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| The Maltese Falcon Three-Disc Special Edition (1941 & 1931 versions / Satan Met a Lady) | 
 enlarge | Directors: Friz Freleng, Jean Negulesco, John Huston, Robert Clampett, William Dieterle
Actors: Humphrey Bogart, Mary Astor, Bette Davis, Warren William, Mel Blanc
Studio: Warner Home Video
Category: DVD
List Price: $29.98
Buy New: $14.38
You Save: $15.60 (52%)
Buy New/Used/Collectible from $13.88
Avg. Customer Rating:  (177 reviews)
Sales Rank: 4058
Format: Black & White, Closed-captioned, Ntsc
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled), French (Subtitled)
Rating: Unrated
Media: DVD
Running Time: 178 minutes
Number Of Items: 3
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 7.1 x 5.4 x 0.6
MPN: WARD67601D
UPC: 012569676015
EAN: 0012569676015
ASIN: B000GIXLW0
Release Date: October 3, 2006
Theatrical Release Date: July 22, 1936
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
 The original 1931 version is really good, too! May 6, 2008
9 out of 10 found this review helpful
The three-disc special edition of the 1941 version of The Maltese Falcon contains some very interesting bonus features: the two previous adaptations of Dashiell Hammett's novel, the first also called The Maltese Falcon (though it was renamed Dangerous Female for TV in the '50s to avoid confusion), and the second titled Satan Met a Lady.
Since the 1941 version (directed by John Huston and starring Humphrey Bogart, Mary Astor, Sydney Greenstreet, and Peter Lorre) is the one considered "definitive," it's not surprising that relatively few viewers realize that was actually Hollywood's third adaptation of Hammett's classic detective novel.
Satan Met a Lady (directed by William Dieterle and starring Bette Davis and Warren William), is by all accounts a disaster (a very loose adaptation by screenwriter Brown Holmes, who co-wrote this version), but the first Maltese Falcon, filmed in 1931 by director Roy del Ruth, is a terrific alternative for viewers who love the story and would just like to watch a different take on it. (Both films are faithful to the source, with few changes.)
The main difference in tone comes from Ricardo Cortez's portrayal of Sam Spade. Cortez's Spade is much more of a ladies man than Bogart's. In fact, the opening scene of the movie shows a woman leaving Spade's office, adjusting her stockings (later, he is shown picking up sofa cushions from the floor). His roving eye (and hand) also includes his secretary, Effie. Una Merkel plays Effie as if she's not only a willing participant in these shenanigans, but is also quite aware of Spade's other dalliances -- including partner Miles Archer's wife Iva (Thelma Todd) -- and thinks it's funny.
That lightness extends to Cortez, as well. He goes throughout The Maltese Falcon with a huge smirk on his face, as if everything going on around him is endlessly entertaining. And I can imagine why. When Ruth Wonderly (Bebe Daniels) comes into his office, he probably already knows she'll end up naked in his bath, in his bed, and in his kitchen. Cortez displays just the right mix of sleaze and charm.
But the only other actor who gives anything close to as interesting a performance is Dudley Digges as Kasper Gutman. Digges gives the role real grease, making him a truly unlikeable antagonist (Greenstreet always charmed even in his most villainous roles, much like Claude Rains, his costar in Casablanca). And I was very pleasantly surprised to find that Dwight Frye (Renfield in the Lugosi Dracula) shows up briefly as Wilmer Cook. He doesn't say much, but just try to look away when he flashes those psychotic eyes.
This Maltese Falcon was made three years before the enforcement of the Production Code that would whitewash movies for the next thirty years. Thus, there are instances like those mentioned above that did not make it into the "cleaner" 1941 version. One major effect this had is when Mary Astor's Brigid O'Shaughnessy proclaims to Bogart's Spade, "I thought you loved me," it doesn't make a whole lot of sense based on what preceded. Here, when Wonderly (who never reveals herself to be O'Shaughnessy, a plot point I always thought was unnecessarily confusing anyway) says the same words, they hold real meaning.
Though quite entertaining in its own right, the 1931 Maltese Falcon is undoubtedly destined to remain forgotten in the shadow of its later remake. I recommend it, however, due to its lighter and sexier tone, handsomer leading man, and almost completely different approach to the same source material. Fans of pre-Code cinema will especially enjoy it, even if they generally prefer a little more noir in their detective stories.
 Film Noir is Born! Excellent Detective Movie but Too Bad About the DVD! March 15, 2008
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
Like a true classic should this movie seems to improve with each successive viewing. The acting is great and so is the directing leaving me unsurprised that it's ranked among the top quarter of the American Film Institute's 100 Greatest American Films list. The only problem I have is with the quality of the DVD; the picture quality isn't very good and the sound quality although Dolby Digital is in Mono. Perhaps with the advent of Blu-Ray, a newer, better restored version will surface with good quality surround sound options perhaps DTS with THX for instance.
Overall, this a a great movie but I'd recommend waiting for a better quality DVD version to come out. Hope it's soon!
 the stuff that dreams are made of! March 9, 2008
14 out of 15 found this review helpful
This movie is inimitable.
