I have a huge blindspot on John Huston and Humphrey Bogart’s films, so I thought I’d hit two birds with one stone (pun fully intended). It’s perfect timing since AMC is now licensing a bunch of its shows to Netflix, including Monsieur Spade, where Clive Owen takes on Bogart’s role as Sam Spade, the detective created by Dashiell Hammett. I decided I should watch this Oscar-nominated noir before diving into the series.

The Maltese Falcon is where John Huston kicked off his directing career, and he also penned the screenplay. What an impressive way to begin, especially since he snagged two Oscars just seven years later for The Treasure of the Sierra Madre. I first saw Bogart as the forlorn, love-stricken Rick Blaine in Casablanca which he did a year after portraying this hardboiled, cagey, detached detective. Spade and Blaine have a lot in common; both are jaded, cynical, and have a serious thing for booze and cigarettes. I guess that’s just how it goes in 1940s noir—the protagonist is always puffing on a cigarette or getting ready to light one up.

The opening scroll dives into the backstory of the valuable Maltese Falcon statuette, kicking off a wild adventure for Spade as he encounters a bunch of quirky characters. It all starts when Miss Wonderly, also known as Brigid O’Shaughnessy (Mary Astor), shows up at the San Francisco detective agency run by Spade and his partner Miles Archer (Jerome Cowan). But by the next evening, Miles is found dead, and the plot thickens as Spade finds himself in hot water as a main suspect.

Spade is the quintessential wise-cracking private eye and this film is credited for establishing that cinematic archetype—sharp, tough as nails, and distrustful of many people. His low opinion of authority figures and the way he plays fast and loose with the law to uncover the truth make him an interesting character. But of course, he’s a product of his time, written in a time when there wasn’t much criticism about ‘toxic masculinity.’ The novel paints a flattering picture of his masculinity, his womanizing ways (he’s shown as having an affair with Archer’s wife), and the extreme emotional detachment to those around him are seen as virtues.

Spade isn’t the most likable guy, his over-the-top confidence and the way he’s always smirking like he knows something you don’t gets on my nerves at times. But Bogart is believable and fun to watch as a shrewd detective, a man at the top of his game. On the flip side, Astor doesn’t really come off as a convincing femme fatale, but that actually plays to the story’s advantage since we’re meant to view her as more of a passive character. A great deal of the story revolves around the two as they constantly try to outsmart each other. It’s also fun to see the rapport between Spade and his amazingly resourceful secretary Effie (Lee Patrick). She’s truly integral to his success as a PI. What would Spade do without her?

I have to admit the story is so convoluted that I had to turn on the caption to keep up. Huston crafts a vibe filled with suspicion, doubt, and uncertainty but also moments of levity thanks to Spade’s wisecracking quips.

The cheaper the crook, the gaudier the patter

You know, darling, for that amount of money, I’d let you tell me a lie every day

The plot kind of drags and wanders for a good chunk of the film as we meet one quirky character after another. The film is more character-driven than plot-driven, as Huston’s script dives deeper into who Spade is as a person more so than the mystery he’s trying to crack. A casual look into IMDb trivia would tell you that the dark-haired, 5’8”-tall Bogart doesn’t look anything like Sam Spade from the book, who’s over 6 feet tall, has a hooked nose, and sports blond hair. Not that it matters as Bogart made the character his own, more than that, he made it iconic.

The supporting cast is terrific, notably Peter Lorre with his big, expressive eyes and suspicious accent (Hungarian mixed with German?) as Joel Cairo with his pitiful attempt to intimidate Spade. Then there’s 300-pound Brit Sydney Greenstreet in his feature debut at the age of 62, his role as the cunning Kasper Gutman obsessed with the unattainable black bird earned him an Oscar nomination! Elisha Cook Jr. makes me laugh as the dimwitted and taciturn goon Wilmer. Frankly, none of the three villains is at all menacing in the slightest and Spade’s nonchalant attitude makes their interactions more amusing than suspenseful.

DP Arthur Edeson’s stunning black-and-white visuals really pop in the remastered version on AppleTV. The moody cinematography and dramatic lighting with high contrast have set the standard for countless noir thrillers over the years. I’m also impressed by the stylish wardrobe, with Orry-Kelly designing the gowns while Bogart brought his own clothes to help the studio cut costs. It makes me think that sharp dressing is a bit of a lost art these days—people in the ’40s really knew how to dress! I’ve always had a soft spot for guys in long trench coats and fedoras!

Often hailed as a cornerstone of the film noir genre, I was flabbergasted to learn that Huston completed filming in just two months at a cost of less than $300,000. I read that Huston did the storyboard after finishing the script and mapped out the visual style and camera angles, and it took only two days of rehearsal for the entire process. It’s quite a feat for a first-time director!

Now, despite all that, while I think The Maltese Falcon is solid, it didn’t blow me away. I was hoping for something truly groundbreaking, especially since it gets so much love from critics and currently ranks #31 on AFI’s 100 Years… 100 Movies. But I found the tension and suspense lacking. Even though it’s only an hour and 40 minutes, it felt longer due to the pacing, and the big finale seemed a bit over the top when Gitman spills all the secrets and reveals everyone’s motives.

The line “The stuff that dreams are made of,” which is a nod to Shakespeare’s The Tempest, is fantastic, but the climax just didn’t hit the mark for me. Perhaps if there had been a stronger spark between Bogart and Astor, Spade’s decision to hand O’Shaughnessy over to the cops might have hit harder.

That said, I’m glad I finally saw this movie and Bogart makes it a worthwhile watch. I for one much prefer Bogart’s other celebrated classic, Casablanca, which I regard as one of the best Hollywood classics ever made. Now that’s a film I can watch repeatedly and that ending packs a punch despite the rather odd ‘Here’s looking at you, kid’ line. Now I have to see another Bogart noirThe Big Sleep where he plays another private detective.

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Hope you enjoy my classic review. Have you seen The Maltese Falcon? I’d love to hear what you think!