The Maltese Falcon is the first crime melodrama with finish, speed and bang to come along in what seems ages.
The Maltese Falcon
A story as EXPLOSIVE as his BLAZING automatics!
1941 · 1h 40m · Approved
Crime, Mystery, Thriller
Directed by
John Huston
Overview
A private detective takes on a case that involves him with three eccentric criminals, a beautiful liar, and their quest for a priceless statuette.
Director and cast
- John Huston Director
- Humphrey Bogart as Sam Spade
- Mary Astor as Brigid O'Shaughnessy
- Gladys George as Iva Archer
- Peter Lorre as Joel Cairo
- Barton MacLane as Det. Lt. Dundy
- Lee Patrick as Effie Perine
- Sydney Greenstreet as Kasper Gutman
- Ward Bond as Det. Tom Polhaus
- Jerome Cowan Cast
- Elisha Cook Jr. Cast
Critics on Rotten Tomatoes
Top critics, in their words
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.
This is one of the best examples of actionful and suspenseful melodramatic story telling in cinematic form.
Who can argue with Bogart's glower or Mary Astor in her ratty fur?
Filmed almost entirely in interiors, it presents a claustrophobic world animated by betrayal, perversion and pain.
More films
Chinatown (1974)
Crime · Drama · Mystery · Thriller · R
Private eye Jake Gittes lives off of the murky moral climate of sunbaked, pre-World War II Southern California. Hired by a beautiful socialite to investigate her husband's extra-marital affair, Gittes is swept into a maelstrom of double dealings and deadly deceits, uncovering a web of personal and political scandals that come crashing ...
- Runtime
- 2h 10m
- Director
- Roman Polanski
- Cast
- Jack Nicholson, Faye Dunaway, John Huston
The Big Sleep (1946)
Crime · Mystery · Thriller · Approved
Private Investigator Philip Marlowe is hired by wealthy General Sternwood regarding a matter involving his youngest daughter Carmen. Before the complex case is over, Marlowe sees murder, blackmail, deception, and what might be love.
- Runtime
- 1h 54m
- Director
- Howard Hawks
- Cast
- Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, John Ridgely
Double Indemnity (1944)
Crime · Thriller · Approved
A seductive housewife draws an insurance salesman into a plot of adultery and crime to collect on her husband's insurance.
- Runtime
- 1h 47m
- Director
- Billy Wilder
- Cast
- Fred MacMurray, Barbara Stanwyck, Edward G. Robinson
Brick (2006)
Drama · Mystery · R
A teenage loner pushes his way into the underworld of a high school crime ring to investigate the disappearance of his ex-girlfriend.
- Runtime
- 1h 50m
- Director
- Rian Johnson
- Cast
- Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Emilie de Ravin, Nora Zehetner











Comments
Talk about the film with other members