Filmed almost entirely in interiors, it presents a claustrophobic world animated by betrayal, perversion and pain.
Comment
06/24/06
The Maltese Falcon (1941)
100
%
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:40
Fresh:40
Rotten:0
Average Rating:9/10
Consensus: Suspenseful, labyrinthine, and brilliantly cast, The Maltese Falcon is one of the most influential noirs -- as well as a showcase for Humphrey Bogart at his finest.
Runtime: 4 hrs 12 mins
Genre: Action/Adventure
Synopsis: Hard-drinking private eye Sam Spade (Humphrey Bogart) sleuths the backyard of San Francisco in search of an elusive black bird statuette while evading the setups of three disparate miscreants: the... [More]
Starring: Humphrey Bogart, Mary Astor, Gladys George, Peter Lorre
Director: John Huston
Reviews for The Maltese Falcon
Top CriticThe perfect movie experience.
01/01/00
Top CriticWith its dark, complex plotting, stark black-and-white photography, concentration on the baseness of man, and a cynical mood sustained to its still shockingly grim conclusion, this is the prototypical film noir.
10/16/07
Top CriticIt's close enough to a perfect film, but it is not one.
01/01/00
A true masterpiece.
09/17/01
This Spade is no stranger to the guile of shady clients and colorful suspects...
10/26/08
sharp and jagged... stripped clean
10/11/06
Film noir at its finest.
06/27/01
The Maltese Falcon is among the most important and influential movies to emerge from the Hollywood system -- as significant in some ways as its contemporary, Citizen Kane.
06/10/08
Mr. Huston gives promise of becoming one of the smartest directors in the field.
05/20/03
Top CriticBogart became Bogart in John Huston's great first film, a trend-setting, brilliantly cast adaptation of Dashiell Hammett's hardboiled novel ... This was the stuff that dreams -- and Hollywood -- was made of.
06/02/06
The Maltese Falcon (1941) is one of the most popular classic detective mysteries ever made, and one of the first in the dark film noir genre.
01/01/00
A must-see for anyone who wants to see a classic film the way they used to make 'em.
01/01/00
Among the movies we not only love but treasure, The Maltese Falcon stands as a great divide.
06/06/01
Top CriticIt's the stuff that dreams are made of.
01/01/00
Who can argue with Bogart's glower or Mary Astor in her ratty fur?
10/16/07
One of the most brilliant directorial debuts in Hollywood's history, this gem of a movie catapulted Humphrey Bogart to major stardom, offering one of his finest roles (with many memorable lines) as detective Sam Spade.
09/07/06
... part of what makes a film great is its power to obliterate whatever preconceptions we bring to it. There is brittle wit and sparkling harm and a very adult sense of fun present in The Maltese Falcon; it still works as a movie
09/09/07
One of the most interesting aspects of this classic movie is the way that Sam Spade thinks though the moral dilemmas.
04/20/02
The film is made up almost entirely of talk, and yet the performances are so wonderfully flamboyant and focused that conversations become the action of the movie.
08/22/08
Latest News for The Maltese Falcon
August 27, 2008:
Certified Fresh Picks from the WB Vault
It's the third-oldest American movie studio: the company that brought us Rin Tin Tin, convinced the world that the talkies were here to stay, and eventually grew into one of the... More...
June 22, 2007:
AFI Announces Top 100 Movies of All Time ... Again
Ten years ago the AFI gave us a list of the Top 100 American Films Ever Made -- and when that was done they churned out 15 other lists every few years. And then last night they... More...
April 20, 2006:
Interview With "Brick" Director Rian Johnson
A film noir set at a contemporary high school, "Brick" is a strange, tough little movie, a throwback to the days of Sam Spade that utilizes its young actors to... More...
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