MALTESE FALCON, THE(1941)
Sam Spade(Humphry Bogart) and his partner are hired
by an attractive woman who is concerned about her
sister who has been whisked off by an apparent
shyster! She's concerned that he's up to no good!
While tailing the suspect, Spade's partner is shot
and killed by who knows who!! A really great twisted
tale!!
Not only is this a great mystery movie, but just a
plain great movie of any kind!! Humphry's acting is
his usual excellence, and those around him do a
great job too!!! In this is Ward Bond(Wagon Train),
Elisha Cook Jr.(Star Trek TOS Episode "Court
Martial", Magnum P.I.[Ice Pick]) and the great
Peter Lorre!!!! A+
A review from an IMDb.com customer:
With a fine combination of cast, characters, story, and
atmosphere, this classic is one of the most entertaining
films of its kind, enjoyable even after several viewings.
It gets you right into the action and introduces you to a
list of interesting personalities, who mesh together nicely
and who are also matched well with the cast members.
Beyond that, it's also effective as a character study
involving greed, trust and distrust, and conflicting
ethics.
Sam Spade is an ideal role for Bogart, giving him plenty
to work with and some very good dialogue as well.
Peter Lorre and Sydney Greenstreet are very entertaining,
providing suitable foils for Bogart, and they really take
the film up a notch. The rest of the cast also works well
(worth mentioning is Elisha Cook, Jr., whose character
doesn't do a lot, but who provides Bogart with some
very amusing moments at his expense). The story is
nicely adapted from the novel, and each scene is
constructed well, with everything moving along nicely
from start to finish.
If you are a fan of either film noir or mysteries, make
this a must-see. There are very few films that work as
well as "The Maltese Falcon". - Snow Leopard