The Maltese Falcon (not rated)
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So, this came out in 1941, long before I was born. I'm sure I must have seen it on TV once, probably in the early 90s. But I'm writing this review after seeing it on DVD in 2017, and nothing about it was familiar to me, except the final line of the film. Which is famous enough that I expect I would remember having heard it even if I'd never seen the movie. Anyway... I definitely think it's a very good movie. It's one of those things where I feel like my rating isn't nearly high enough. But at the same time, it might have been even lower if I hadn't been aware that the movie is a major classic, like one of the all-time greats of film noir specifically, and of movies in general. So of course I hate myself for not loving it. And I think, maybe it's because I'm so used to modern movies that are more sort of spectacular, or whatever. I dunno. Oh, also I should mention that it's based on a 1929 novel by Dashiell Hammett, which I haven't read.

There's a private detective named Sam Spade (Humphrey Bogart), and one day a woman named Miss Wonderly (Mary Astor) comes into his office with a case. She wants him to tail a man named Floyd Thursby, whom she says her sister had run away with, from New York to San Francisco. After she's explained the situation to Sam, his partner, Miles Archer, shows up, and he says he'll tail Thursby. (It's obvious Archer is interested in Wonderly because she's attractive, although we soon learn that he's married.) That night, Archer is killed by someone, though it's unclear who. The police soon come to suspect Sam, and the suspicion gets stronger when they learn that he was involved with Archer's wife, Iva. (Although it becomes clear that Sam wishes he'd never met her.) Another possibility, of course, is that Thursby murdered Archer. But it's not long before Thursby himself is murdered, for which Sam is also a suspect.

Well, Sam subsequently learns that Wonderly's real name is Brigid O'Shaughnessy. And her original story was a lie, though Sam had suspected that all along. And... a lot of other stuff happens, and several other people are involved. There's a guy named Joel Cairo (Peter Lorre), who is looking for a black bird statuette (the titular Maltese Falcon). There's also someone named Kasper Gutman (aka "Fat Man") who wants to find the Falcon. And there's a young man named Wilmer, who works for Gutman. And there are a couple of cops, Det. Tom Polhaus and Lt. Dundy, who keep looking into whatever Sam is up to. So he has to keep them somewhat in the dark regarding his own investigation, while also keeping them from arresting him. Anyway, everyone wants to find the Falcon, which is incredibly valuable, and has a history dating back to 1539. (We learn about its origins in some onscreen text at the beginning of the movie, and later Gutman tells Spade about how it changed hands over the centuries.) But I don't really want to give away any more details of the movie, or how it all ends.

So... I'll say I liked Sam Spade, for the most part. He could be fairly funny, at times, but also very serious, at other times. And um... his secretary, Effie Perine, seemed like she'd make a pretty good detective, herself. And Brigid, Gutman, and Cairo were all fairly interesting characters. And I don't really know what else to tell you. Except that if I'd been around to watch this in 1941, I'd probably have a much higher opinion of it. Nevertheless, my current estimation of the film is still, as I said, very good.