Starring – Humphrey Bogart (District Attorney Martin Ferguson), Zero Mostel (Big Babe Lazik), Ted de Corsia (Joseph Rico), Everett Sloane (Albert Mendoza).
Description – This film is loosely based on the real-life Murder, Inc. trials and takes place mainly in falshback. District Attorney Ferguson works tirelessly in his efforts to break up a murder-for-hire gang, but has one particularily large problem.
Gang boss Albert Mendoza has a bad habit of killing anyone who even hints at testifying against him. Just when it looks like the D.A. might finally be able to make his case with the help of underworld informer Joseph Rico, the informer falls to his death.
Now, it’s back to square-one with time running out.
NOTABLE: Director Windust, a noted Broadway director, fell ill during the making of this film and was helped by Raoul Walsh who was brought in to complete the job. Walsh was not interested in receiving any credit, feeling that this was Windust’s film.
October, 1941 – John Huston, the son of actor Walter Huston, made a stunning directorial debut with the film The Maltese Falcon based on the Dashiell Hammett novel. Previously a screenwriter for both Warner Brothers and Universal, Huston combined an outstanding cast with a sharp script to create one of the all-time great films.
The lead role of Private Investigator Sam Spade was originally offered to George Raft who rejected the role because he did not want to work with an inexperienced director. Humphrey Bogart, who had gained fame playing gangsters, gladly accepted the role and the rest is movie history.
The relationship between Huston and Bogart developed into a lifelong friendship that led to the two talented film giants working together on other great films that include The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, Key Largo, and The African Queen.
With painstaking detail, first time director John Huston planned every second of the film scene by scene, shot by shot, resulting in a cinematic masterpiece loved every bit as much today as when it was originally released.
Starring – Humphrey Bogart (Sam Spade), Mary Astor (Brigid O’shaughnessy), Sydney Greenstreet (Kasper Gutman), Peter Lorre (Joel Cairo).
Description – This screen version of Dashiell Hammett’s novel introduces us to Private Investigator, and “anti-hero,” Sam Spade. While trying to find out who murdered his partner, Sam becomes tangled up with murderous criminals and a beautiful woman, who just can’t seem to tell the truth.
Each are looking for a priceless jewel-encrusted statuette of a falcon. To make things worse, Sam is considered to be a suspect in his partners murder and possibly another. With more murder, blackmailing, and back-stabbing yet to come this is one of the best of the ‘film noir/crime’ genre.
NOTABLE: In 1989 this film was selected by the United States Library of Congress for preservation in the National Film Registry.
This film was nominated for three Oscar’s; Best Picture, Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Sydney Greenstreet), and Best Writing, Screenplay.
The American Film Institute, in 1997, voted this #31 on the Greatest Movies of All Time list, and it is ranked #6 on the Greatest Mysteries of All Time list.
Author Dashiell Hammett spent some time as a Private Detective for the Pinkerton Detective Agency in San Francisco.
Sydney Greenstreet, nicked-named ‘The Fat Man’ in the film, gave such an impressive characterization that the Atomic Bomb dropped on Nagasaki during World War II was called ‘Fat Man.’ This was also Greenstreet’s first on-screen performance.
The ‘Maltese Falcon’ was believed to have been modeled after the ‘Kniphausen Hawk,” a 1697 pouring vessel. The Hawk was perched on a rock and encrusted with red garnets, amethysts, emeralds, and blue sapphires.
This was John Huston’s first feature film as a director.
Personal Comment: This is one of my favorite films of all-time. There are an outstanding array of colorful characters casted and played perfectly in this film. I purchased this film as part of ‘The Humphrey Bogart Collection’ which also includes Casablanca, The Big Sleep, Key Largo. All are excellent!
Starring – Ida Lupino (Marie), Humphrey Bogart (Roy Earle), Alan Curtis (Babe), Arthur Kennedy (Red), Joan Leslie (Velma), Henry Hull (Doc Banton).
Description – An entry in early film noir that centers around a gangsters plan to rob a California resort casino with the help of “Mad Dog” Roy Earle. After taking the job, Earle drives accross country to a mountain camp where he is to meet up with the other members of the gang.
