The Maltese Falcon

What a debt Bogart owed to Huston and vice versa. In 1941, as co-screenwriter of High Sierra, Huston had helped the actor escape the confines of his typecasting as a weak, cowardly villain. Later that same year the writer made a splash with this, his directorial debut, and showcased Bogart's developing, anti-heroic persona, giving him the starring role of Sam Spade. Bogart was reborn as Bogie, a strong man, bloodied but not beaten, blessed with self-reliance and a world-weary integrity. Sticking pretty close to Hammett's novel, the film sees Spade investigating the murder of Miles Archer, his partner in private detection, and uncovering an intricate plot revolving around a cast of richly drawn characters (Lorre, Astor, the perennially downtrodden Cook Jr and, best of all, Greenstreet in a wonderfully theatrical screen debut). All are desperate to get their hands on the eponymous black statue, a symbol of man's avarice and folly, and "the stuff that dreams are made of’. With its dark, complex plotting, stark black-and-white photography, concentration on the baseness of man, and a cynical mood sustained to its still shockingly grim conclusion, this is the prototypical film noir. FILM4