The Maltese Falcon (1941 Film)
The Maltese Falcon (1941) is a Warner Bros. film noir based on the novel of the same name by Dashiell Hammett. Directed by John Huston, the film stars Humphrey Bogart as private investigator Sam Spade and Mary Astor as his "femme fatale" client. Gladys George, Peter Lorre, and Sydney Greenstreet co-star, with Greenstreet appearing in his film debut. The Maltese Falcon was Huston's directorial debut and was nominated for three Academy Awards.
The story follows a San Francisco private detective and his dealings with three unscrupulous adventurers, all of whom are competing to obtain a jewel-encrusted falcon statuette.
The Maltese Falcon has been named as one of the greatest films of all time by Roger Ebert and Entertainment Weekly, and was cited by Panorama du Film Noir Américain as the first major film noir.
The film premiered on October 3, 1941 in New York City, and was selected for inclusion in the Library of Congress' National Film Registry in 1989.
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Famous quotes containing the words maltese and/or falcon:
“Well, Wilmer, I’m sorry indeed to lose you. But I want you to know I couldn’t be fonder of you if you were my own son. Well, if you lose a son it’s possible to get another. There’s only one Maltese falcon.”
—John Huston (1906–1987)
“My falcon now is sharp and passing empty,
And till she stoop she must not be full-gorged,
For then she never looks upon her lure.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)