Dynamixor The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

filippaberry84 I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

Kien Navarro Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

Kaelan Mccaffrey Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

arthursranch Despite the silent-to-talkie transition style, I liked this one better than the Bogart one. In fact, I think it exposes Bogart's counterfeit toughness (among other things, he was too short). Ricardo Cortez was a great choice. Perhaps George Raft might have been a better Sam Spade in the 1941 version. The similarity in dialogue between the two movies begs the issue of insufficient originality in the later version.Comparing 1931 v 1941 characters, I think only Sydney Greenstreet provides a more interesting product. As the same (or similar) character, Alison Skipworth, as Madame Barabbas in Satan Met a Lady 1936, finishes second. From that same movie, Marie Wilson finishes second to Una Merkel as Effie, with 1941's Lee Patrick a distant third.I like them all. I like the structure of the mystery. It reminds me (it's just me) a little of John Le Carre mysteries where, as in Tinker Tailor, the investigator knows the answer from the beginning.

sol ***SPOILERS*** Original version of the film "The Maltese Falcon" that has the Latin lover looking Ricardo Cortez, who's real name was Jacob Krantz, as San Francisco private eye Sam Spade the part that made Humphrey Bogart the Hollywood legend that he was to become some 10 years later.Spade gets himself involved in a missing person case that soon mushrooms into murder that leaves some half dozen people dead by the time the film is over. One of those murdered was Spade's partner fellow PI Miles Archer, Walter Long. It was Archer's wife Iva, Thelma Todd, whom Spade was having an affair with while he was on vacation. Ruth Wounderly, Babe Daniels, shows p at Spade's office looking for her sister whom she tells Spade has took off with her boyfriend someone called Thursby. Miss.Wounderly is very concerned about her sister in that she feels that Thursby is a mental case and threat to her sisters safety. Spade realizes that Miss. Wounderly's story is nothing but a load of BS but takes the case anyway because the money, a $200.00 retainer, is more then he expected. Spade has Miles tailing Thursby who ends up getting shot and killed the first night on he's on the case. Within an hour after Miles' body was discovered Thursby himself is found shot to death with Thursby's partner Sam Spade being the prime suspect in his murder. The police feel that Thursby's death was an act of revenge on Spade's part. It's later that Spade is confronted by a Dr.Cairo, Otto Matieson, who at first offers him $5,000.00 for this mysterious black bird statuette whom his boss Casper Gutman, Dudley Diggs is willing to pay him. It's when Cairo gets a little pushy by pulling a gun on Spade, who quickly disarmed him, that he took his offer seriously. By then all the pieces of this mysterious case starting coming together in that the black bird was the Maltese Falcon that had disappeared from sight over 70 years ago and was worth a cool two million dollars. And even more disturbing it was Miss.Wounderly,Spade's client, and the late Mr. Thursby who were the last person to have possession of the bird! Not as good as the Humphrey Bogart version of the film but still worth watching in Cortez's, who was an odd choice for the part, as private dick Sam Spade. Cortez seemed to have trouble taking the role of Sam Spade seriously! He just could't stop smiling, which made you wounder in watching the movie if it was either a screw ball comedy or serious hard boiled detective story!

MartinHafer This film, like the 1941 version of the same movie, is about a group of rogues searching for a famed gold and jewel encrusted statue. Along the way, greed resulted in the murders of several people and the police suspect Sam Spade (Ricardo Cortez) for the murders--or at least thinking he knows far more than he's admitting.While the 1941 version of THE MALTESE FALCON has become a classic, this original version from 1931 is oddly forgotten. While I could understand a little of this (after all, Bogart was better as Sam Spade), it's not fair that the 1931 be given its just due. That's because much of this 1931 film is copied word-for-word in 1941--making the 1941 a rather by the numbers remake. Sure, there are improvements here and there, but nothing essentially ground-breaking or significantly different.So how is the original better and worse than the 1941 film? Well, it's better because Spade is grittier and more amoral--much more like you'd think a real private eye might be. Plus, since it is original, I usually feel that original's are best and deserve to be seen. On the negative side, the 1931 film is lacking much of the wonderful incidental music. This was common for films in 1931, but the 1941 movie sounds better and this makes the film come alive. The pace is also much better in 1941--as the film is less rushed and hence unfolds better. Also, Bogart was a bit better in the lead--a bit more rugged and bigger than life. Finally, the tacked on ending in the 1931 film was unnecessary and actually blunted the impact on the final confrontation scene.Now one way they are VERY different but which is neither better nor worse is that the 1931 film was made before the strengthened Production Code was enforced. This allowed Spade to be much more of a sexual Lothario and there was a scene where it strongly implied that he'd had sex with Bebe Daniels' character--something that did NOT happen in the later film.Overall, this is a terrific film--especially since it was so much better than the average fare of the day. While not quite as good as the 1941 version, it's so close that frankly it's almost a toss up as to which is best. Despite all the hype, the 1931 FALCON is a great film and one not to be missed by film historians and lovers of Pre-Code cinema.

wes-connors Ricardo Cortez plays playboy detective Sam Spade, in this first version of novelist Dashiell Hammett's "The Maltese Falcon". Bebe Daniels (as Ruth Wonderly) is the femme fatale with whom he becomes involved, along with Dudley Digges (as Gutman) and Otto Matieson (as Dr. Cairo); for various reasons, they all seek "The Maltese Falcon". It's an exceptionally rare piece... The production "look" of this early "talkie" is nowhere near as good as "The Maltese Falcon" (1941), which was directed by John Huston, and starred Humphrey Bogart. However, this 1931 version is more enjoyable that you'd expect; it is especially recommended as a viewing addendum to its better known re-make(s). Mr. Cortez and Ms. Daniels liven things up with some sexual play; this was so subdued in the 1941 version, it was almost sexless. Mr. Matieson and Una Merkel (as secretary Effie) are the best supporting performers. In this version, the characters' actions make more sense. There are a few noticeable story differences; for example, this one ends quite differently...***** The Maltese Falcon (5/28/31) Roy Del Ruth ~ Ricardo Cortez, Bebe Daniels, Dudley Digges, Otto Matieson