The Maltese Falcon (1941)
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A hard-boiled private detective becomes entangled in a dangerous web of deceit while pursuing a priceless, jewel-encrusted statuette.
The story
In San Francisco, private investigators Sam Spade and Miles Archer meet a prospective client, Ruth Wonderly, who claims to be searching for her missing sister. After Archer is killed, Spade is left to navigate the investigation alone. He soon discovers that the woman is actually Brigid O'Shaughnessy, who admits her story was a fabrication. As Spade navigates a series of dangerous encounters with various men seeking the same mysterious 'black figure of a bird,' he must navigate a web of lies and shifting alliances. The plot centers on the pursuit of a priceless, jewel-encrusted falcon statuette, with each character willing to resort to deceit, betrayal, and even murder to claim it.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
In San Francisco, private investigators Sam Spade and Miles Archer meet Ruth Wonderly, who claims to be looking for her missing sister. After Archer is killed, Spade is left to investigate. He learns the woman is actually Brigid O'Shaughnessy, who admits her story was a lie. Spade is approached by Joel Cairo, who offers him money to find a 'black figure of a bird.' Spade eventually meets the 'Fat Man,' Kasper Gutman, who offers a large sum for the Maltese Falcon. After Spade is drugged and recovers, he finds the falcon on a burning ship and eventually faces Gutman, Cairo, and a man named Wilmer Cook. During a tense standoff, Gutman pays Spade for the falcon, but it is revealed to be a fake. Spade then turns Wilmer over to the police and confronts O'Shaughnessy, revealing he knows she killed Archer. He ultimately gives her up to the police and describes the statuette as 'the stuff that dreams are made of.'
- First release year
- 1941
- Runtime (minutes)
- 101
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- John Huston
- Writers
- John Huston · screenplay
- Cast and characters
- Humphrey Bogart · Sam Spade; Mary Astor · Ruth Wonderly/Brigid O'Shaughnessy; Gladys George · Iva Archer; Peter Lorre · Joel Cairo; Barton MacLane · Lieutenant Dundy; Lee Patrick · Effie Perine; Sydney Greenstreet · Kasper Gutman; Ward Bond · Detective Tom Polhaus
- Genres
- film noir; crime; mystery
- Themes
- deceit; betrayal; greed
- Tone and mood
- hard-boiled; suspenseful
- Premise and plot tags
- detective; treasure hunt
- Source material / true-story basis
- Dashiell Hammett's 1930 novel
- Reception
- The film was an immediate commercial and critical success, widely considered a landmark of the film noir genre and one of the most influential films of all time. It was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry in 1989.
- Reported review scores
- Rotten Tomatoes · score: 99% · scale: percentage · review count: 111; Metacritic · score: 97 · scale: 100 · review count: 16
- Awards and nominations
- Best Picture · Academy Awards · nomination; Best Supporting Actor · Academy Awards · nomination; Best Adapted Screenplay · Academy Awards · nomination
- Production trivia
- The film's prop falcon was sculpted by artist Fred Sexton.; The film was shot in sequence with almost no lines of dialogue eliminated.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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