Maltese Falcon, The (BD)

Had seen this movie many times but not recently. The new bald eagle stamp series from the U.S. Post Office put me in the mind of the Maltese falcon because one of the stamps in the series bears a striking resemblance to it. And that’s how the DVD came to be ordered. Very glad to have watched such a fine film again. Each actor is wonderful, and it’s especially good to see Ward Bond in the role of a police officer/detective; he’s excellent. For fun, follow along with a copy of the original print story. The dialogue in the film hews very close to that in print. (Originally, the story appeared in a magazine in a short serialization – two parts.) Those who haven’t read Hammett’s work may at least want to read ‘The Maltese Falcon’ (if not ‘The Thin Man’). Regarding the falcon in print and on film, two things will surprise perhaps: Director Huston has softened up the film version of Spade; and Effie (Spade’s secretary), who really did think Bridgette O’Shaunessy (Mary Astor’s character) was okay, has the last word on the subject in print. Effie’s word (recoiling) reminds us how much Huston softened Spade. The film is five stars anyway one looks at it. Yet some of the extras on the disc were disturbing (to me) – a Looney Tunes about building and deploying armaments, not exactly the stuff of humor. (Clearly, in 1941, the buildup for WWII had begun, even though the USA had not entered the war in Europe or the Pacific.)

FORMAT: Blu-Ray UPC: 8-83929-11825-0 RELEASED: 2010-10-05 TITLE: The Maltese Falcon (1941) • NR • 1:40:32 Humphrey Bogart, Mary Astor, Peter Lorre, Sydney Greenstreet John Huston (Director) The movie that many film historians consider to be the very first example of "film noir"! (I personally DON'T agree with that assessment, as there are, in my opinion, MANY earlier examples of film noir — such as, Bogie's own Dead End from 1937.) Be that as it may, this is still an EXCELLENT movie — with its collection of odd-ball and/or duplicitous characters, with their various (and, nefarious) motivations, all plotting against one another in order to achieve some nebulous goal! This is the movie that cemented Humphrey Bogart as a superstar actor — and, it also changed John Huston from an erstwhile highly-respected screenwriter (and VERY small-time actor, on the side) into a VERY highly-respected screenwriter, and a MUCH sought-after director (with a slightly-more-frequent bit playing acting career, on the side). Of the MANY great things about this movie, one of the most important, in my opinion, is that EVERYBODY is perfectly cast — and, consequently, EVERY performance is pitch-perfect (Peter Lorre and Sydney Greenstreet, speaking of just two great examples of that aforementioned perfect casting, very nearly steal the movie). Another important aspect of this movie is its brilliant dialog — sometimes, while re-watching this movie, for the who-knows-how-many-time, I forget about following the plot and just absorb the wordplay between the characters (with the many snide remarks and sly innuendos). HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. See the other reviews for more detail and/or other opinions regarding the plot of the movie. VIDEO: 1.37:1 • B&W • 1080p • VC-1 (28.6 Mbps) Let's get the bad news out of the way off the top: Those of you that have seen Warners' glorious blu-ray presentation of Casablanca (1942) , and expect that SAME level of visual presentation here, with this release of "The Maltese Falcon" will be disappointed — but, only slightly so. While this movie's image has MANY of the same VERY positive visual attributes as "Casablanca" (namely: excellent contrast and gray-scale, great sharpness and detail, and a total (or, nearly so) absence of artifacts such as black specks, white dots, hair-lines or dropped frames), it also has some negative visual attributes of its own — that were non-existent (or, nearly so) in "Casablanca" (namely: a pervasive, ever-so-slight softness in MANY scenes, and a very few scenes that were overly "contrasty", with very limited gray-scale [yes, I know that film noir is known for its stark, high-contrast cinematography, but these scenes didn't match the appearance of the rest of the movie, and, further, look like they may have originated from less-than-pristine source elements]). OK, that's the "bad" news. Now, for the "good" news: This is still an EXCELLENT transfer to blu-ray. As a person who has owned this movie first on VHS tape and then later on Laser Disc, before purchasing this blu-ray version, I can tell you that this version is a visual revelation, and it looks FANTASTIC! Only a hyper-picky, so-called "videophile" could possibly have a "reason" to condemn the picture quality of this release — the rest of us will simply count our blessings and enjoy the show. AUDIO: DTS-HD Master Audio Mono (48 KHz, 24-bit) Again, just like with the audio presentation of "Casablanca", the fine sound engineers at Warner Home Video have done extensive clean-up work on the film's soundtrack, because there are no pops, bumps or hiss to speak of. Also, the dialog is very clear and natural sounding, with all voices being clearly defined and easily understood. However, the transfer's dynamic range is fairly limited, and there isn't any deep bass nor any top-end to speak of (though, the musical score does sound better than one would expect under the circumstances). Otherwise, considering the age of the source elements and the fact that this is a monophonic, dialog-driven movie from the early 1940s, this film's soundtrack has VERY good sound quality. EXTRAS: Commentary (by Bogart biographer Eric Lax) 'Making Of' Video (The Maltese Falcon: One Magnificent Bird [SD]) Becoming Attractions: The Trailers of Humphrey Bogart [SD] Warner Night at the Movies (interactive featurette [SD]) Gag Reel/Bloopers (Breakdowns of 1941 [SD]) Makeup Tests [SD] Trailers ('The Maltese Falcon' and 'Satan Met a Lady') Three Radio Show Adaptations of 'The Maltese Falcon' [SD = Standard Definition] None of the extras were reviewed.

