Date Seen: 6/9/17
Score: 3/5
DIRECTOR: John Huston
STUDIO: Warner Bros.
SCREENPLAY: John Huston
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Arthur Edeson
 |
| Mary Astor meets Humphrey Bogart |
 |
| Mary Astor, Humphrey Bogart, and Jerome Cowan |
 |
| Barton MacLaine, Ward Bond, and Humphrey Bogart |
 |
| Lee Patrick and Humphrey Bogart |
 |
| Mary Astor and her Prison-striped Pajama robe |
 |
| Peter Lorre |
 |
| Peter Lorre and Humphrey Bogart |
 |
| Humphrey Bogart and Elisha Cook, Jr. |
 |
| Sydney Greenstreet in his first screen role |
 |
| Looks like those drugs are starting to take effect... |
 |
| Elisha Cook, Jr. |
 |
| Elisha Cook, Jr. looks around the room and sees... |
 |
| ...Peter Lorre... |
 |
| ...Humphrey Bogart... |
 |
| ...and Mary Astor |
 |
| Peter Lorre and Sydney Greenstreet |
 |
| Bogey and Astor |
I was disappointed by The Maltese Falcon, particularly after seeing John Huston's breathtaking work in The African Queen. In many ways, the two films could not be more different- filmed on location in technicolor, The African Queen's cinematography is a love story to the beauty and color of nature, while The Maltese Falcon is regarded as the one of the most famous and striking film noirs ever made. After reading about The Maltese Falcon, I was able to understand more clearly why critics regard it as one of the greatest films of all time, and I picked up on some of the clever tricks Huston and his cinematographer, Arthur Edeson, try out. But I was still less than impressed- in fact, at times I was downright bored.
I don't think it's because I don't like film noir- in fact, I have always been drawn to film noir as a genre that's enjoyable in its icon alone. I like the idea of a rough-and-tumble guy who's forced to find justice on his own terms, often getting on the wrong side of law enforcement in the process. Although I'm fascinated by the idea of a femme fatale (see June's season theme for a more in-depth exploration of this term and its history), I find that in practice this stereotype reinforces the idea of women as existing to ruin men, which sounds great but is actually problematic. For instance, while I like the idea of women being complicated and flawed, willing to manipulate men with their sexual appeal and sometimes just downright evil, I am disappointed by the fact that the male protagonists are always just weak enough to give into their appeal, but just strong enough to figure them out completely by the end of the movie and overpower them, reinforcing the idea of male supremacy.
I didn't have much of a problem with Alida Valli's character in The Third Man- certainly she was flawed and unable to trade in the evil guy for the nice one- but she remains an enigma to Joseph Cotten's Holly up until the end, where she manages to trick him once and for all. In The Maltese Falcon, Mary Astor's Brigid is definitely complicated, but doesn't give off enough of a sex appeal for me to see why Bogart would want her, is never quite evil enough for the viewer to hate her, and yet is never likable enough for the viewer to want her to stick around with Bogart at the end. There is very little chemistry between the two, and throughout the film I found myself exasperated by Bogart's casual workplace harassment of his secretary, the woman he really should be with, and yet his continuous ploy to somehow end up getting as much money as possible through a scheme of sleeping with (almost) every vulnerable woman around and outsmarting guys who have no right being outsmarted.
That's where I get really annoyed with film noir. I feel as if the genre was created by the kind of mediocre men who wrote crime novels during the Great Depression and vented their frustrations by demonizing women and soothing their insecurities by creating supermen who are tough as nails, don't take shit from anyone, embody cold masculinity, and end up on top at the end despite being major dicks. It's hard for me as a 21st century feminist woman to be able to fully love film noir, despite my fondness for its visual style, iconic appeal, and importance in the canon of western cinema. I am so tired of guys like Humphrey Bogart's Sam Spade.
But my major issue with The Maltese Falcon isn't that it's sexist (although it is)- it's that it's boring. I suppose that if you really look for some of the key cinematographic appeals, like the constant visual association between Mary Astor's femme fatale and stripes, signifying prison bars, and the pretty incredible seven minute seemingly-uninterrupted take of Bogart and Greenstreet, it's an interesting movie to watch. But if you have no interest in film cinematography and visual interpretation, The Maltese Falcon is boring as shit.
I'm sorry that I feel this way- I always hope that I love the celebrated films I watch for the first time. But this is my blog, damn it, and I try to give my absolutely honest opinions about the movies I watch. I'm taking a film class specifically on film noir spring semester, and it's more than plausible that I will see The Maltese Falcon again during that class. Then I may revise my opinion on it. But for now, I'm not a big fan.
Sources:
All photos found on Pinterest, FilmGrab.com, and Google Images
YOU MAY ALSO LIKE:
No comments