The Maltese Falcon

This is one of the rare and shining examples of film-making at its absolute finest. As close to perfect as you can get in movies, it's a masterpiece not only of its genre, but of all genres, for all time. The ensemble cast headed by the great Humphrey Bogart is spectacular, as is the flawless dire…

The cheaper the crook, the gaudier the patter. Sam Spade is a tough private detective who gets involved in a murderous hunt for The Maltese Falcon, a legendary statuette thought to contain diamonds. What can I possibly say about this version of The Maltese Falcon that hasn't been said, writte…

This is a pretty good movie that ages fairly well, but I do not feel compelled to pour superlatives down over as most reviews do, both critics and regular viewers. The actors look like they are having fun with it and this classic movie is worth watching just because of that. The dialogue, which I li…

Recently re-released in glorious 4K (nope, I couldn't tell the difference, either) but, hey - any excuse to see this wonderful crime noir on a big screen again is OK with me. When "Brigid" (Mary Astor) approaches PI "Sam Spade" (Humphrey Bogart) and his partner "Archer" (Jerome Cowan) with a dodgy s…