The vast array of characters invoke the watcher to pay attention as their are a lot of names and faces to remember, as well as some names to forget and some faces to never know. Sam Spade is the main character of this story and the camera follows him throughout. After the initial establishing shots in the beginning of the film to let the watcher know the story takes place in San Francisco, Spade is introduced and after the shot of Archer, Spades partner, being killed, Sam is in every scene following that point. Sams love interest, Ms. O'Shaughnessy, goes through two different names before Brigid O'Shaughnessy is used for the rest of the film. When she first asks for help from Spade and Archer, Brigid uses the name Wunderly but later reveals to Sam her real name (which may not be for certain) in her room. This shows the deciet already taking place and Sam's detective work and skill already lets him know he's being manipulated. Thursby is character in the film which we never see his face, but he is mentioned enough and is an essential point to the story which allows the watcher to do their own bit of detective work while watching the film.
A part of the story which may confused watchers is the question of who has killed whom. Out of the three murders in the film, two was killed by the same person while one was killed by another. In watching the film, I believe that O'Shaughnessy is only responsible for the killing of Sam's partner Miles Archer. The other two murders of Thursby and Captain Jacobi are due to Gutman's hired gun, Wilmer. It's evident that Brigid is responsible for Miller's death but some believe she also killed Thursby. This doesn't make since as why would she go to Spade and Archer for the help in tailing Thursby if she just planned on killing him. The explanation for this is that Brigid went to Spade and Archer to get them to tail Thursby in order to scare him off. Once this didn't work she decided to kill Miller which would make Thursby the prime suspect getting him out of the picture. Though unexpected visitors to San Fran ruined her devious plan. Wilmer ended up killing Thursby and after Brigid heard that Thursby had been killed she knew that Gutman was in town which is why she asked for Sam's help in shielding her. Being in fear of Gutman is what lead to Brigid fearing for her life and giving Sam the real details of the Maltese Falcon. It is evident that Wilmer is the killer of Jacobi but some people are confused as to who killed Thursby. It makes no since that it was Brigid as why would she ask for detectives of all people to get involved in her mess if she just planned on killing Thursby in the first place? When Sam turns Brigid into the police he hands her over claiming here's another killer, responsible for Miller's death, but it is not said she is responsible for Thursby's death.
This being a film noir style, shadows were used throughout the film in intriguing ways which enhanced the mysterious feel of the movie. The shadow of "Spade & Archer" is displayed in the beginning of the film which is done so in a unique way. Throughout the film, the characters shadows can be seen with the shadow of Sam in his fedora and long-coat being an iconic image consistent with many fim noir style films.
The Maltese Falcon does justice to film noir and goes further in including the watcher. The watcher has to follow the many characters and listen to each conversation carefully. In remembering names, faces, and information derived from the many conversations in the film, watchers of the movie are required to be a detective themselves in order to put all the plot twists together and follow the story. That's an aspect to this film which is hard to come by. The ability to make the watcher feel somewhat like a detective and even cooler, a film noiresque style detective can be said to the most rewarding pleasure from watching this film.
The Maltese Falcon was indeed a bit dense and tough to follow at times. I actually hit rewind several times while watching the film to catch all of the information presented in a few scenes. Perhaps the use of repeated, long scenes contributed to how difficult the film can be to follow. No doubt that the assortment of over-the-top and unpredictable characters added to that difficulty. One important character, Thursby, is never actually shown in the movie. He is murdered early on in the film by Wilmer Cook, the young man that does Kasper “Fat Man” Guzman’s dirty work. This is made evident late in the film when Guzman admits to Spade that he had talked to Thursby the night he died. “I could do nothing with him - he was quite determined to be loyal to Miss O'Shaughnessy. So Wilmer followed him back to the hotel and did what he did."
ReplyDeleteI agree that this movie is a great illustration of the film noir style. In fact, many regard The Maltese Falcon as the first film noir. Other than the ones you mentioned, some great uses of shadows are the ones cast over Brigid O’Shaughnessy’s face; whether it is from her veil the first time Spade saw her, or from the iron bars of the elevators after Spade turned her in to the police. Brigid always had something to hide, thus was always in the shadows. The film noir style is also identified by the characters being melodramatic. This allowed for a very funny scene to take place between Sam and Brigid at her hotel room. During their conversation Brigid began acting very nervous. She stood up to poke the fire then sat in another seat where she wasn’t facing Sam. Spade just smiled the entire time and called her out on her phony, extravagant actions. "You're not gonna go around the room straightening things and poking the fire again, are ya?"
That was a great post! You made a lot of valid, good points. For example, you said that the wide variety of characters in this movie added a lot of interest to the story line. However, I think it also allowed us, as viewers, to follow the mystery along with Sam. As you pointed out, we are able to participate in the detective work throughout the film.
ReplyDeleteAnother great aspect of the movie that you brought up was the fact that they used shadows throughout to further the mystery. Id like to further say that the use of shadows was common for other Film Noir films (especially Maltese Falcon) to show that the film deals with mystery. I also noticed that Curtis hits on a lot of other instances of these shadows in the film apart from those you listed.
The other point that you made several times was that Maltese Falcon is a great example of a film noir style. I totally agree with you on this one! I would have been interested in hearing more of your thoughts of this.
Maltese Falcon is one of the best examples of film noir style. It contains all of the basic characteristics such as issues mystery, deception, destructiveness, and an emphasis on crime and sex appeal. I believe that this was made possible because of their background and setting aspects. For example, the low lighting and eerie background music set the tone as mysterious before the actors even speak.
-Maggie Schuh (group 7)