Tweet The Maltese Falcon In Three Takes

Last week I had the rare privilege (I assume it is rare…) of watching all three versions of The Maltese Falcon on successive nights.

I had already seen the Huston version, and in all honesty, can anyone who has seen that version really watch the earlier versions without bringing a Bogie lens to them?

The first version is very interesting as a comparison. Sam Spade is quite the slick smoothie rather than a hardboiled tough-guy, and if not wealthy, is at least running a highly profitable agency. The settings are Hollywood glamourous, light-years away from the cramped seediness of the Huston sets, though not quite anticipating the ridiculous extravagance of some of the sets in Satan Met a Lady. Ricardo Cortez is all wrong for Spade, and not just because he ain’t no Bogart; he also ain’t no Spade as Hammett conceived him. I never for one minute believed he was an edge-of-the-law, two-fisted, morally sleazy gumshoe … and that incessant blinding grin set my own teeth on edge.

The biggest disappointment may well have been Bebe Daniels. I love her in silent comedies, and she’s been good in most of the talkies I’ve seen her in (which is not many), but she didn’t seem able to figure out how to play Brigid. She overacts badly every time she wants to telegraph that Brigid is lying. But the role itself seems extraordinarily difficult to play on-screen; I consider Mary Astor the only actor to turn in a poor performance in the Huston version, and Bette Davis plays a completely different character in Satan Met A Lady. Maybe it will take a modern-day actress to catch the right tone of casual, amoral deception behind a beautiful face, someone like Reese Witherspoon, Penelope Cruz, or Scarlett Johansen.

As for Satan, without knowing anything of the history of this film, anyone can easily figure out that the success of a comedy approach to The Thin Man resulted in the usual Hollywood brain-cramp that a comedy approach to Maltese Falcon would be twice as successful. What a dumb idea! What was insouciant and subversive with Nick and Nora is ham-fisted and phony with Sam and Brigid (who isn’t even called Brigid in this version). Nothing with Warren William and Bette Davis in the leads can be a total write-off, so there are several good moments, but this version is an unintentional farce rather than a comic caper. I thought the guy playing Wilmer was the best of the three who have played that role, though; Elisha Cook Jr. was handicapped by being given practically no lines in the Huston version.

After watching those two versions, the Huston version hits like the 1927 New York Yankees playing the Washington Senators. The casting was sublime (maybe Gloria Graham would have made a better Brigid), the writing was electric, and overall the picture just crackles with a black, evil energy. Despite a couple of flaws, they got it right the third time around.

Jim

[Mike Gebert]

I've never seen the '36, but my feeling about the '31 was that they just couldn't understand the character yet-- so they made him into Philo Vance, basically. And that that was what appealed to Huston about it-- he wanted to see a real heel like Spade without Hays Office-approved redeeming virtues on screen, and felt like it hadn't been done, even if the plot had been filmed twice.

That said, the pre-Code rawness is kind of cool-- Dudley Digges is much lower rent and seedier than Greenstreet. And there's one scene that I think Huston admired and copied in a movie he otherwise was determined to ignore-- the initial meeting of and standoff between Joel Cairo and Spade in Spade's office. That seems to play out very much like the Huston version.

As for Mary Astor in the '41, it's true, all those noir babes to come make her seem very Victorian by comparison, now. I doubt she would have seemed so in 1941, though.

A 1943 broadcast of Lux Radio Theater starred Edward G. Robinson as Sam Spade in an adaption of THE MALTESE FALCON that followed the Huston version closely. Of course, marvelous actor that he was, Eddie G is all wrong as Spade but no doubt the thinking was that if tough guy Bogart can play Spade, so can tough guy Eddie. Fascinating listening though.

[Danny Burk]

Nobody seems to like the '36 version, although I find the idea of Alison Skipworth as The Fat Lady irresistible.

The '36 seemed to be trying to shove a screwball comedy into TMF, and it wouldn't have worked no matter what was done. Some of it is alright, I think Jim and Danny pointed out everything I liked about it. The one thing I'd like to mention is the coldbloodedness of Warren William's character. He's the wisecracking, insouciant hero, but he's about as moral as Kurt Anderson, maybe less. Bette even has to give herself up to the ladies' room attendant to keep WW from getting the reward.

Three takes-how about four takes?

Anyone out there read the book?

Regarding the Bogie version-
As great as this movie is, they had to dance around the Code, which meant they couldn't be direct that she and Bogie's character were lovers (made explicit in the novel), which makes the last scene in the movie harder to follow.

