Saturday, April 18, 2009

The Maltese Falcon

Dashiell Hammett has been called "the father of the hard-boiled detective novel" and creator of one of the 20th century's most famous sleuths, Sam Spade. Last week I found and finished one of his most well known works, The Maltese Falcon. Within a dozen years of publication it had already been made into three motion pictures, the most famous featuring Humphrey Bogart as the personification of Sam Spade.

Hammett purportedly worked for seven years with the Pinkerton detective agency, so he brings realism to his stories in a first-hand manner that conveys a believable jadedness. Even so, when I initially read The Thin Man years ago, it failed to make a deep impression. And I can't say I found this book compelling either. Maybe it was the story itself, or maybe Spade didn't hook me like Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Holmes.

Perhaps Hammett's significance is that of creating a genre, the tough guy detective who is his own man, in cahoots with no one, the modern existential hero solving life's problems against the backdrop of a murder mystery setting. Evidently someone considered his work significant enough to have him listed among the greats (501 Great Writers) and there are critics who rave over him, but this Amazon.com review by a typical reader seemed to adequately capture my mood on finishing it.

"The Maltese Falcon is nothing to write home about. It's a good book, and I recommend it, but it is nothing discernibly 'special.' You don't finish it and go, 'Wow!'"

On the heels of completing the book I decided to track down and revisit the Bogie film of the same name. I perked up when I saw that John Huston (The African Queen, Moby Dick, Under the Volcano) directed the film. The casting was pretty much perfect, even if Bogart is not blond. But to be honest, I don't know what all the fuss is about.

Yes, there are a lot of raves about this film. It's considered by many critics to be one of the top one hundred of all time. And many of the reviews at imdb.com support this claim. Still, there are naysayers such as Jake, who wrote, "After having heard so much about this movie over the years I was surprised to find it so dull and so poorly executed."

This review, by someone named dogspit, also indicates disappointment. "I tried to like The Maltese Falcon, but it didn't quite do it for me. Bogart & Astor each were plastic in their roles, and the rest of the cast fared little better. The film lacked ANY character development and tried to push the pace too much to be very enjoyable. Watch it for the nostalgia of it, but do not expect a lot."

Actually, I don't entirely agree with dogspit. I found the opening section compelling. Bogart does reek with an aura of smooth cool. But the noir style has so pervaded the Hollywood atmosphere I just can't get past the caricature. Whereas the setup drew me in, the story made me tired.

Though more can be said, for now I let it pass. What's your take?

1 comment:

  1. I generally Love Bogart....but I too wonder if Maltese falcon ought to be on the top 100 films. Yesterday I watched Sabrina for the umpteenth time.....now THAT movie ougtht to be....but I'm not sure if it's Bogart or Audrey Hepburn that makes the film. ( or both) The Remake with Harrison Ford , just didn't do it. Now perhaps looking back at Maltese Falcon, we don't see it as Great.( Personally I have a hard time sitting through Citizen Kane ) But Like Citizen Kane, perhaps it was new and orriginal in it's day....a movie that was much imitated.(?) Like Alfred Hitchocks - Psycho. Perhaps we should measure a film by how much it influenced cinema ?? I don't know. I sometimes think it's a matter of .....How many times I can watch the same movie again and again.....and still be drawn to it......That is SO true of many of Hitchcocks films...yet for some reason he never received the accolades that he deserved (Oscar) for many of his films, while he was alive.( Robert knows much more than I do about that ) Most people wouldn't consider Psycho as a top movie in history....maybe because it was a horror movie. But looking back, I think more and more that it probably ought to be in the Top 10 of all time. I bet it's influenced more film makers that almost any other film.....especially in the Horror // suspense genre.
    Of course I speak out of ignorance.....because I don't even know what the Top 10 movies of all Time are suposed to be.

    don

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