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.

The Maltese falcon was what i would consider a traditional american mystery movie. It was the kind of movie you saw being seen in other movies where characters liked to see what they considered to be “the classics” or old movies in general. One thing that I noticed was that they used a lot of shadow play. From beginning to end there was always this ominous feeling that there could be something lurking behind the shadows, that the killer could have been around detective Spade the whole time the whole, and he just didn’t know it.

I noticed that there were many things in this movie that are still prevalent in movies today ( the conventions). it starts out in the very beginning when Detective Spade is questioning what he considered to be the damsel in distress. Its typical in many movies that the damsel becomes the protagonists love interest and then is actually just playing the character throughout the whole movie to get what she needs. (such is the case in this movie since shes the one that killed Archer.) Another convention that you see is the killers arm with the gun only being show, this type of convention is often used in beginning of movies just to make you wonder throughout the whole movie as well as make you suspect everyone around the protagonists. The terrifying shriek upon the discovery of a dead body can also be called a convention as its used in at least 90% of modern horror movies. Lastly i will mention a convention that you don’t see often but when you do, you gain a certain respect for a character, Joe Cairo he starts off as some weaselly little man with buggy eyes the type of person you would not give a second glance to, then within seconds of meeting him and getting that impression it changes and all of a sudden there’s a gun being pulled and that little man that you perceived to be nonthreatening just became the biggest threat in the movie.

When it comes to Detective Spade he is a complicated man, we can call him a womanizer, an alpha, mistrusting to those around him (although in the end we see if was for good reason.) he did not like police men, they seemed to just be in his way stopping him like barriers at every turn. With criminals, the man despised them all they did was set him back even more than the police did (drugging him and having him sleep for most of the day) but at the end of the day he was a man of morals, and did what needed to be done, he could have just let the femme fatale walk away, give her a chance at freedom but chose not to, instead he stuck to his morals and did the right thing,

This movie changed my perception of all old movies. I never liked black and white movies, it took me 8 years to watch the wizard of OZ because i didn’t believe that there was color in it till i was forcibly sat down and made to watch it. I tend to like graphics and explosions and most of all color, but thanks to this movie ive gained a new found fondness for the movies of the older generation and will be more open to seeing them more often.

The film “The Maltese Falcon” was very captivating to say the least. The story takes place at Spade and Archer, which is the name of Sam Spade and Miles Archer’s detective agency. When a stunning women named Miss Wanderly who seems to be constantly surrounded by dangerous men comes in seeking help. Sam soon becomes the only means of protection for young Miss Wanderly. This movie is a film noir because of its heavy use to shadowing and angels. A Film Noir usually have plots which deal with death, and mystery there is usually a murder involve on it.

I find the movie “The Maltese Falcon” an interesting piece of work. The atmosphere of the movie set the mood on how characters will act depending on the situation. You could also say that the sounds plays an important roll as well, like in the scene when Mr. Spade was being tag by an anomalous stranger. The camera angels are by far the most typical thing anyone would notice in any movie: when it zooms in or out on something interesting, like an important person talking or the death of someone.

Detective Spade could be describe in many ways in the movie, but I would say that he’s a bit over dramatic when it comes down to persecuting his enemy’s. Surly he is your everyday typical detective who has style and class with the ladies, but his persistent in finding the truth about the killer was to much. Spade has a great personalty that allow him to make friends really quick. His clever idea  as a detective plays a good roll as a way to befriend his enemy’s to gain some sort of knowledge against them: playing the typical good cop bad cop is an example in any detective genre. Spade in my opinion have great relationships with everyone in the movie, because he always know how to take charge of a situation and turn it to his favor.

I find old classic movies boring, but ” Maltese Falcon” was a good watch. The film was filled with a lot of great convention like drama, action, mystery also the suspense in the film was great. I never like how they talk so fast in classic movies. It makes hearing them really hard, as well as the mumbles.