This is from wiki: 'The officers seem to accept, if not believe, Spade's story, but they take Cairo with them down to the station for some "grilling." Spade then tries to get more information from O'Shaughnessy, but she sleeps with him rather than give him the information...

In the book, they spend the night in bed, then he gets to watch her take her clothes off in a weird strip tease under the pretense that she's hiding money. So she's got a little more on him than the Bogey film, where you have to fill in the gaps.

But in the Bogey film, you have to assume certain things have happened, if only because the emotional jeopardy the Bogey and Astor's characters are in doesn't make sense unless they are a couple.

What does all this mean? As good as the Bogey film is-it could have been even better if the relationship between her and Spade had been clearer. That's one advantage the pre-Code version DOES have, as I remember. But then you have one-dimensional Cortez leering in every scene (it seems to be the only way he can move his face).

And while I think Astor is okay in the role, she's definitely not the same character as in the book. Astor plays her as a sad, frustrated woman who is used to using her looks to get what she wants (in other words, sort of a golddigger/princess/adventuress combo) but sort of knows that her looks are going. In the end, she looks a little too old for the part she has to play, which in a strange way, gives her some sympathy to an otherwise very unsympathetic role. Yeah, there would have been other actresses better cast, Gloria Grahame is an easy great choice) but Astor does give the part a certain gravitas that other actresses would or could not bring. So the least effective role in a great film, but just think if only they could have put in some pre-Code stuff (for a novel written in 1930). Forcing Astor to strip in the bathroom (as she has to in the novel) would have really clarified Spade's character and made his decision at the end much more interesting.

Hammett is a great writer. There are other mystery writers who may have a higher literary standing -- among them Raymond Chandler and Dorothy Sayers -- but Hammett was a strong writer, a keen observer of humanity and an accurate reporter of reality. THE THIN MAN reeks of the paralyzing despair of alcoholism draining the ability to work out of him. RED DUST and THE GLASS KEY are studies in corruption and as for THE MALTESE FALCON, it shows an honest man hiding in a world of lies. That's the brilliance of Huston's screenplay: he saw that and managed to capture pieces of it.

Bob

MY Choice for Brigid, in the 1931, WAS, Always, "Billie Dove."
Sid Bloomberg

Well I think Mary Astor was terrific. She may not have been Hammett's Brigid, but she's such a damned good actress that I find her performance, along with those of Bogart, Greenstreet, Lorre, Cook, Gladys George, and Lee Patrick just excellent.

I learned long ago that no movie adaptation is EVER going to be the book. It can't be done.

You can only imagine what a new film version of this great book would be like....

I actually liked Ricardo Cortez in this--he doesn't have Bogart's depth, but that's pretty heavy competition. He's slick but sleazy and while it was different from Bogie i thought it was a reasonable take on the role.

But, yes, Bebe Daniels brought nothing to the part. Dudley Digges was a standout.

greta

Nobody seems to like the '36 version, although I find the idea of Alison Skipworth as The Fat Lady irresistible.

Yes, she was very effective, and the notion of an old woman greedily chasing the jewels was one of the best ideas in that version.

Jim

I guess I should note that the reason I was able to watch all three versions is because HMV discounted the 3-in-1 special DVD edition all the way down to about twelve bucks. Weirdly enough -- and this probably speaks to why HMV is teetering on bankruptcy these days -- they were also discounting the Huston-only version for the same price. Why buy the one film when the same price could get you all three?

Anyway, Mike, you might want to look out for the 3-in-1 edition. It also has a bunch of extras, as usual not captioned, so I can't tell you how good they are.

Jim

I can tell you this much, Mike: I've seen the '36 version once and I wouldn't care to see it again. It's god-awful.

I can tell you this much, Mike: I've seen the '36 version once and I wouldn't care to see it again. It's god-awful.

I walked out on it. And it was showing in my own living room.

I can tell you this much, Mike: I've seen the '36 version once and I wouldn't care to see it again. It's god-awful.

I walked out on it. And it was showing in my own living room.

