Beautiful, moving film.

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

Roy Del Ruth directed the original adaptation of the Dashiell Hammett novel in 1931, which starred Ricardo Cortez. In a nutshell, THE MALTESE FALCON told the story about a San Francisco private detective named Sam Spade, who finds himself drawn into a search for a valuable falcon statuette first created during the Crusades, while investigating three murders.The story began with a Miss Ruth Wonderly hiring Spade and his partner, Miles Archer, to find her missing sister and a man named Floyd Thursby. When Thursby and Archer end up murdered, Spade discovered that Miss Wonderly is one of three people searching for a statuette called the Maltese Falcon. A mortally wounded ship's captain delivered the statuette to Spade's office before dropping dead, making him the case's third murder victim. The entire case spiraled into a game of cat-and-mouse between Spade, Miss Wonderly, a wealthy fat Englishman named Caspar Gutman and an effeminate continental European named Dr. Joel Cairo. Spade also had to deal with the police, who are determined to pin the three deaths on him. In the end, this version turned out better than I had expected. However, the movie is not without its faults. There were times when I felt I was watching a filmed play (very common with early talking movies). But the film's main problem seemed to be its pacing. It seemed too slow for what was supposed to be a witty murder mystery. Especially during the first half hour. By the time Joel Cairo was introduced into the story, the pacing finally began to pick up. The dialogue provided by screenwriters Maude Fulton, Brown Holmes and an unaccredited Lucien Hubbard failed to improve over the course of the movie. Not only did the screenplay allow the dialogue to drag throughout the entire film, the latter was not that memorable.Considering that this is the only precode version of the film, it is not surprising that this version is considered the sexiest of the three filmed versions of the novel. Del Ruth, along with Fulton, Holmes and Hubbard, did an excellent job of conveying the womanizing aspect of Spade's character by revealing his affairs with Archer's wife Iva, his casual flirtation with his secretary Effie, and visual hints of his relationship with Ruth Wonderly like a small indent in the pillow next to the client's head, which hinted that Spade had spent the night with her. Other signs of precode sexuality included Spade bidding a female client good-bye at the beginning of the movie, a nude Miss Wonderly in a bathtub, and a hint of a homosexual relationship between Caspar Gutman and his young enforcer Wilmer Cook.This version lacked the sharp wit of the 1941 adaptation. Considering that I have never read the novel, the screenplay did allow me to completely understand the story in full detail for the first time, without leaving me in a slight haze of fog. I found nothing memorable about William Rees' photography or Robert M. Haas' art direction except in one scene. The scene in question featured an exterior setting, namely a street in San Francisco's Chinatown where Miles Archer's body was discovered. I suspect that this particular scene gave both Rees and Haas an opportunity to display their artistry beyond the movie's usual interior settings.There is also a solid cast here. Ricardo Cortez, led the cast as detective Sam Spade. Cortez gave a very sexy interpretation of Spade in his performance. His constant smirks and grins in the film's first ten to fifteen minutes seemed annoying. But in the end, Cortez grew on me. I can honestly say that not only did I find him very effective in portraying a sexy Sam Spade, he also managed to superbly capture the character's cynical humor, toughness and deep contempt toward the police.Bebe Daniels, another survivor from the silent era, portrayed Ruth Wonderly, and this role has to be considered as one of her best. She managed to give an excellent performance as the ladylike yet manipulative woman who drew Spade into the labyrinth search for the Maltese Falcon. Mind you, she lacked Mary Astor's throbbing voice and nervous manner. But that is merely a minor hitch. Daniels still managed to portray a very convincing elegant temptress. Irish-born Dudley Digges portrayed the wealthy and obsessive Caspar Gutman, who is not above murder, bribery and a score of other crimes to acquire the falcon statuette. Digges lacked the style to believably portray a man wealthy enough to conduct a twenty-year search for a valuable artifact. Instead, Digges reminded me of a corrupt minor official at a British post in the tropics. He seemed to lack talent and subtlety for infusing menace into his character. Whenever he tried to menacing, he only ended up giving a hammy performance. On the other hand, Otto Matieson gave a more believable performance as Dr. Joel Cairo, Gutman's Continental accomplice. Matieson portrayed Cairo as a no-nonsense and practical man who is careful with his money and with whom to trust it.Una Merkel gave a humorous performance as Spade's Girl Friday, Effie. Her Effie is not hesitant about expressing her attraction to Spade, yet at the same time, she seemed to find the detective's other amorous activities rather amusing. Todd seemed to be trying too hard as a scorned lover without any subtlety. At least Dwight Frye fared better as Gutman's young enforcer, Wilmer Cook. He did a solid job in conveying the portrait of a baby-faced killer.I'd suggest watching the 1931 version and the 1941 versions back to back, to get an idea of how Warner Brothers "grew up" during the 1930s. Remember they were just a poverty row studio mainly known for their Rin Tin Tin silent until The Jazz Singer made them rich.

