The Maltese Falcon (1941 film) The Maltese Falcon (1941 film) The Maltese Falcon is a 1941 film noir written and directed by John Huston in his directorial debut, and based on Dashiell Hammett's 1930 novel of the same name. The film stars Humphrey Bogart as private investigator Sam Spade and Mary Astor as his "femme fatale" client. Gladys George, Peter Lorre, and Sydney Greenstreet co-star, with Greenstreet appearing in his film debut. The story follows a San Francisco private detective and his dealings with three unscrupulous adventurers, all of whom are competing to obtain a jewel-encrusted falcon statuette. The film premiered on October 3, 1941,
The Falcon Takes Over Chandler novel "Farewell, My Lovely", with the Falcon substituted for Chandler's archetypal private eye Philip Marlowe and the setting of New York City replacing Marlowe's Los Angeles beat. The film was the second adaptation of a Marlowe story, after "Time to Kill", released earlier in the same year. That film, also, did not use Marlowe as the main character, changing the name to Michael Shayne. As it played in film theaters, "The Falcon Takes Over" was considered a "co-feature" or the second half of a double bill. Theodore Strauss in his review for "The New York Times", wrote, "For a