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A |
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A |
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| Acting: |
A |
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| Direction: |
A- |
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A- |
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The Stuff Dreams Are Made Of
by general_1 (movies profile)
Jul 9, 2006
1
of
1 people found this review helpful
How did it take ten years for Humprey Bogart to become a star? And how did it take three versions of Dashiell Hammett's story to make a great film? Who knows, but the important thing is Humphrey Bogart did become a star, and Dashiell Hammett's story did become one of the greatest films ever. First time director John Huston wrote a screenplay that stuck to what was already a great tale of detective Sam Spade (Bogie) and his involvement with a group of people (Mary Astor, Sydney Greenstreet, Peter Lorre, Elisha Cook) looking for the titlular statue. The performances are all first rate (while Astor isn't up to the level of the other leads, she is definitely not as bad as some critics say), the script is incredibly well written, and the overall ambiance is as good as "Double Indemnity". Like so many other greats, from "Gone With the Wind" to "Casablanca", "The Maltese Falcon" also understands that a great ending line can easily become immortal, and of course today even people who haven't heard of the film probably know "The stuff dreams are made of". Although Fritz Lang's German film "M" technically began film noir, "The Maltese Falcon" was really the first of the genre to come out of Hollywood. As the genre is probably my favorite, I can tell you candidly that having seen just about every film noir there is, "The Maltese Falcon" is easily one of the three best, and undoubtedly an essential film that everyone should see. |
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