Playin' it Bogart

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RIP www.moviejustice.com 2002-2010
I put this in my 100 films thread, but I'll plop it down here as well.

The Maltese Falcon (1941, John Huston)



Thoughts: Bogart’s third best film is good enough to make my top 100 list. The Maltese Falcon is the granddaddy of film noir that dominated in the 1940s into the 1950s. The setup is a bit silly because the plot revolves around a femme fatal (Mary Astor), three petty crooks, and our hero Sam Spade (Bogart) all after the mysterious and extremely valuable macguffin “the black bird” that shares the name of the film’s title. It doesn’t really matter so much, because the film is not about plot, but about character interaction, lies, twists, double crosses, and one upping each other as they raise the ante. This is similar to the material of The Big Sleep, which granted is much darker and sinister, but slightly less charming with an even more incomprehensible story. But like I said, The Maltese Falcon does make perfect sense if the dialogue is thought about and on multiple viewings it all falls together nicely.

The character actors of Peter Lorre and Sydney Greenstreet get a lot of screen time, though Bogart is literally the focus of every single scene except for one in the film. Lorre plays the smooth and refined Joel Cairo, one of the men after the Falcon. In an infamous example of getting around censors, Cairo is portrayed as an openly homosexual man who lusts after wealth and a clean shirt more than anything else. This becomes more clear on subsequent viewings and I admire scriptwriters and directors who were able to sneak this thing in below the radar of the Hayes code censors. Greenstreet is charming as Gutman, the film’s main heavy (yes) and foil to Bogart’s amoral hero. Greenstreet has some excellent moments and is a joy to listen to rolling lines out. Both of these character actors would go on to have minor roles in the overrated Casablanca. I need to also mention poor Elisha Cook Jr. who never gets his day, whether it be in this movie, The Big Sleep, The Killing, or Shane. The poor guy plays second fiddle and the scapegoat so well.

The film is paced at lightspeed, even by today’s standards. A lot of it goes by so quickly that it’s easy to miss key dialogue and plot points, but that tends to be a staple of noir. I also admire the camera work with the low angled shots looking up at the actors, shadows, and street lights. This is just a fun enjoyable movie that holds up to multiple viewings, even if it isn’t as serious or dark as other entries into the genre. The Maltese Falcon was the first Bogart film I ever saw. It was as a senior in high school during film class. The months afterwards I went to the public library and checked out dozens of Bogart films on VHS. I was… am a fan.



Best Scene: Bogart has found out about the death of his partner and has already gone a few rounds with the lying femme fatal played by Mary Astor when Joel Cairo enters his office. Lorre doesn’t bat an eye drawing a gun on Bogart, just after playing with his cane, which prompts our favorite private dick to unarm him. After a nice lengthy conversation Bogart gives the gun back to Lorre, who holds it on Bogart again demanding to search the room. Bogart has nothing left to do but laugh at the persistence and absurdity of the little man, as he’s rendered too amused to challenge him. That right there is pure Bogart.

&feature=related
this is sadly only half of the scene.



RIP www.moviejustice.com 2002-2010
One quick thought on that poster. It's a bit inaccurate as Bogart is seen with a gun just having been fired as evident by the smoking barrel, yet he doesn't even fire a gun in the film and the only time he really handles them is when he takes a pair of 1911s from Elisha Cook Jr., holding the guns on the crew at the end, or the subcompact thing from Peter Lorre.



will.15's Avatar
Semper Fooey
I've said it before, but I will say it again. George Raft made Humphry Bogart a star. The Petrified Forest got Bogart a contract at Warner Brothers, but most of the movies he made subsequent to it were second lead gangster parts to the studio's star gangsters, Cagney and Robinson. The starring roles he played like Marked Woman didn't bump his career. Then George Raft left Paramount for Warner Brothers with a better contract than the studio's home grown stars. He could turn down parts without being penalized. He turned down High Sierra because he didn't want to die at the end and it was a big hit for Bogart. He then turned down The Maltese Falcon because he siad it wasn't a big picture. That established Bogart with production head Hal Wallis who chose Bogart to star in Casablanca as his first movie under a new contract he would personally produce. Rumors Raft also turned down Casablanca are not true. He wanted it, but Wallis refused to consider him. Raft tried to go over Wallis' head to Jack Warner, but it didn't work. A memo exists that documents all this. The stories that the studio considered Casablanca a B movie or a programmer are also not true. Wallis picked Casablanca to launch his independent producing career. Bogart and Bergman may have thought they were in a programmer. Wallis didn't think so. He wouldn't have assigned the studio's top director, Michael Curtiz on a programmer. Raft's career never recovered from his turning down these two pictures and after a few years his stardom had seriously declined.
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RIP www.moviejustice.com 2002-2010
I've said it before, but I will say it again. George Raft made Humphry Bogart a star.
I'm confused by the purpose point you're making. Is this strictly an informative post or does George Raft making bad carreer decisions and Bogart capitalizing on them detract from Bogart in your viewpoint?



will.15's Avatar
Semper Fooey
Nothing wrong on capitalizing on somebody elses' mistakes, just pointing out the two key movies that made him a star were rejects another actor declined. If he hadn't made them he wouldn't have had the opportunity to make Casablance, which made him a superstar. Actors can be around a long time until the right part comes along that establishes them as a major star. For Walter Matthau it was The Fortune Cookie. For Lee Marvin it was Cat Ballou, and so on.



My three favorite Bogart movies are:

To Have and Have Not
The Big Sleep
Dark Passage

Geroge Raft's poor career decisions are legendary. He was an idiot. But with or without Raft, Bogart had the right stuff. Raft's loss was Bogart's gain. He had killer screen presence. In a couple of his movies, characters remark that they 'like his face'. Well, I think that was part of the attraction. He really did have an interesting face, and this was an asset when expressing himself.
He also comes across as one of the most confident actors I have watched, delivering his lines fluidly and unflinchingly.



matt72582's Avatar
Please Quote/Tag Or I'll Miss Your Responses
I haven't saw this particular version yet, but will in the near future, thought I'd put it out there for you all.

THE PETRIFIED FOREST (Humphrey Bogart, Peter Fonda)