The Maltese Falcon appears in the Top 10 of most movie lists. I saw the B&W 1941 version starring Humphrey Bogart and Mary Astor. Bogart is a private detective Spade who is approached by Brigid (Astor) to watch a guy. Spade’s partner goes to watch the guy and both he and the guy are murdered that night. It turns out that Spade is not innocent either, he is having an affair with his partner’s wife. Did he kill his partner? Meanwhile, he is approached by another guy named Cairo to acquire a black bird figurine. We soon learn that Brigid is also lying and she is also behind this Maltese Falcon figurine. And so is another mystery guy named “G”. Why are all these people behind this Falcon?
The movie’s quite engaging. Bogart is a bit over-the-top in his acting (as usual). Astor is ok, except that she looks a little old to be the femme fatale. The movie’s definitely a good watch, but does it deserve to be so high in the lists? No.