Great quality and the delivery was on time.

One of the first American film noirs and certainly THE archetype for all detective movies for the next several decades, "The Maltese Falcon" both established Bogart as a true leading man movie star as well as introduce a brilliant new director in John Houston. These two would go on and do several more classic films together over the next decade or so. The main character, hard bitten and cynical private detective Sam Spade, gets drawn into a black hole of lies, double crosses and abject greed with a group of treasure hunters and we go along for the very bumpy ride. The film is based on the earlier classic novel of the same name by Dashiell Hammett and was unsuccessfully brought to the screen twice before in the previous decade. The iconic dialog, various character tropes and leading-edge filming techniques used to heighten shadow contrasts and odd disturbing camera angles all goes to creating the classic detective noir world we grow to know in so many future movies and TV shows over the next 80 plus years. Warner Bros. does a great job with this 4K Blu-ray presentation. The image is so clean and stable but still filmic with fine film grain, deep blacks, well delineated grayscales and nary a spot of damage. Increased detail in faces, clothing, etc. is very well noticed. The HDR really pops the contrasty specular highlights off of desk lamps, match lights, glistening sweat beads and other small details that go to add an almost 3D feel to the image. The DTS HD-MA 2.0 sound is full and undistorted. Dialog is clear and the music score has good fidelity. Standard earlier special features are ported over on the included Blu-ray disc. This is a must own for anyone building a physical media collection of great, classic cinema and is required viewing of any fan of noir.

Recently, I was reminded that the world belongs to our new graduates. And I am fine with that notion. Thus, I plan to give "The Maltese Falcon" as a "graduation gift" to one of our future world explorers because it is truly a treasure. Of course, I have had the pleasure of watching "The Maltese Falcon" on several occasions. It has even served as a "show stopper" towards the end of a cocktail party. Nevertheless, besides the superb acting by Humphrey Bogart, Mary Astor, and Sydney Greenstreet, I have begun to notice a few distinct characteristics about "Joel Cairo" who is perfectly portrayed by actor Peter Lorre. Specifically, when Joel Cairo initially met with Sam Spade, he's comes across as a somewhat respectable gent with the intentions of discussing a business proposition. When in actuality, Cairo has no money. Thereafter, the next thing you know, he's got the "drop" on Spade (pulled a gun), which made me conclude that no one should ever conduct business with a guy that possesses bulging eyes, wearing a weird looking bow tie, and who also totes a pointed edged cane. Later, he takes a few well deserved licks from Spade and even Ruth Wonderly played by the talented Mary Astor joins in on the act, when she kicks the living daylights out of him (rightfully so). Immediately thereafter, he readily screams, sniffles, and whines like a weasel to the police who happened to be nearby. And of course, they broke up the commotion. Oh darn!! Overall, I found Lorre's character irresistible!! In modern days, Danny Devito (i.e. a cab boss from the T.V. Series "Taxi") would be considered a good second and Jonah Hill (i.e. co-starred in"The Wolf Of Wall Street") could also be typed cast to play such a role. However, none could be more amusing, compelling or resilient than Peter Lorre's Joel Cairo character in the noted film. Notably, Lorre's trademark is when he widens his eyes (you know someone's in trouble). Clearly, I really relished Peter Lorre's kooky performance not only because it significantly added drama, intrigue, and mystery to the film, but it undoubtedly served as a source for other actors who have been typed cast to challenge such a peculiar and engaging role. Lastly, when you prepare your popcorn, add butter, and skip the salt. Enjoy!!

