The story of the statute of the black bird has been a much-loved favourite, partly because it’s a story that belongs in another era, an era not necessarily of innocence, but of intrigue and mystery. The trailer of the movie showed Sydney Greenstreet telling the movie audience to come closer, and listen to him.
“There is a thousand tales of men and women who searched for the Maltese Falcon, and it all ended in murder,” said Greenstreet, to the anxious movie audience, writes David Flynn.
Although he was past sixty, ‘The Maltese Falcon’ was Greenstreet’s first movie. He played the enigmatic greedy Kasper Gutman, also called ‘the fat man’.
The chief character in the story is the detective Sam Spade, a cool clean type of hero with a few rough edges, played by Bogart. Spade is searching for a black marble statute, while protecting the woman played by Mary Astor. In the process Spade has to watch his back from characters of all shades, including little Peter Lorre, who plays the flamboyant crook, Joel Cairo. Spade is also avoiding Gutman and two eager policeman.
The movie has many twists and turns including the difficulty Spade has with the Mary Astor character changing names three times and personalities many more times.
Just when you think you are getting a grip on the movie’s plot, something else happens which throws the story back up in the air.
Dashiell Hammett, author of ‘The Thin Man’ had read about an arrangement in 1530 where the Order of the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem would pay Emperor Charles V as rent for the island of Malta, an annual tribute of a single falcon.
Hammett built a lot of fiction from that scenario into his plot and in 1930 wrote ‘The Maltese Falcon’.
There was an early movie version of the story in 1931, which starred Richard Conte, and there was a further version in 1936 entitled ‘Satan Met A Lady’, which starred Bette Davis but the 1941 movie directed by John Huston is the definitive version of the Hammett story.
The first part of the movie had the quote ‘In 1539, the Knights Templar of Malta, paid tribute to Charles V of Spain, by sending him a Golden Falcon encrusted from beak to claw with rarest jewels- - - - - but pirates seized the galley carrying this priceless token and the fate of the Maltese Falcon remains a mystery to this day.’
Then the movie adventure of the Maltese Falcon in 1940’s San Francisco began.
Jack Warner, of Warner Brothers approved ‘The Maltese Falcon’ knowing it was under the young Huston’s watchful eye.
The production was given a six week schedule and a paltry budget, even by 1941 standards, of $300,000.
Unusually for a movie, ‘The Maltese Falcon’ was shot entirely in sequence, with the exception of the outdoor nightime scenes.
George Raft was offered the Sam Spade role but turned it down, supposedly because the newcomer to Hollywood, Huston, was directing. Raft apparently wanted to work with a more experienced director.
John Huston cast his actor father Walter for free, in a cameo in the movie. Walter is Captain Jacobi, who carries the package of the falcon to Spade’s office, and then keels over dead.
‘The Maltese Falcon’ was Oscar nominated for Best Picture, Screenplay and Supporting Actor (Sydney Greenstreet). However the movie lost out to the multi-Oscar winner, ‘How Green Was My Valley’, directed by Galway man, John Ford.
The partnership of Bogart, Lorre and Greenstreet was re-united for the classic ‘Casablanca’, two years later. Bogart and Huston were re-united several times in other pictures over the years, most notably ‘The Treasure of the Sierra Madre’.
Rumors abounded from Warner Brothers about a sequel to be entitled ‘The Further Adventures of the Maltese Falcon’, which would include the main cast, except Mary Astor. However the idea didn’t materialise.
There was great quotes by some of the characters in the movie most notably from Kasper Gutman, including “I'll tell you right out, I'm a man who likes talking to a man who likes to talk.”
The Sam Spade character is loosely based on Hammett himself, who for many years was a hard-drinking detective.
Rumour has it that Ingrid Bergman, who went on to star with Bogart in the classic ‘Casablanca’ watched ‘The Maltese Falcon’ over and over again, so she would know how to interact with Bogart on screen.
Peter Lorre was the only actor considered for the part of the crook, Joel Cairo.
Dublin born actress, Geraldine Fitzgerald was originally chosen for the main female role, but she opted to do a play instead. Mary Astor who had just finished shooting her Oscar winning role in ‘The Great Lie’ then coveted the part.
The beauty of the John Huston and Humphrey Bogart version of ‘The Maltese Falcon’ is that it hasn’t dated and can be enjoyed today as much as it was on its first release in 1941.
