The Maltese Falcom (1941)

Marty and Cindy review the great film noir classic.

Film Overview

Title: The Maltese Falcon (1941)

Director: John Huston | Screenplay: John Huston (based on Dashiell Hammett's 1930 novel)

Stars: Humphrey Bogart as Sam Spade | Mary Astor as Brigid O'Shaughnessy | Peter Lorre as Joel Cairo | Sydney Greenstreet as Kasper Gutman

Supporting Cast: Gladys George, Barton MacLane, Lee Patrick, Ward Bond, Jerome Cowan, Elisha Cook Jr., Walter Huston (uncredited cameo)

Cinematography: Arthur Edeson | Studio: Warner Bros. Pictures

Budget: $375,000 | Box Office: $1.8 million | Running Time: 101 minutes

Release: October 3, 1941 (NYC); October 18, 1941 (wide)

Production & Behind the Scenes

The third film adaptation of Hammett's novel; the first was in 1931, the second a loose version titled Satan Met a Lady (1936) starring Bette Davis.

Huston storyboarded every scene with shot-by-shot instructions. Not one line of dialogue was changed in the final edit.

Given six weeks and $375,000, Huston finished two days early and $54,000 under budget.

The climactic confrontation runs nearly 20 minutes — one-fifth of the film — and took over a week to shoot.

Producer Henry Blanke's advice to Huston: "Shoot each scene as if it was the most important scene in the film."

The Cast

Sydney Greenstreet's film debut at age 60. His wardrobe and a chair for the hotel room scene had to be custom-built.

George Raft turned down Sam Spade, reportedly unwilling to stake his career on a first-time director. Bogart was cast after Warner Bros. lifted his suspension.

The role of Brigid was first offered to Geraldine Fitzgerald; others considered included Ingrid Bergman, Rita Hayworth, and Olivia de Havilland. Mary Astor's real-life scandal — a public diary from a custody hearing — made her perfect for the part.

Peter Lorre was always Huston's first choice for Cairo and later called the film his personal favorite of his own work.

Walter Huston — John's father — plays Captain Jacobi in an uncredited cameo, reportedly fumbling his walk-on as a joke and forcing multiple takes.

This marks the first pairing of Greenstreet and Lorre, who would appear in nine more films together.

The Falcon Props

Eight statuettes were made — two lead, six plaster — for under $700 total.

Three originals survive, each valued at over $1 million. One, owned by Leonardo DiCaprio, appears in Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood (2019).

Screenplay & Literary Notes

Hammett's Sam Spade bears no resemblance to Bogart — in the novel he's tall, blond, and described as looking like "a blond Satan."

Spade's use of "gunsel" sailed past censors who thought it meant gunman; it's Yiddish-derived slang for a fall guy.

Effie's single word "Gardenia" upon handing Spade Cairo's card is a celebrated example of Hays Code-era queer coding.

Legacy & Recognition

Among the first films selected for the National Film Registry in its inaugural year, 1989.

Ranked #23 on AFI's 1998 list of the 100 Greatest American Movies; #31 on the 2007 update. Ranked #6 on AFI's Greatest Mystery films (2008).

Sydney Greenstreet received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor — his only Oscar nomination.

After being cast in Casablanca, Ingrid Bergman watched The Maltese Falcon repeatedly to study Bogart's technique.

A plaque at Bush and Stockton Streets in San Francisco marks where Miles Archer was shot — described by tourism officials as the only city marker commemorating a fictional event.

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