Spade stashes the package at the bus terminal, then goes to the address, which turns out to be an empty lot. O'Shaughnessy calls the office, gives an address, then screams before the line goes dead. The bundle he was clutching contains the Maltese Falcon. Later, the ship's captain Jacoby is shot several times and staggers into Spade's office before dying. He goes to the dock, only to find the ship on fire. On coming round, Spade searches the suite and finds a newspaper with the arrival time of the freighter La Paloma circled. Wilmer and Cairo come in from another room and leave with Gutman. Spade passes out because his drink is spiked. In his hotel suite, Gutman relates the history of the Maltese Falcon, then offers Spade his pick of $25,000 for the bird and another $25,000 after its sale, or a quarter of the proceeds from its sale. Wilmer works for Kasper Gutman, the "Fat Man". When Spade goes to Cairo's hotel in the morning, he spots Wilmer Cook, the young man who trailed him earlier. He arranges a meeting between the two at his apartment, where Cairo becomes agitated when O'Shaughnessy reveals that the "Fat Man" is in San Francisco. When he tells O'Shaughnessy about Cairo, her nervousness indicates she knows him. On his way to visit O'Shaughnessy later that evening, Spade is followed by a young man but manages to evade him. Spade knocks Cairo out and goes through his belongings. When Spade is skeptical, Cairo pulls a gun on him and searches the room for it. At his office, Spade meets Joel Cairo, who first offers him $5,000 to find a "black figure of a bird". He took advantage of her and probably killed Archer, but she claims to have no idea who killed Thursby. However, she convinces Spade to investigate the murders and also reveals that Thursby was her partner. Later that morning, Spade meets Wonderly, now calling herself Brigid O'Shaughnessy, who confesses that her story was made up. Dundy suggests that Spade had the opportunity and motive to kill Thursby, who likely killed Archer. Back at his apartment, he is grilled by Police Detective Tom Polhaus and Lieutenant Dundy, who tell him that Thursby was murdered the same evening. Spade tries calling his client at her hotel to discover she has checked out. However, later that night, the police inform Spade that Archer has been killed. Archer agrees to help get her sister back. She claims to be looking for her missing sister, who ran off from their home in New York and came to the city with a man named Floyd Thursby. In San Francisco in 1941, private investigators Sam Spade and Miles Archer meet prospective client Ruth Wonderly. Introductory text appearing after the film's opening credits "In 1539 the Knight Templars of Malta, paid tribute to Charles V of Spain, by sending him a Golden Falcon encrusted from beak to claw with rarest jewels-but pirates seized the galley carrying this priceless token and the fate of the Maltese Falcon remains a mystery to this day." It is a part of Roger Ebert's series The Great Movies and was cited by Panorama du Film Noir Américain as the first major film noir. Considered one of the greatest films of all time, it was one of the first 25 films selected by the Library of Congress to be included in the National Film Registry for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". The film premiered in New York City on October 3, 1941, and was nominated for three Academy Awards. The story follows a San Francisco private detective and his dealings with three unscrupulous adventurers, all of whom are competing to obtain a jewel-encrusted falcon statuette. Gladys George, Peter Lorre and Sydney Greenstreet co-star, with the last appearing in his film debut. It stars Humphrey Bogart as private investigator Sam Spade and Mary Astor as his femme fatale client. The Maltese Falcon is a 1941 American film noir written and directed by John Huston in his directorial debut, based on the 1930 novel of the same name by Dashiell Hammett and indebted to the 1931 movie of the same name.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |