With already have read the book, I was taken aback from how the movie portrayed the characters and how the overall plot was set up. When reading, I had visualized the characters interactions differently from how they were portrayed within the film. Yet when it comes to comparing the two films that are within the same genre they are more different then the same.

It feels as though The Maltese Falcon is a conventional (or classical) film noire while Double Indemnity plays the role of a more advanced or updated film noire. Maltese Falcon was very traditional, woman comes to Sam (the detective) about a problem then over come by the femme fatale then over comes it and the bad guys are arrested. Double Indemnity produced the “detective” characteristic but it wasn’t within a major lead of the story line, it was within a supporting character that made a significant impact on how Walter acted and moved. he based his actions off of Keyes which isn’t typical. He stopped thinking for himself and instead began to think for Phyllis, and was ultimately defeated by the femme fatale unlike Sam.

Camera angles also caught my attention between the two movies. In The Maltese Falcon the camera was often pointing upward of Sam to show (which I interpreted as) power, whereas in Double Indemnity the camera was always down onto (him) or directly face to face with Walter which showed weakness.

Well its pretty obvious that Phyllis is the Femme Fatale to this movie, which we defined as a beautiful character that leads the main character into danger. Which would be Walter. Walter was just a car insurance sales man who never thought about harming a man (or so I hope not) until he met her.

While watching the play I mainly focused on the character, dialogue and theme/ genre convention. With the characters I made note on how each character started acted throughout the movie, how certain events in the movie made the character act a certain way or change their tone, or something they did. I know characters take full part in movies because it allows the audience to guess what kind of things might happen at the end of the movie even before seeing it. Dialogue is used between the characters, like when Phyllis and Walter had conversations alone you could tell by what she said after a period of time that she was just a manipulator and could care less about Walter, and just about the money. Just like in The Maltese Falcon the stories carried the same theme/ genre convention about some sort of power, and money being a main target to the characters. 

                After watching the films Double Indemnity and The Maltese Falcon some notable differences can be seen between the two.  While they both are set within a genre some of the specific conventions within each vary.  The Maltese Falcon can be seen as a standard in the genre while Double Indemnity is fixed around the idea of the genre and twisted to use certain attributes of the genre.  While they are set in the genre some noticeable differences can be seen, one of which can specifically be seen in the characters of The Detective.  They both may be crafted around the idea of the characteristics of the standard Detective but the two are different for numerous reasons while still being conceived as similar.

                As discussed in class we started to speak of the ideas formed around a protagonist.  In The Maltese Falcon Sam Spade is that character and in Double Indemnity it is Walter Neff.  In The Maltese Falcon Sam Spade is a standard detective, which gives off a certain standard tone while in Double Indemnity Walter Neff is an insurance salesman which gives off a different perspective while applying the idea of The Detective to him.  In Double Indemnity since Walter Neff is not associated to the complete lifestyle of The Detective this then leads to different actions and outcomes.  Compared to Sam Spade Walter Neff does far worst things to achieve goals he has set in his agenda.  Sam Spade only did certain actions near the end of The Maltese Falcon so he could try to stay ahead of the game or even just stay in the game while Walter Neff can almost been seen as somewhat of an evil force to some extent.  They are both similar in being taken over by a Femme Fatale, though in the case of Neff it is much more extreme.  Some other similarities that can be seen between the two characters is that they both operate under a certain code and are seen as forces of unknown outcomes in the sense that the audience doesn’t know how far they will go to get what they are trying to achieve.  This is how the code they follow varies depending on the characteristics they instill.

                The two films in terms of narrative approach vary heavily, as in Double Indemnity is set to flashbacks while The Maltese Falcon is linear storytelling.  These two tactics influence a story in many different ways.  Even while we saw Walter Neff recording his statement we did not know he would die at the end.  If The Maltese Falcon was set to flashbacks the film would be much different. By having the flashbacks the audience gets a little extra insight into the character while seeing the events that happened unfold.

The film The Maltese Falcon is a classic black and white movie containing many different genre conventions. This film displays varying aspects of the male as well as the female character. In this movie we can see how femininity is portrayed in contrast to masculinity. This film explores ideas of the detective genre, by having the main character Sam Spade, take us through many mysteries awaiting to be discover. The constant mystery of “who did it” that surrounded the movie made it very interesting and intriguing to the point where I had forgotten that I was watching a black and white film.

Sam Spade the main male character is portrayed as a smart, sneaky, and clever. He is seen in my eyes as the character that people usually sympathize with and cheers for, in other words he is the hero of the story.
In the other hand Brigid, the female lead is portrayed as a deceitful, selfish woman who pretends to be weak and hopeless to get her way. She likes to play games and manipulate the male characters (mainly Sam).
Effie, Sam’s assistant is portrayed as a strong female character because she’s often surrounded by males.
Iva who was Miles wife was portrayed as I would called “the classic female character” of the 20’s-40’s. She’s beautiful, lady like and weak.

One thing I noticed about the film is that the female characters are constantly being distracted by the male characters.

In the film “The Maltese Falcon” I would consider your typical mystery film but very different compared to the mystery films now these days. I felt that throughout the scenes it had played different genre conventions, whether it was between a character or a scene.

One of the main characters Sam Spade is a tough, know it all character, but also shows he has trouble trusting others than his secretary The detective Sam Spade is more like the aggressive type, one who is willing to go over and beyond his way to get what he wants. Along side with the female it shows how persuasive she is towards the detective by her ways to get what she wants and how’s things should get done. Within the law Sam Spade is also on the police radar due to the death of his partner detective Miles Archer, he is seen as a suspect.

Within all of the characters they all seem to play on both sides, where your ask yourself can they be trusted or who are they really trusting and who side are they really on. Throughout these scenes where you see characters running to one person and later running to the other is where you see the conventions occur. In conclusion when you are seeing these conventions occur you ask yourself what is going to happen or will the character make the right decision.

I was never a fan of film noir or “black and white” films as I referred to them, in fact, I don’t think I’ve ever gotten through the first ten minutes of one before “The Maltese Falcon”. I’ve also never considered the word “convention” when thinking about a movie. However, after Professor Gold’s explanation of the genre, the definition of conventions and the ones associated with film noir I was able to spot a few which were familiar, as they are still used in later movies.
The plot of “The Maltese Falcon” follows the detective mystery formula with every scene. It features a cocky, self-assured detective with a healthy appetite for the attention of his female counterparts; he flies in the face of authority while treading the line very skillfully. He masks his fears with bravado and sarcasm and pats himself on the back after taunting the police and antagonizing the criminals. Throughout the movie it was difficult to discern whether or not he was going to allow himself to be bested by the femme fatale, a manipulative female who uses her feminine wiles, even feigning stupidity and weakness 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.
The shadow play aspect of the movie was obvious in the opening scene, the name of the detective agency casted a shadow on the office floor. The lighting was done to show the shadows and movement of each character on screen giving depth to the shady theme and storyline of the movie.