While there, he also meets former dance hall girl Marie. Earle, not wanting the woman around, is convinced by Marie that she should be allowed to stay. Also showing up uninvited is a dog named Pard who Earle takes a liking to.
Soon a misplaced love triangle begins to take shape. Marie falls for Earle, while Earle proposes and is rejected by Velma, a woman he met during his drive up the mountains. After Velma’s rejection, Earle and Marie become lovers.
The heist time arrives and soon the plan goes bad. The robbery is interrupted by a security guard who is shot and killed. “Mad Dog” Earle and Marie are now on the run. Seperating so that Marie can have a chance of getting away, Earle heads for the Sierra mountains setting up an exciting final chase and confrontation.
NOTABLE: John Huston wrote the screenplay for the film, and it was this shared experience that set the permanent tone for Bogart and Huston to become life-long friends and drinking partners.
George Raft was offered this role, as he was the role of Sam Spade in ‘The Maltese Falcon’. He declined both. At the time Raft was trying to get away from the gangster image in films.
The dog used as Pard in this film was Bogart’s actual pet dog named Zero.
Personal Comment: As a huge Bogart fan who loves just about anything he has done, this is one of his best. Bogart give a performance that can be described as hard-boiled perfection with a dash of sympathy and humanity. In fact, the acting throughout this film is terrific. Another very enjoyable Warner Bros. gangster/noir film.
Cold-blooded murder, gang wars and explosions – was it a Hollywood production? No, it was the streets of Chicago during the 1920’s. The publics fascination with real crime and gangsters was a guilty pleasure that helped generate huge profits for Hollywood. What was happening on the streets during the 20’s would fuel the popularity of the crime and gangster movie genre in the 1930’s and 1940’s. So much so, that a new classification of movie emerged – film noir.
The history of the crime and gangster movie has its roots in the silent films of the early part of the 20th century. However, it wasn’t until the late 1920’s through the 30’s that these films became a bit more lifelike to moviegoers. The high-profile existence of actual gangsters, their crimes, and the amount of puplicity they received caused this movie genre to flourish. These included notorious names such as Al Capone and John Dillinger. Gangsters became as widely identifiable to the general public as presidents. On the movie screen, these characters were often portrayed as being money hungry, violent and inclined to shoot first and ask questions later. Film-goers loved it!
Description – A taut psychological thriller about Dixon Steele a hard-drinking, potentially violent screenwriter who becomes a prime suspect in a murder case. Provided with an alibi by his attractive neighbor Laurel Gray he is cleared of suspicion.
Dixon and Laurel begin an affair that turns into love reigniting his desire to write. However, it isn’t long before Dixon begins to act strangely and make comments that give Laurel reason to doubt his innocense. Could it be that he did commit the murder, and will she be next?
NOTABLE: In 2007, this film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress.
Now considered classic film noir, Time Magazine included it on it’s ‘All-Time 100 List.’
Many critics have considered this one of Humphrey Bogart’s finest performances despite the role not being as well known as many of his others.
Both Lauren Bacall (Bogarts wife at the time) and Ginger Rogers were considered for the role of Laurel with Bogart wanting his wife for the role. However, Warner Brothers refused to release her from her contract with them, possibly because Bogart had formed his own production company to make this film.
Starring – George Raft (Joe Fabrini), Ann Sheridan (Cassie Hartley), Ida Lupino (Lana Carlsen), Humphrey Bogart (Paul Fabrini).
Description – The Fabrini brothers are truck drivers who start their own business. Constantly battleing rivals the two are overworked. One night they pick up Cassie, a hitchhiker who has just quit her job at a truckstop. Joe immediately starts to fall for her.
On one run, Paul falls asleep at the wheel and has an accident that causes him to lose an arm. Joe now turns to an old friend, trucking executive Ed Carleson, for work.
Meanwhile, Eds wife Lana has fallen in love with Joe and murders her husband, trying to make it look like an accident. When Joe tells her he is not interested in her, or her offer of a share in her late husband’s trucking business, Lana tries to frame Joe for her husbands murder.
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