Bette Davis appears as if she's doing a college play in some places; and Warren William - it would appear - seems to wonder if he's going to be paid or not - and just says - what appears, anyway - "to hell with it", and proceeds to go over the top. I remember a number of college performances like this. None of them were ever considered "classics", and certainly the '36 version is no classic. It's terrible beyond belief. I recently re-watched all three over a week's period, and I found the '36 worse than I ever remembered it, and I'd seen it a couple of times before; the '31 I particularly liked for one little separate note that none of the other versions pick up on: namely, in Chinatown Sam Spade speaks Chinese in one little scene, something I thought remarkable; otherwise, the '31 version was very good, but still no where near as good as the '41 version. I think both Bebe Daniels and Mary Astor give very fine performances, just different. Daniels was very befitting an actress in the pre-code era. Astor was fascinating as the baffling, seemingly scatter-brained Brigid who actually is a viper. I have the book, and I've read it, but that was back in college some forty years ago. I couldn't tell you if I had to if the book and the films are anywhere close to each other - or not.

One thing about the '41 version that is so very superb - and that's the musical score. If you've ever heard Ernest Bloch's first string quartet, you'll think you're hearing the music from the '41 "Maltese Falcon", but Bloch's piece was written back in 1916.

Astor was fascinating as the baffling, seemingly scatter-brained Brigid who actually is a viper. I have the book, and I've read it, but that was back in college some forty years ago. I couldn't tell you if I had to if the book and the films are anywhere close to each other - or not.

Closer than the films and book of The Thin Man. Or for that matter, Mildred Pierce.

Michael, there are points at which the '41 version is eerily like the book. That was always Huston's strength as a screenwriter.

Bob

Bette Davis appears as if she's doing a college play in some places; and Warren William - it would appear - seems to wonder if he's going to be paid or not - and just says - what appears, anyway - "to hell with it", and proceeds to go over the top.

Oh yeah, of all the awful things in it Bette is the worst, no conviction at all except when she's holding a gun. William doesn't seem to care what happens in this film, but at least he's going to chew the scenery for us. Perhaps after Smarty, he learned not to play straight when the film is pretty stupid. Marie Wilson seems to be the dumbest of dumb blondes and it's strange to see it as the dumb blonde wasn't really much in film at the time. I can't figure who the hell thought Arthur Treacher would be a good idea to sit in the Joel Cairo role, but I get the feeling nobody cared once they saw the script.

Treacher is almost impossible to watch, especially if you've seen Peter Lorre play the role before you've seen Treacher essay it. I'm not saying Arthur was bad, I'm saying it's a jaw-dropper bit of casting, sort of like watching Arnold Schwarzenegger play the Hugh Herbert role in an Astaire-Rogers film.

Jim

[Mike Gebert]

Well, then let me put in a word for the unfortunate Otto Matieson, who I think gives a solid and Lorresque performance as Cairo. (I say unfortunate because he had a number of notable silent roles and clearly could have made the transition to sound character parts for many years, if he hadn't died in a car crash a year after Maltese Falcon.) Much younger-looking than he evidently was, his notable roles include The Salvation Hunters, The Beloved Rogue, Old San Francisco and The Golden Dawn.

One thing that might have hurt his later career, though, is how much he looked like Dwight Frye.

Okay, I got the drop on all of youse guys. Here's the 'fifth' or more take on the Maltese Falcon. Every wonder what happened to all these characters? Yes, there was a sequel to the story and following is from a website devoted to Spade and old-time radio. You can download the Khandi Tooth Caper from the net:


In fact, the only real sequel to The Maltese Falcon was not produced for either prose or film, though, but for radio. Both The Adventures of Sam Spade and the great mystery anthology show Suspense were both produced by the same man, William Speir. During the first year or two that Sam Spade was on the air, Suspense was an hour show, hosted by Robert Montgomery. To get fans of Suspense listening to Sam Spade, Speir produced a special one-hour Spade episode called "The Khandi Tooth Caper" and aired it on Suspense.
The episode is a direct sequel to The Maltese Falcon, with Spade once again meeting Gutman, Cairo, and another "gunsel." It explains what happened to the real Falcon, alludes to Brigid O'Shaugnessy's fate, and sets Spade and the bad guys at odds as they again contend in the search for another quest object, the fabled Khandi Tooth. As an inside joke, host Montgomery, who played Philip Marlowe in the screen version of The Lady in the Lake made a cameo appearance as Marlowe in the episode. Later, the episode was presented as a two-parter on Sam Spade's own series. It's available from various radio nostalgia dealers if you're interested in hearing it.

SUSPENSE:THE KHANDI TOOTH CAPER
(probably January 10, 1948)
60 minutes
Based on characters created by Dashiell Hammett
Starring Howard Duff as SAM SPADE

[Mike Gebert]

I've heard some of the Howard Duff shows, which are decent enough but to my mind only borrow the name Sam Spade and are much like any detective show of the time. (Of course, any detective show of the time owes a debt to The Maltese Falcon...)

