The Maltese Falcon

The Maltese Falcon is considered one of the most popular and best classic detective mysteries ever made. Sam Spade (Humphrey Bogart) is a partner in a private-eye firm who finds himself hounded by police when his partner is killed while tailing a man. The two accept the assignment because the money is good, but Spade also implies that the woman looks like trouble, though she seems innocent. The girl who asked him to follow the man turns out not to be who she says she is, and is really involved in something to do with the 'Maltese Falcon', a gold-encrusted life-sized statue of a falcon, the only one of its kind.


The Maltese Falcon is a widely recognized movie that has received many prestigious titles since its creation. This movie received three Oscars: Best Picture, Best Writing/Screenplay credited to the director John Huston, and Best Actor in a Supporting Role. It is also highly ranked amongst several movie associations: #85 on the IMDb 250 Best Movie List, #23 on AFI top 100 movies, and #26 on the AMC top 100 movies.

If you have read my previous blogs you have probably concluded my taste in movies is extremely shallow, meaning that classic movies usually cause me to fall asleep. Surprisingly, this movie was able to hold my attention. I think it was because it was fairly unpredictable and the acting was superb. Humphrey Bogart did a great job, although the chemistry with Brigid O'Shaughnessy was lacking. When they kissed it looked like he was killing her not loving her- but whatever! My favorite character was Joel Cairo because he had a funny accent and he was very unpredictable.


I would definitely recommend watching this classic mystery movie mainly because it is widely spoofed. This way you can actually pick up on the spoofs when you see them. However, it would not be ranked as one of my favorite movies of all time and I probably wouldn't watch it again in the near future.