. . . Humphrey Bogart's THE MALTESE FALCON of 1941 is like saying THE OPENING OF MISTY BEETHOVEN is far sexier than Beethoven's Fifth Symphony, simply because it has more overt sex in it. To someone who has never seen the latter masterpiece, sure, the earlier fumble may seem like something is better than nothing. Unfortunately, the plot of the 1931 movie is hopelessly convoluted, and someone who has never seen the Bogart version (1941) would be hopelessly at sea, such as the movie-goers of 1931 (which is probably why this movie could not hold a candle at the box office to Al Jolson in his follow up to THE JAZZ SINGER, THE SINGING FOOL). Sure, actress Bebe Daniels is sort of topless in private eye Sam Spade's bath tub, but there's not that much more nudity than in Jamie Leigh Curtis' mom's shower scene in Hitchcock's scream fest, PSYCHO. Surely the young teenage boys of 1931 could have found something sexier around the hay stack in the back 40 than they could by shelling out a dime to see this version of THE MALTESE FALCON. If not, one has to wonder what REALLY was so good about those late, lamented "good ol' days."

Something went out of Bebe Daniel's personality in the talkies. She had made the transition with ease (apart from being dropped by Paramount because they didn't think she could talk but she soon put them wise). Apart from a few early musicals, the roles she was given were shady ladies, dutiful secretaries, or mistresses. The vivacity and impish appeal that had made her silents such fun was gone."The Maltese Falcon" also went under the title "Dangerous Female" when it was released to TV, so it wouldn't be confused with the later Humphrey Bogart classic. It was also identified as "The Woman in the Floral Pyjamas" and has some of the raciest, sexiest scenes I have ever seen in a pre-code movie, and along with "Baby Face", it was one of the films that hastened the dreaded Breen Code of 1934.The movie positively oozed sex - from the opening shot of a woman client, adjusting her stockings as she kisses Sam a fond farewell. Is there something going on between Sam and Ettie (Una Merkel)?? I don't think so - Ettie seems too smart for that and she is the one constant in his life, besides, he simply doesn't have the time!!! He has just met Mrs. Wonderly (Bebe Daniels) when who should phone up but Iva Archer (Thelma Todd) upset because he has been ignoring her. Another person who overhears the conversation is Miles Archer (Walter Long) but before he has time to teach his two timing wife a lesson he is shot in an alley.Ricardo Cortez is no Humphrey Bogart - I don't mean that in a "putting down" way. Cortez plays Sam Spade as a flinty, smart alecky womaniser, with a sprinkling of humour (also a sprinkling of good taste as well - I am sure that was a photo of Louise Brooks in his apartment). Bogart played him as world weary but someone you could sympathise with. Of the three villains - no one could put more menace into the phrase "I'm a man who likes to talk to a man who likes to talk" than Sidney Greenstreet but Dudley Digges was excellent in the role. He certainly didn't have the domineering presence of Greenstreet (who did?) but he specialised in roles of quiet evil ("The Mayor of Hell", "Massacre"). I thought Dwight Frye was more than a match for Elisha Cook Jnr - he didn't have as much to do and he only uttered a few lines but he bought a vulnerability to his role. The person I thought let the team down was Bebe Daniels. Don't get me wrong, I really love Bebe in the silents and in some of her talkies ("Silver Dollar", "Counsellor at Law" (she matched John Barrymore in sincerity) and "42nd Street" (she played her role with a lot of feeling)). I just think Mary Astor played the role with more warmth and sincerity, so you really cared about what happened to her at the end. Bebe just didn't seem to have the emotional depth.The two people I really loved in this movie were Walter Long (so fantastic as the hardened criminal who takes an intense dislike to Laurel and Hardy in "Pardon Us") and Thelma Todd. There is another sexy scene in this movie where Iva bursts into Sam's apartment, sees Bebe and shouts "What is she doing in my dressing gown"!!! The way Bebe takes it off - like it is poison!!! Anyway Thelma Todd and Walter Long play Mr. and Mrs. Archer. Walter Long married to Thelma Todd - that is surely the stuff that dreams are made of - his dreams!!!Highly, Highly Recommended.

The 1941 version of The Maltese Falcon starring Humphrey Bogart was actually the second remake of The Maltese Falcon. The first remake was Satan Met A Lady, (1936) starring Bette Davis. This film (The Maltese Falcon - 1931) was the original. It doesn't have the pizazz of the Humphrey Bogart version, and it is not a film noir version, but it is extremely faithful to the story, and much more explicit about the various adulterous affairs, out of wedlock sex, and homosexuality. Ricardo Cortez was a big star at the time.Contrary to the many comments in user reviews, it is not a pre-code movie. The Movie Production Code (aka Hays Code) was instituted in 1930, but largely ignored by the studios. It wasn't enforced until 1934 when Joseph Breen took over as head of the Motion Picture Code. The story of the years 1930 - 1933 films which contained much more explicit material than was technically permitted by the code is well told in the TCM documentary "Forbidden Film".Of the three versions of The Maltese Falcon, this is, in my opinion, the second best, with Bogart's version being the best. But this version is a close second, with much to recommend it. It is not more faithful to the novel than the 1941 version, but it is much clearer, especially concerning the sexual sub-plots of the film. It was an A movie in it's time, with top stars including Thelma Todd, Una Merkel, and Dwight Frye. If you like the Bogart version you will probably enjoy this antecedent. Film aficionados and lovers of film history should take special note of this gem.