Frighteningly good evidence that the British (Alfred Hitchcock, Carol Reed, et al.) have no monopoly on the technique of making mystery films.
Comment
04/23/09
The Maltese Falcon (1941)
100
%
Tomatometer
How does the Tomatometer work 
Reviews Counted:40
Fresh:40
Rotten:0
Average Rating:9/10
Consensus: Suspenseful, labyrinthine, and brilliantly cast, The Maltese Falcon is one of the most influential noirs -- as well as a showcase for Humphrey Bogart at his finest.
Runtime: 4 hrs 12 mins
Genre: Action/Adventure
Synopsis: Hard-drinking private eye Sam Spade (Humphrey Bogart) sleuths the backyard of San Francisco in search of an elusive black bird statuette while evading the setups of three disparate miscreants: the... [More]
Starring: Humphrey Bogart, Mary Astor, Gladys George, Peter Lorre
Director: John Huston
Get This Movie
Reviews for The Maltese Falcon
Top CriticThis Spade is no stranger to the guile of shady clients and colorful suspects...
10/26/08
The film is made up almost entirely of talk, and yet the performances are so wonderfully flamboyant and focused that conversations become the action of the movie.
08/22/08
The Maltese Falcon is among the most important and influential movies to emerge from the Hollywood system -- as significant in some ways as its contemporary, Citizen Kane.
06/10/08
Top CriticThis is one of the best examples of actionful and suspenseful melodramatic story telling in cinematic form.
04/08/08
Top CriticPerfect use of the old McGuffin.
01/19/08
With its dark, complex plotting, stark black-and-white photography, concentration on the baseness of man, and a cynical mood sustained to its still shockingly grim conclusion, this is the prototypical film noir.
10/16/07
Top CriticWho can argue with Bogart's glower or Mary Astor in her ratty fur?
10/16/07
Top Critic... part of what makes a film great is its power to obliterate whatever preconceptions we bring to it. There is brittle wit and sparkling harm and a very adult sense of fun present in The Maltese Falcon; it still works as a movie
09/09/07
sharp and jagged... stripped clean
10/11/06
...we're caught up in the pulse of the film, pretty much swept along by its deeds, not even particularly saddened or surprised by the pessimism of its ending.
10/09/06
One of the most brilliant directorial debuts in Hollywood's history, this gem of a movie catapulted Humphrey Bogart to major stardom, offering one of his finest roles (with many memorable lines) as detective Sam Spade.
09/07/06
Filmed almost entirely in interiors, it presents a claustrophobic world animated by betrayal, perversion and pain.
06/24/06
Bogart became Bogart in John Huston's great first film, a trend-setting, brilliantly cast adaptation of Dashiell Hammett's hardboiled novel ... This was the stuff that dreams -- and Hollywood -- was made of.
06/02/06
No review available.
07/29/05
Best in noir - Best in Bogie - One of the best ever.
04/03/05
No review available.
02/25/05
John Huston's debut is still primo noir.
10/22/04
Now that's some tasty classic noir.
10/15/04
No review available.
03/25/04
Latest News for The Maltese Falcon
August 27, 2008:
Certified Fresh Picks from the WB Vault
It's the third-oldest American movie studio: the company that brought us Rin Tin Tin, convinced the world that the talkies were here to stay, and eventually grew into one of the... More...
June 22, 2007:
AFI Announces Top 100 Movies of All Time ... Again
Ten years ago the AFI gave us a list of the Top 100 American Films Ever Made -- and when that was done they churned out 15 other lists every few years. And then last night they... More...
April 20, 2006:
Interview With "Brick" Director Rian Johnson
A film noir set at a contemporary high school, "Brick" is a strange, tough little movie, a throwback to the days of Sam Spade that utilizes its young actors to... More...
RT On Current TV
What’s Hot On RT
Fresh Links
Featured
Best Sci-Fi This Decade 
Techland lists the best Sci-Fi films of this decade.
40 Worst Films of the 2000s
Moviefone takes a look back at the biggest stinkers of the past 10 years.
10 Questions For Zac Efron
The Me and Orson Welles star answers reader questions on TIME.com.
Best Decade Ever!
Hollywood.com's C. Robert Cargill offers his thoughts on what the best decade for film was.
Pee-Wee's Big Adventure
In the AV Club's "Scenic Routes," Mike D'Angelo reminisces about the Tim Burton film.
Promos
Follow RT on Twitter
Get the latest Tomatometer updates on upcoming movies!
IGN RSS Feeds