I’ve never been a fan of black and white films until we watched The Maltese Falcon in class, its old feel really drew me in . When The Maltese Falcon first appeared on screen, Hollywood’s idea of a detective meant Sherlock Holmes. Sam Spade introduced a clear alternative to the image of the well-mannered amateur sleuth: the to some extent notorious private eye who solved mysteries as a profession.
The plot to me seemed to follow Spade’s thirst for female attention and breaking the rules. It was tricky to distinguish whether he was going to allow himself mesmerized by a manipulative female who uses her feminine tricks even obvious weakness and being ditzy to have her way. However in the end he does the right thing by solving the crime, turning in all the criminals including his love interest.
Nice observations, particularly regarding your expectations of the detective genre and Spade’s relationship to female characters in the film.
I’m interested in your phrase “breaking the rules.” In what ways did Spade seem to “break the rules”? How did those specific instances seem to indicate something about his character, and about the “rules” themselves?