Hollywood Gamechangers Part 1/3: The Maltese Falcon (1941)

Award-winning author and documentarian Steven C. Smith takes us inside the battles and breakthroughs behind three screen classics. All of them defied the rules…advanced the art of filmmaking…and remain among the most entertaining movies ever made.
Steven C. Smith is an award-winning biographer, four-time Emmy-nominated producer, and 16-time Telly Award winner. His over-200 documentaries include collaborations with Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, Martin Scorsese, Julie Andrews, Stephen Sondheim, Harrison Ford and Sidney Poitier.
THE MALTESE FALCON (1941)
In 1941, after a decade playing secondary roles, Warner Bros. contract player Humphrey Bogart leaped into stardom-and began his evolution into cinema icon--with this flawless adaptation of Dashiell Hammett’s twist-filled novel. Bogie plays San Francisco detective Sam Spade, who hunts the killer of his partner. In the process, he tangles with a trio of eccentric criminals who all seek a mythic statue of a falcon, made of gold.
The Maltese Falcon marked the directing debut of another legend-to-be: John Huston. Made on a B-picture budget, it proved a box office smash, even earning a nomination for Best Picture. Arguably, Hollywood film noir begins with this endlessly imitated classic-one that is, in the words of Sam Spade, “The stuff that dreams are made of.”