#14 - The Maltese Falcon

I always have trouble summarizing movies that rely entirely on suspense without spoiling anything.  If I were to go beyond, say, the first ten minutes, I would reveal major plot points.  So I'll say this: The Maltese Falcon is perhaps the first example of film noir.  Its story begins when a client comes to see private eye Sam Spade about the man her sister has run off with.  But Sam quickly finds himself tangled up in something much larger - the dark world of assassins and international crime.

I was expecting to have to suspend disbelief whenever The Maltese Falcon showed its age, but ended up doing nothing of the sort.  After 69 years, this movie is still completely fresh (if you can brush aside the era's characteristic misogyny, though this one does make a few strides in a positive direction) and kept me on the edge of my seat all the way through.  There is a perfect balance of information known to the viewer and cards in the hands of the characters.  Bogart's Spade isn't necessarily a likable man, more of the antihero, but you don't even need to like him, because the intrigue is sufficiently intriguing that you'll hope he figures everything out just so we can get all the answers.

The cinematography is subtle and exquisite, and the acting is right on target.  The characters are absolutely archetypes, but I found myself loving that they were archetypes, that the cast embodied these stock characters through and through and infused them with life and energy.  The screenplay is well-paced, comical just when the audience needs relief, and intelligent enough at times that it left me with plenty to think about after it was over.