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The Maltese Falcon

1931, Movie, NR, 75 mins

The Maltese Falcon: Review

This is a slick, chic, and good-looking version, the first, of Hammett's classic crime tale and introduces that indefatigable private eye Sam Spade, played with suave elan by Cortez. The basic mystery is kept intact with Daniels playing the shifty, untrustworthy lady who comes to Cortez and begs him to help her find a missing sister, setting up an accomplice who has stolen the Black Bird she, Digges (as Gutman, a role later made famous by Sydney Greenstreet) and others covet. Four murders later the jig is up and Cortez has solved the riddle and rounded up the culprits. Del Ruth's direction is smooth as good Scotch but the world he depicts is just too opulent, too polished for the seedy Sam Spade to occupy. Frye, who played the part of the nutty Renfield in DRACULA, released the same year, essays the role of the gunsel, Wilmer, like a man with permanent St. Vitus Dance. leave a comment