When his partner Miles Archer (Jerome Cowan) is murdered, detective Sam Spade (Humphrey Bogart) is fingered as the prime suspect.
Spade’s first port of call is Miles’ last client, Bridgid O’Shaunessey (Mary Astor).
Spade quickly finds himself in the midst of a conspiracy based around a mysterious artefact.
Will Spade solve the mystery of Miles’ murder?
Back to Bogart, and another classic title I have never seen before.
I think I have avoided this movie because of how well-known it is.
What a joy.
This review is going to be brief - this movie is a bolt of pure entertainment. While it is largely based in sitting rooms, it is a testament to its pace and dynamism that The Maltese Falcon never drags.
Bogart holds the screen from the first second, but the scene which really showcases his star persona - tough, no-nonsense,whip-smart - is the first interrogation scene with the police at his home.
At once prickly and disarming, Bogart is a marvel. His closing crack asking the cops how he killed Thursby is the punchline on a tour-de-force of uncorked charisma.
This scene sums up the dynamics at play. Spade is the focus of other parties who will stop at nothing to get what they want.
What is miraculous about the movie is that while the stakes are clear, Bogart’s Spade is so cool under pressure, the question underpinning each predicament he is in, is how he will get out of this jam, rather than if.
Unlike the noir protagonists that would follow him, he seems immune to the charms of the femme fatale - it seems clear he does not believe O’Shaunessey, and is more concerned with working out why she is lying. There is some attraction underpinning their relationship, but unlike a lot of movie PIs, he is too cool-headed to let it influence him.
Fundamentally, what differentiates Bogart’s Spade from the verbose villains around him is that he does not like bullshit.
A sterling debut from writer-director John Huston, and one of Bogart’s best showcases.
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