Comments on Screen Savour: The Maltese Falcon (1941)

As always an excellent posting.The way you write ...

2009-12-26T05:48:15.127-05:00

As always an excellent posting.The
way you write is awesome.Thanks. Adding more information will be more useful.

Bathmate

Hi! t.s.
How well informed you are!...because I...

2008-09-07T06:52:00.000-04:00

Hi! t.s.
How well informed you are!...because I posted my first comment, then I read your review of the 1941 film "The Maltese Falcon" and then I posted this comment...Hey! t.s.,I think this look like the beginning of a "film" friendship!

Thanks,

t.s. said, "Huston and his cinematographer, the fa...

2008-09-07T06:01:00.000-04:00

t.s. said, "Huston and his cinematographer, the famed Arthur Edeson, helped formulate so much of what would be endlessly imitated in the rest of the golden era of noir. The Maltese Falcon may not have been the first noir, but it's certainly among the best."
Hi! t.s.
Right you are!...the 1940 film
"Stranger on the Third Floor" is considered the 1st "proto" noir. But Huston's 1941 "rare bird," "The Maltese Falcon" is also considered by some "filmnoirfanatics," as being the 1st film noir.
I think it's obvious, from my username, that this "thing" referred to as "film noir" rules my life!...and I just discovered this "thing" called "film noir" 2 and half years ago!

Thanks,

E – I like that: "all femme and no fatale." I thin...

2008-08-14T14:27:00.000-04:00

E – I like that: "all femme and no fatale." I think you're definitely right in the fact that perhaps she (and Spade as a hero/anti-hero) don't necessarily fit the conventions of standard film noir. She can't do him in, and unlike other popular anti-heroes (I'm thinking Robert Mitchum in Out of the Past here), Spade will never done in. Perhaps this is due to the fact that the gut-punching tendencies of noir were never quite as fully-loaded as in the heavy atmosphere following World War II (when we had achieved victory on the field but had too many individuals still fighting battles in their heads), and The Maltese Falcon was made before the United States even entered the war effort.

I can see why a debate could rage on the topic!

Thanks so much for stopping by and commenting. MZ is one of the best film review blogs out there.

Thanks for dropping by MovieZeal, T.S.

Thi...

2008-08-14T09:14:00.000-04:00

Thanks for dropping by MovieZeal, T.S.

This is a nice piece on an excellent film - I do like how your site seems to have a very narrow focus on old classics, such as Lloyd's silent comedy.

We actually had quite the debate at MZ over whether Brigid could really be considered a femme fatale since she's all femme and no fatale. She certainly tries, but Spade is so far ahead of everyone that their pitiful machinations crumble up against his slick maneuvering. Brigid would do Spade in if she could, so she's a fatale in spirit, but not one in actual practice.

Still a great film that holds up unbelievably well nearly 70 years later.