The Maltese Falcon

The Maltese Falcon is a film about a private detective named Sam who comes into contact with various individuals who want to enlist his help in order to find a jeweled falcon. Sam meets a beautiful woman who is searching for her missing sister, whom she thinks is involved with a man who is trying to hurt her. Sam helps her by sending his partner to follow the man, only to get news that both his partner and the man have been killed. Sam later finds out that the woman is not who she says she is, and that she is using him to get to the falcon. Sam is also approached by another man by the name of Cairo, who is willing to pay him $5000 to find the falcon for him. Sam finds out that he is being followed, and is taken at gunpoint to a man named Gutman who reveals to Sam the significance of the falcon and offers him $25,000 for it with the promise of some of the profit. The rest of the film centers around Sam trying to find the falcon, and sorting through the lies and the danger that is attached to it.

I thought that this was a pretty good movie. I thought that some parts were corny and unbelievable, like the "suspenseful" music that played during the change of scenes and the fact that Sam could take the guns away from just about anyone who was after him. There wasn't much physical action but instead, the action was provided through the dialogue and the interpersonal interactions throughout the film. It was slow at some points, and I think that they could have constructed the narrative in a way that gave more suspense and danger to the task of finding the falcon but overall I thought it was a good movie. I mean who couldn't like a movie with Humphrey Bogart playing the dapper hero detective!