Terse, convoluted, gritty, and satirical. The scenes of this movie pack a visceral punch rarely matched in classic Hollywood movies.
The plot is confusing, if not incomprehensible at times. However, the basics are pretty straightforward. Sam Spade is a private eye working in San Fransisco with his partner. One afternoon a beautiful, malevolent women walks into Spade's office, paying him and his partner (Miles Archer) to find her sister. She claims her sister is in grave danger. She is, of course, lying. Her real goals are hidden, but slowly revealed as the movie progresses. Unfortunately her little ruse ends up getting Spade's partner killed. Thus is unleashed a complex series of events.
The plot focuses on Spade's attempt to keep up with the criminal elements around him. It seems every one is machiavellian, and the underworld Spade belongs to is byzantine in its betrayals, double-crossings, and machinations. The people he talks to are inveterate liars. One gets vertigo trying to make sense of it all. This makes us all the more amazed that Spade can keep his cool. Oddly, it turns out all the fuss in the movie has to do with the statue of a Maltese Falcon. An object worth killing and dying for.
Spade plays crooked, but deep down inside he is a Kantian. His ethical nature, stoic exterior, and masculine facade, make him irresistable as a protaganist. This is the movie that marked the rise of Bogart the superhuman-and rightfully so.
The Maltese Falcon is a rich movie, with myriad meanings. One of the major themes is the quest for an unattainable object and the havoc such a quest can cause. After all, the dead bodies in this movie accumulated over nothing more than the silly statue of a bird! It is interesting to compare the Maltese Falcon with Don Quixote. Both works contain the mythological heroic quest. However, in Quixote, the quest is needed to sustain life. Without it, Quixote dies. In the Maltese Falcon the quest causes death. When the quest is over, sanity is restored. This is an interesting contrast, and one well worth pondering.
Is the quest worth while? Or, should we stay sane and firmly planted on the sinful streets of the world?
In the end, it is hard to find any flaws in this movie. There are no superfluous scenes, nor is there any hint of condescending directing. Just straight to the point, action and dialogue packed delivery.
Brilliant!
 CONFUSING CLASSIC March 1, 2008
0 out of 16 found this review helpful
Famous 1941 film has lost its punch. Granted, one is assured of good acting with Bogart, Astor, Grreenstreet, Lorre, and Bond in the lineup. Likewise, Director Huston was never known for gaffes or poor quality. The casting is good. So, where's my problem? In a film dealing with dishonesty, there's not a single character that one can trust.This leads to a highly confusing tale that requires several viewings to set the audience straight. That's a definite no-no to me. Having seen this tale at least 6 times over my lifetime, I still couldn't begin to explain it to a non viewer with any sense of acumen. I'd rather try explaining baseball to a foreign novice. No, I think that this picture will continue on a downward spiral, based only on 70 year old reviews. Ted Williams is dead. Derek Jeter plays on.
One of the ten best films ever made in Hollywood December 27, 2007
8 out of 8 found this review helpful
I'm so tired of seeing weak new movies; thank god for strong old ones! Here's a masterpiece I've seen at least twenty times in the last three decades, and it never gets old.
What makes these classic studio pictures great (when they are great....most are not...Hollywood has always been about money before art...when art happens it seems accidental...)? I think it's that there were no special effects, no garish color, no visual tricks to pull out of a hat when things slow down. Dramatic craftsmanship was needed, and was sometimes delivered in spades [insert pun here].
Two things make the best black and white chestnuts great: a very strong story that's well-paced and develops intelligently, and strongly written characters played by actors who know that stories hinge on character development as much as on plot development. The two should go hand in hand. When they do, real art ensues.
I love the writing of both Hammett and Chandler; hard-boiled dialogue is hard to beat when it's done well, and they are the masters. Hammett may have invented the modern solipsistic detective with his Continental Op, a long cry from Holmes and Poirot. The Op turned into Sam Spade and the Falcon is all about Spade, and Bogie's innate understanding of this mostly good man stuck in a mostly bad world.
The dialogue is razor sharp, the direction gemlike in its precision. No wasted lines, no wasted camera movement, no wasted time. The movie starts fast and never lets up. We get some truly classic characters, and the actors make these good roles into masterpieces, especially Lorre and Greenstreet. There are some phenomenally fine shots here; chiaroscuro this sharp rarely comes from outside Europe.
There is far too much to list in terms of greatness in the Falcon. It is about as good as Hollywood ever got in telling a story and making it entertaining; we can thank mainly Hammett for that. The weltschmerz and hard-bitten cynicism on display here are far too intelligent for films these days.
Ain't it funny that the best old black and white movies show us so clearly that life is never black and white, while movies in dazzling color tend to make life seem one-dimensional, in a good guy vs. bad guy way? The Falcon has no good guy, just a bunch of people who are all good and bad.
When I get sick of crappy movies, I put this baby on and am reminded of why I love movies so much in the first place. Like good music and good literature, they take me somewhere new (even if I've been there before) and send me home knowing more about myself and the world than I did when I started. They also remind me that art and love are where you choose to find them, for they are everywhere. Even in the dark corners of life.
And in the end, shweetheart, only you can make you happy.
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