The Maltese Falcon (1941)

A private detective takes on a case that involves him with three eccentric criminals, a gorgeous liar, and their quest for a priceless statuette. The Maltese Falcon unfortunately does not hold up very well but also is a very slow burning and bland crime thriller noir or whatever you wanna call it. The perfomances weren't anything special either and the cinematography was on that level as well. Perhaps IMDB should change their list with the Top 250 because so far lots of them have been on the overrated side of things than the other way around. (0/10)

A classic, in every way. This film has all of your major old-school film elements. Its was so dramatic. The plot twists were great. The dialogue was unrealistically clever. The pacing in the beginning of the film was good but didn't adapt well with the changing plot line. It felt too fast paced toward the end. In addition, I did not like how all the female characters sort of melted in to the same caricature of a white women in a crime movie. Although the plot had twists, I wish it was more substantial, I wish it had deeper meaning at the end. The film was very surface level but then again, what do you expect from these old Hollywood films. The acting was decent, the score was very well done, and the framing of shoots was great. Although, it is remembered as a classic and a good movie, I feel it is extremely overrated.

Finally, finally, finally got a chance to watch this after it being on my watch-list for like forever. It is one of those classic films that most people know of but never get to watch. But yeah, AMC had it on and gave me a chance to watch it. It was okay. Classic noir film. It isn't the best noir I have ever seen but it is okay. The acting is frankly lacking, from pretty much everyone except Humphrey Bogart. So yeah, the film with such an iconic title and etc is a bit disappointing. It may just be a little too dated which shouldn't make much of a difference if the film was a better experience with a cleaner flowing story, better acting, set design and etc, etc. Ultimately the movie is a letdown. 6.5 out of 10.

'The Maltese Falcon' is highly influential, oppressively dark and it presents a deeply pessimistic view of the world and life in Depression Era USA. The screenplay is very carefully structure and maneuvered to keep the viewer in the dark for almost the entirety of the film just like its protagonist Sam Spade. There is very impressive camera-work and crafty usage of lighting on show here which to a great extent laid down the framework for the visual language for film-noir. Reminiscent of German Expressionism, we see deliberately prominent shadows everywhere and a big chunk of the film gets engulfed by an oppressively, dark visual texture complimenting the thematic tone of the film. Like other noir films, the characters, including Spade himself are deliberately made to lack a sense of morality and they are shown to be greedy emotionless organisms who have opted to choose a life involving a constant pursuit of material gains, instead of being burdened by the worthless weight of a conscience.However if I have to be honest, even though I found myself relatively pleased and impressed by Huston's edginess and the colourful characters, I was never really bowled over by the film. I can easily understand and admire why it is so influential and important in American film history, but I'd be lying if I say the film and its contents lingered in my thoughts for a long time after it came to its conclusion. Whenever there is a film where the director is deliberately forcing the characters and the plot to remain and feel distant to the viewer, it has to be captivating and for the lack of a more appropriate term - fun. I find this aforementioned fun(along with thematic depth) in abundance while watching other noir films like 'Sunset Boulevard', 'Sweet Smell of Success', 'Ace in the Hole', etc. to name a few. Unfortunately 'The Maltese Falcon' never did manage to give me a similar fun experience at least on this first viewing which prevented me from being swept up by the film.I admire the quippy, razor sharp dialogue, I admire the technical elements like Huston and his cinematographer's lighting and intricate camera-work, I admire the colourful characters and the actors portraying them, but unfortunately I couldn't 'love' the film and as a whole it left me a bit underwhelmed.