Being a big fan of detective stories, I really enjoyed The Maltese falcon. No film is made in a vacuum, in other words, everything comes from something. To say that no film has taken ideas from Maltese Falcon is a lie; that’s not saying that this film is the original being base on the novel by Dashiell Hammetts, but it is a film that utilizes the ideas to make something wonderful and entertaining.  Sam Spade (played by Humphrey Bogart) is a fast talking detective that gets in over his head when a women named Brigid O’Shaughnessy (played by Mary Astor) comes to him with a simple tailing job that turns in to murder with his partner being the stiff and all eyes on him being the suspect.

Sam is an archetype that is recognizable in many films:  fast talking, quick witted, daring and a keen eye and mind for detective work. However behind all of that is a man who is greedy, misogynistic, ambiguous, scared and a bastard.  Bogart’s character is the antihero, someone that has done bad things but still tries to do the right thing. Many characters from this film fall in the cliché category as well with O’Shaughnessy being a femme fatale playing the victim; being as dirty and dangerous has her male counterparts. Cairo (played by Peter Lorre) is slimy, dimwitted, and a liar; but smart enough to trick Sam one time. Wilmer Cook (played by Elisha Cook Jr.) a scary intense character is a walking time bomb and that’s something Sam sees and uses to his advantage. The ringleader Kasper Gutman (played by Sydney Greenstreet) is a pompous fat man with a smile to match is obsessed with finding the falcon. He will stop at nothing to get it, even if he has to cross his partners in crime.

These characters are considered more cliché in today’s films because when everyone is a suspect, the leading man keeps everyone on their toes long enough so he can solve the case and deliver it to the authorities in a nice bow. This theme worked then and nearly 75 years later, it still works. You can take a basic archetype like Sam and Kasper and redeliver their essence in another genre of film such as in 1977’s Star Wars: Han Solo being the antihero and Jabba the Hut being the villain.

Having a good story and fun characters is not enough; you also need the visual to represent the world you are trying to create. The noir cinematography is a character in its self by paring a mysterious story with a mysterious city like San Francisco as its back drop for this film. Black and white contrasts and high angles make everything look intimidating and making the audience wonder what is in the shadows looking back at you. The cinematography is in full effect with dim lighting presenting a smoky night and the moon giving you enough light to reflect the heroes; and the “not so good guys” barely showing in the light.

The noir architecture has inspired countless works including the 1945 film Detour in addition to recent video games like Bioshock and L.A Noir. Bruce Timm’s animated Batman series stylizes is presented in noir style with the animation not too “cartoony”.  Movies like the Maltese Falcon, done with noir aesthetics set the standard of how to show a good dark detective drama.  Without Sam we would not have Colombo and without O’Shaughnessy we would not have Catherine Tramell (Basic Instinct). This film is “the stuff dreams are made of”- cue the music.

The Maltese Falcon is one of the first ever Black and White films i may have ever seen. Truth be told, it was a great film. The film introduces what seems to be two protagonists in the beginning of the film, detectives, Samuel Spade and Miles Archer. The story of betrayal begins when a women enters their offices and gives them a case, leading to the death of his partner and she is later revealed to be key element in the film and shows off the most secrecy in character in my opinion.

We circle around the main character of the film Samuel Spade the detective, who is very hard to pin point in the film. The character is very good at what he does and is a strong, and smart minded man. In a few words, “He knows how to play the game.” When it comes to the female character who was introduced in the beginning Brigid, their relationship is just as confusion as her mind, and trust. She gives of this persona of a very sweet, well mannered women, almost a damsel in distress. Still Spade is able to see right through her and plays her just as well. There is also a very comical feeling when ever the character of Gutman’s right hand man, the low leveled gun man compared to Spade. Through out the film he is easily out smarted by Spade at every corner and pokes at his short tempered mind at every given opportunity. Then there are the policemen who seem to want to convict Spade for the death of his partner, Spade easily due to experiences seems to know how to juggle them around so there not in the way of this investigation.

The Noir film of The Maltese Falcon is a great film and i would 100% recommend it to others. I enjoy the characters and all the diverse personalities each gave to the audience. It was truly a wonderful story of betrayal from every character, and always kept you thinking on who is telling the truth. The story line played well, and there wasn’t a scene where i wanted it to pass. All and all this was a great film to begin with hope the rest are just as great.

                As time passes in any given genre, the genre itself will get defined by certain plot points and character archetypes.  When this is occurring this is how very specific genre conventions are formed.  Genre conventions can sometimes be good while other times they can become inappropriately used or even misused.  After watching The Maltese Falcon, there were definitely a few genre conventions that could be seen.

                Genre conventions can be helpful when mapping out a plot.  One convention seen in the film is how the film starts off with a back story already in progress and the idea of trying to find an object.  This is then put into The Detective’s agenda as a case and he is caught between multiple forces trying to find the object.  The archetypal characters then use him as fit for their own agendas.  One character in particular that is a big genre convention is Brigid, the femme fatale archetype.  She is “playing” The Detective and has been the leading force of chaos from the start.  She is seen as a sweet and innocent woman but is merely just acting the whole time.  The genre convention of the femme fatale is then followed by how The Detective sees right through her and knows she is lying but then another genre convention of The Detective and The Femme Fatale characters having a connection; mostly sexual.  Another character that can be seen as a convention is Wilmer, the low level lackey gunman.  This character is undermined and has a hot uncontrollable temper.  In replay to that The Detective will specifically poke fun at him, outsmart him, and continuously push him on.

                The character of The Detective is always an important feature to get down.  To the audience The Detective is liked because he is doing the right thing (sort of) and winning.  Features that have generally stuck with the archetype of The Detective character is the idea that the character plays within the set of The Law but bends the rules to get results.  He is considered to be an untrustworthy force by both the policemen and the criminals.  In The Maltese Falcon, The Detective is not trusted by the police and they question him.  In response he puts up his tough exterior and mocks them and treats them with very little respect because they are on his back after he has done nothing wrong.

– Mike Lee

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.

As we saw in The Maltese Falcon, this movie showed a lot of the conventions of film noir that helped define the genre.  Since “noir” literally means black in French, the most important aspects are the use of black and white and striking shadows. These create the stylized look and feel as well as helps set the mood for the rest of the film. Some more apparent ones: taking place in a detective’s office with the “wild and unpredictable” smooth-talking, womanizing detective, a murder mystery ensuing, most of the main characters becoming suspects, the heavy dialogue, and added love stories. A few subtle conventions can also be seen that are built upon in later movies. For example; the use of window blind shadows, and the bright lighted/neon signs in the background at night.

While we are on the topic of conventions, I wanted to discuss the difference between conventions and clichés. Is there a difference? If so, could conventions ever become a cliché?

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