with the widow
· Wonderly: A combination of wonderful and lay; notice, by the way, how Astor’s character is engaged in scenes that suggest prison: she wears striped pajamas, the Venetian blinds cast bars of light and shadow across her path, the furniture in the room is striped, and the bars on the elevator cage cross her face like the bars of jail cell.
· Brigid: just a consonant away from “frigid”
· Gutman: the perfect name for an obese person gluttonous with greed
· Dundy: a name that connotes “dunderhead” or “dunce”
· Wilmer: easily mistaken for “Wilma” and a moniker that connotes lack of masculinity
· Cairo: an exotic, mysterious word, conjuring up images of foreign lands

OTHER FILMS BY JOHN HUSTON
· Treasure of the Sierra Madre*
· Key Largo
· The Asphalt Jungle
· The African Queen
· Moby Dick*
· The Misfits*
· The Man Who Would Be King*
· Prizzi’s Honor
· The Dead