The granddaddy of the modern detective film, John Huston's 1941 "The Maltese Falcon", the third version of the Hammett source material, features a byzantine plot and a cast that cinematic dreams are made of. Although Bogart had played both sides of the law before, never had he combined them in one such flawed but compelling character as Sam Spade. Spade is the decidedly anti-heroic hero of the film, not above adultery, fornication and homophobia, but still devoted to a flexible code of honor: one's partner's death must be avenged, even if he is a lecher and you were sleeping with his wife. Bogart's morally complex character is evenly matched by those of Mary Astor (in the performance of her long career), whose permutations from seemingly innocent schoolgirl to manipulative and treacherous vixen are afforded three different names, none of which may be true. Using sex as but one in her formidable arsenal, Astor's chameleonic characters intrigue the police, the detectives and the gang of supremely inept but deadly thieves headed by Sydney Greenstreet, who embodies both greed and the desire to dominate in equal measure. His fellow travellers, incarnated by Peter Lorre, with a whiff of gardenia, and Elisha Cook, Jr. as a baby faced and completely insecure gunsel, are the victims of Spade's sexist taunting and mockery. The five actors are perfectly cast and totally irreplaceable, five cards dealt by the hand of Fate or a Deity with a particularly wicked and perverse sense of humor. The Blu-ray version is scrubbed free of speckles and the vivid black and white contrasts in this full screen film have never looked better. John Huston, making a most auspicious directorial debut, began to forge, in his alliance with Bogart, one of the most powerful director/actor partnerships the cinematic world would ever see. The brilliant script, direction, performances and ambience of "The Maltese Falcon" in this lovingly rendered Warner Blu-ray merit repeated viewings. If you want only one private eye movie in your collection, this is the one to get.

The Maltese Falcon is a great, classic movie, so it doesn't need me to speak up for it. The only reason I'm writing a review is because I'm frustrated with the quality of movie commentaries these days, including this one. The film scholar who does it seems like a nice enough guy, and he's certainly knowledgeable, but he and the studio chose the wrong knowledge to share, and go about it entirely the wrong way for the medium. Basically, the commentator is reading an essay to you; for much of the film, literally reading an essay to you. Most of it has no bearing on what's happening on the screen. It's the kind of information you would get from reading someone's obituary (or having it read to you by a stranger). So, as soon as Bogart or Astor or Lorre, etc., appears on the screen, we get 5-10 minutes of, "Peter Lorre was born on June 3rd, 1901, in St. Hildegaard's Infirmary in Hamburg. His mother, Matilda, was a baker's assistant who liked arranging flowers and knitting dinner jackets for cuckoo clocks. His father, Rudolf, was a narcoleptic fishmonger from Alsace, whom no one particularly liked. When Peter was three, he..." Stop! Guys, this is a commentary somebody is listening to while they watch the movie. Probably, they would like it to be about the movie, don't you think? If you can't fill the length of a movie like this one with interesting tidbits about what's happening on screen and stories about its making, etc., you need to back up, have a think, and try again. If you want to include biographical essays, fine, print them up and put them in the package; but, for the love of God, I beg you, do not read them to me during the movie. Wrong medium!

If you're looking for a definitive way to experience the iconic noir of The Maltese Falcon, look no further than the 4K release. Humphrey Bogart's Sam Spade has never looked sharper; the black and white cinematography truly shines with incredible depth and detail, making every shadowy corner and cynical glance pop. You'll practically feel the San Francisco fog creeping into your living room. It's a gorgeous restoration that breathes new life into a classic, proving that some treasures are indeed the stuff that dreams are made of. Highly recommended for fans of classic cinema and anyone who appreciates a perfectly rendered fedora.

Very well acted secret villains mystery with a surprise ending.

this is a classic, a much watch.

It’s a great film in every way. Sam Spade is one of Bogart’s finest performances, & he’s matched by Mary Astor, Sydney Greenstreet, Peter Lorre, Elisha Cook Jr. & more. With brilliant screenwriting & direction by John Huston, The Maltese Falcon will always be a masterpiece.

Excelente

I bought this as a used blu ray. Delivery was speedy & the product ok. The film is as brilliant as always. If you don’t know it, seek it out... Transfer is good and clear. While not to the absolute heights of ‘Criterion Collection’ releases its fine.