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Created Feb 01, 2009 06:08AM PST • Edited Feb 01, 2009 06:08AM PST

1. Quality

2. Summary

   Really Great 4.5

   A film noir twisting and turning and presenting Bogart at the top of his game, The Maltese Falcon is a deservedly classic Hollywood movie packed with subterfuge and manipulation from beginning to end.

4. Acting

   Great 4.0

   Humphrey Bogart is the centre of the movie in every sense – his performance is riveting as well as humorous. Sydney Greenstreet and Peter Lorre present the dark heart of the Falcon’s past, whilst Mary Astor plays the femme fatale/damsel in distress to increasingly divisive effect.

5. Male Stars Perfect 5.0

   Bogart dominates proceedings here – Sam Spade is, in the vein of previous and future Bogart characters, a sour and emotionless man who will do anything for profit – but for whom doing the right thing will always be the prerogative. The famous actor is at turns sinister, hilarious and sensitive (though he doesn’t present the latter until the conclusion). If you’re to watch a Bogart movie to get a sense of his best performance, this film is probably one of the more recommended flicks to catch.

6. Female Stars Very Good 3.5

   Mary Astor, formerly a silent movie actress, features here as Brigid, the woman who comes to Sam for help, and who entraps him in the Falcon conspiracies and manipulations. Astor is not the most attractive woman, but she makes up for that here by subtly changing her performance – Brigid is constantly lying to Sam, who sees right through her, and it’s a strength of her performance that Astor is so sneaky, so manipulative.

7. Female Costars Very Good 3.5

   Lee Patrick plays both secretary and confidante to Spade as Effie – a woman who clearly will do anything for the man, and the only person he can actually trust throughout the film. Gladys George, playing Iva Archer (Spade’s partner’s wife) adds one of the big mysteries to the film in that her character appears more significant at the onset than might be believed.

8. Male Costars Really Great 4.5

   Peter Lorre plays Joel Cairo, a bizarrely eccentric man who seeks the Falcon, and the famous character actor once again presents his distinctive voice and face to the viewer as a man who is prepared to make any deal or tell any lie to get what he wants. Sydney Greenstreet, making his film debut at 62, plays the Fat Man, a rich opportunist by the name of Kasper Gutman, and the veteran stage actor creates an icy, somewhat disturbing persona on-screen as another individual seeking the Falcon. Barton McClane, as Lt. Dundy, projects some hard-handed police cynicism into the film also, reminding the viewer that Spade is not operating beyond the reaches of the law.

10. Film

    Really Great 4.5

    Director John Huston’s first movie is an example of exemplar film-making; tight, focused scenes oozing with tension and terse, edgy dialogue. The soundtrack is old-fashioned Hollywood through and through, whilst the visuals in black-and-white are sumptuous when needed.

11. Direction Really Great 4.5

    Huston was given this film as his first directorial outing, and you really wouldn’t think this on watching the movie. He edits the scenes together with skill, Bogart hardly ever seeming to be out of frame and the camera capturing what it needs and nothing more. The actors, all at the top of their game, are presented respectfully onscreen, and Huston’s career after this first film is a reflection of the vision he had whilst making this.

12. Play Perfect 5.0

    As you might expect from a Dashiell Hammett novel, the script is taut, with Bogart and Lorre in particular getting many of the best lines. Bogart’s character Sam Spade receives many of the more dialogue-heavy scenes, but they seem to have been perfectly made for the actor’s infamous drawl.

13. Music Good 3.0

    The music, for what it is, suffices. Being an older film, the symphonic scores were not so popular nor necessary, and whilst this is a factor in the lesser significance of the music to this movie, it still doesn’t take away from the dramatic orchestration in the most tense scenes.

14. Visuals Really Great 4.5

    Filmed in black-and-white (obviously the limitation at the time) the movie makes the most of the monochromatic presentation – bright lights of interiors making the different tones stand out, and the night scenes reflecting the great amount of darkness during the evenings, as well as accentuating the tension.

15. Content

16. Edge

    Tame 1.0

    There is very little violence, and with the film being black and white, it wouldn’t make much difference anyway. Likewise, sex and profanity are nowhere to be seen – the censors would never have allowed it at the time anyway.

17. Sex Innocent 1.0

18. Violence Gentle 1.0

19. Rudeness Polite 1.0

21. Reality

    Natural 1.0

    The manipulations go a little deep and a little too mad at times, but it’s believable and realistic to think that a group of people would come together like this in pursuit of a mysterious treasure.

22. Circumstantial Natural 1.0

23. Biological Natural 1.0

24. Physical Natural 1.0