When one thinks of old timey private detectives, one doesn't have to stray too far from imagining the likeness of Humphrey Bogart. He is the face most remembered to represent Dashiell Hammett's hard boiled hero Sam Spade. It's worth noting that the film's version of Spade is considerably different in looks and demeanor than in the novel, and yet Bogart grabs the role so effortlessly and radiates such an overwhelming cool that he not only controls the image of Sam Spade, he also becomes the prototype of every hard boiled private dick, as well as any film noir protagonist, ever since.
As far as the John Huston-Humphrey Bogart combos go (there were six of them), The Maltese Falcon is unbeatable, but that's taking my unapologetic love for unadulterated film noir into account. The titular "Maltese Falcon" is a priceless statue made of gold and encrusted with jewels, fate unknown, as the post-credits text informs us. Like any good noir, the gears start grinding not for this priceless object, but for the smaller case of a missing relative, which doesn't take very long at all before it snowballs into something intensely self-serving: the death of Spade's partner Archer and Spade himself accused of it. From there, nothing is ever what they first appear to be.
This is what makes Sam Spade, as well as the small-mystery-leading-a-bigger-mystery trope, a coveted dream for real private detectives: the promise of a lousy routine gig turning into a big discovery. Why? Because it's certainly more exciting for the hero to stumble into these things blind, knowing about the same information as the audience and yet always one step ahead to lead us through the sneaky plot. What makes the film an enduring piece of work is Huston's impeccable pacing, tightly pushing Spade from one clue to the next (often reluctantly) as the full picture emerges from the dark.
Blu-ray Bonus Features
The Maltese Falcon was released on special edition DVD as a 3-disc set in 2006. It featured some excellent new extras and generally terrific presentation, so it's not a surprise that Warner Bros decided to simply copy those exact same extras for the Blu-ray version.
Top of the heap for both is the "Warner Night at the Movies" feature; a recreation of the movie-going experience of the era. When you select this feature, you'll see a series of short subjects before the movie that used to play in theaters before the feature presentation. This includes an authentic news reel, a Bugs Bunny cartoon (Hiawatha's Rabbit Hunt), a trailer for an upcoming movie of the past (Sergeant York) and a musical short (The Gay Parisian).
One neat feature is audio-only radio adaptations with the stars themselves reprising their roles, as well as an illuminating commentary track by Bogart expert Eric Lax. Then, of course, there are new documentaries created specifically for the DVD set, about the legacy and behind-the-scenes of this classic.
The one thing that's regrettably missed is the inclusion of two bonus movies for The Maltese Falcon. In the original three-disc DVD edition, the second disc was the two previous adaptations of the same novel. Here, only trailers for them are included. It's not an unforgivable loss, considering that they don't exactly have anything to do with the Huston film and were just bundled together as courtesy. Still, it would have been nice to have them handy, just for comparison's sake with the clearly superior and remembered version.
Warner Bros has done right by this Blu-ray release. While the lack of new extras may disappoint longtime fans who already own the aforementioned special edition DVD, the picture quality of the transfer alone is worth procuring. The black-and-white photography looks stunning on high-definition, where a high contrast sets the mood of the film, giving the deep blacks the ominous quality the story demands.
"The Maltese Falcon" is on sale October 5, 2010 and is not rated. Mystery, Thriller. Written and directed by John Huston. Starring Barton MacLane, Gladys George, Humphrey Bogart, Lee Patrick, Mary Astor, Peter Lorre, Sydney Greenstreet.