That one sounds like a much more intriguing followup, though.

There's always this, too.

In fact, the only real sequel to The Maltese Falcon was not produced for either prose or film, though, but for radio

Actually, probably the only real sequel(s) to the Maltese Falcon were the three short stories Dashiell Hammett wrote in the early thirties.

[Christopher Jacobs]

A little over two years ago I had a bunch of people over and nine of us watched all three MALTESE FALCON versions in a row (projected on a big screen, of course). Most people as expected preferred the Bogart version, but a few strongly preferred the Cortez version and at least one had a very strong affection for SATAN MET A LADY, if not outright preferring it to the other two!

I personally find the Huston/Bogart film the slickest, most polished of the three, with memorable performances all around, yet I still prefer the precode attitude of the 1931 version, admire most of its cast quite a bit in the roles, and like the scenes it includes that could not make it into the post-code 1941 incarnation. Ricardo Cortez isn't Bogart, but he's not bad at all, nor is Bebe Daniels. Dudley Digges, Una Merkel, J. Farrell Macdonald, Dwight Frye, and Thelma Todd all together -- what's not to like?

As for SATAN MET A LADY, it is really a mess but it does have its moments, especially when one takes it as a comedy-mystery on its own terms and not as just a misguided FALCON variation. Alison Skipworth, of course, is wonderful, and I found Marie Wilson unexpectedly goofily endearing, and wanted to see much more of her than they showed. Arthur Treacher isn't bad, and even Warren William seems to warm up to the goofy atmosphere as it goes along. Davis is the weak point. Too bad they didn't cast Joan Blondell or Glenda Farrell. It could have been a classic if everybody involved had treated it consistently as a comedy version, but it often looks like some people (including the director) are trying to play it straight while others are playing it to the hilt at the same time, and then later they switch off to the other way around! (A couple of Warren & Dubin songs might have helped a bit, too!)

--Christopher Jacobs
http://hpr1.com/film
http://www.und.edu/instruct/cjacobs
http://www.und.edu/instruct/cjacobs/Old ... BluRay.htm

Is the '31 version available?

I believe all three versions are contained in the old DVD special edition.

Great. Thanks. I'm on it.

Una Merkel,

Sexiest Effie ever!

As for SATAN MET A LADY, it is really a mess but it does have its moments, especially when one takes it as a comedy-mystery on its own terms and not as just a misguided FALCON variation. Alison Skipworth, of course, is wonderful, and I found Marie Wilson unexpectedly goofily endearing, and wanted to see much more of her than they showed. Arthur Treacher isn't bad, and even Warren William seems to warm up to the goofy atmosphere as it goes along. Davis is the weak point. Too bad they didn't cast Joan Blondell or Glenda Farrell. It could have been a classic if everybody involved had treated it consistently as a comedy version, but it often looks like some people (including the director) are trying to play it straight while others are playing it to the hilt at the same time, and then later they switch off to the other way around! (A couple of Warren & Dubin songs might have helped a bit, too!)

--Christopher Jacobs
http://hpr1.com/film
http://www.und.edu/instruct/cjacobs
http://www.und.edu/instruct/cjacobs/Old ... BluRay.htm

Now that you mention it that way, it does make sense. If it weren't for the Hammett connection, it would seem a failed comedy/mystery rather than as a travesty. That way, even Treacher is tolerable if a bit too polite. I enjoy the sick mommy/son sexual byplay of Skipworth and her gunsel. The casting is mostly good but Bette is really wrong here. Genevieve Tobin could have done better. Heck, Wini Shaw could have done better with the Brigid part. They could have even upped the ante on William's coldblooded private dick, making him do even more loathsome things (for example tossing used matches on a corpse, like Edmund Lowe does in Guilty As Hell), thus having us root a bit more for the killer.

I believe all three versions are contained in the old DVD special edition.

Hmmmm!! Got a link to this? I can't seem to locate it.

I believe all three versions are contained in the old DVD special edition.

Hmmmm!! Got a link to this? I can't seem to locate it.

Link to Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_3_45?url=search-alias%3Ddvd&field-keywords=the+maltese+falcon+three-disc+special+edition&sprefix=the+maltese+falcon+three-disc+special+edition

Note: I got this version for less that $20 a few years ago when it first came out.