Movie Minx

Starring: Humphrey Bogart, Mary Astor
Directed by: John Huston

Plot: Sam Spade, a private detective, gets involved in a murderous hunt for a valuable statuette.

But is it any good?

First, I must say I haven’t seen the 1931 version of The Maltese Falcon, which by a few accounts is superior to this version. This one had some contradictions in character, I thought, and scenes which didn’t quite add up (his affair with his partner’s wife is swept under the rug at the beginning, for example, and Brigid’s demanding pleas that he love her forever sound a little rash when it seems like they’ve barely spent half an hour in the same room - but that’s editing and early ’40s censorship to blame there, apparently).

Bogart is a legend, and, like Brando in his films, he shines on the screen in any role he plays. The other Falcon actors, however, seem either too wooden or overplay their parts, the plot drags and the love interest seems forced. As this is one of Huston’s first directorial efforts, I must also compare it with the Treasure of the Sierra Madre and say that I much preferred the adventures in Treasure to this plodding and rather weary effort.

It’s perhaps unfortunate that I watched Chinatown before Falcon, which can at least be credited with inspiring many detective films since. But athough Chinatown was made decades later and clearly borrows much of its detective plot from Falcon, Chinatown emerges the stronger film.

IMDb’s rating: 8.4/10
My rating: 6.5/10

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