This movie had multiple genre conventions for mystery and detective films. To start the movie it had the typical private detective office with the shaded windows that said private which I believe no longer is a convention in modern day detective films. Another convention that I noticed was when the main detective arrived to the scene of his partners death and already knew the crime scene and how it happened with seconds of arriving. That’s usually done to portray the abilities and skills of the characters in most films. Another convention I saw would be when he looked around and instantly picked something up and concluded it was a clue to the mystery.

The detective in this film was your typical superman. He was capable of describing a whole murder scene seconds after getting there. He lacked emotions which allows him to always be focused on the tasks at hand and hes witty, quick and can disarm a man aiming a gun at him with no signs of fear. He was also capable of spotting a man tailing him. His relationship towards other characters showed his knowledge of the law, the fear policemen had of him. He was a ladies man and was a very good speaker as well.

I’m not a fan of black and white but I believe this movie had a very good story line. I didn’t like how they made the main protagonist so fearless, emotionless, and extremely witty as I believe they went overboard to show his abilities in this film. Overall It did keep my interest as long as I ignored the lack of flaws the main detective had.

From lighting to music, scenery to characters, genre conventions are present in many, if not all of the films we see today.  Genres like horror, comedy, romantic and action, when we sit and watch a movie many of us find ourselves actually saying things like, “oh, this is about to happen” or “wait and see…” Most of the time it is because producers tend to make sure to play suspenseful or eerie music, and/or have an actor alone in a room to know that something bad/scary is about to happen when watching a horror or psychological thriller film.  Evidently, we can all say that genre conventions are present and we, many of us, for the most part, are unaware of it.

Although not a huge fan of film noirs, or so to say “black and white films”, when watching Maltese Falcon, genre conventions were present from the beginning to end.  The introductory itself gave way in letting us know it was a suspense/thriller film.  This alone allows the viewers to expect the unexpected and keep us on our toes as to who was going to do what, such as be the murderer, thief, throughout the whole film.  The dialogue scene at the beginning of the film with the woman and two detectives (sorry I do not recall their names) also build intensity as each camera went on each individual and the suspenseful music played. Yet, when the music stopped the camera angle was on all of them; thus enabling the viewers to become more involved and suspect more is to happen. Of course lights darkening during a killing scene, characters disappearing during a crime, rich folks turning out to be compulsive manipulators, someone passing out after they drunk something from someone they trust are all part of building the suspense. All of which were portrayed in Maltese Falcon and therefore giving the viewers the genre convention in a suspenseful thriller.

In regards to the main character, the detective and his relationship to those around him, as in any typical film, you have sarcasm, what appears to be lust, betrayal and trust issues.  The femme fatal, in connection with the detective uses her charm, mysterious, her desperate need for help and manipulative ways to get the detective to help her and of course he falls for it.  Although he is sarcastic and it appears as if he has everything together, this being the detective, he is not trusted by any of the police. Which is quite ironic since he is law enforcement himself.  Of course it is due to the fact of his involvement with the actual criminal.

Overall, as far as my opinion goes, although it is your typical crime/drama film, it still kept me wondering who could it be even though I had a feeling I knew it was that individual all along. I also kept saying, of course to myself,  “this is about to happen”.  Your typical genre convention film no doubt, but as usual, it keeps you watching, waiting to see what comes next.

I have never really seen a black and white fil from start to finish so this was a new experience for me. From past studies I knew that older movies rely on lighting to set the mood of the current scenario. With the lighting in the movie it was easy top see if the scene was serious or not so serious.
In Maltese Falcon we a what can be described as a hard boiled private investigator. He’s tough, rough, has bark and bite. We can see it from his attitude and the way he tries to get the upper hand in every situation. He also does a lot of things a bad guy would do. He lies to the cops and tries to keep secrets for his own personal gain. But he does it in the name of justice and the greater good. “The end will justify the means”
Because this a noir film shadows play a big role. We also see shadows over the faces of our hero when he is being portrayed in a series manner. When his partner was murdered we saw the shadow. When the mood was light everyone’s faces were illuminated nicely. Also the music played a big role in plot development. When scenes began to speed up or the plot was thickening there was music to accompany us at every twist and turn