Film And American Culture In The Maltese Falcon

The 1946 film The Killers is a renowned film noir based off of Ernest Hemingway’s short story of the same title, focusing on the detailed backstory and investigation for the motive of the murder of Pete Lund/Ole Anderson, commonly known and referred to as “The Swede.” A film noir is a term made originally to describe American mystery and thriller movies produced in the time period from 1944-1954, primarily marked by moods of menace, pessimism, and fatalism. Although the film does not focus on the war itself at all, it still puts forth interesting new ways in how gender relations can be stereotypical as well as divergent proceeding the Second World War.

Women have different personalities and motivations, and they form relationships with men for many different reasons. Some of these reasons include love, money, and even lust and manipulation. The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett is a novel about Sam Spade, who is a huge figure of the hard-boiled detective genre. Sam Spade goes on a quest to find a valuable falcon, solve murders and jump over the obstacle that surround him on a daily basis. The novel is also about the three women who surround Spade during his quest. The names of these women are Iva Archer, Effie Perine, and Brigid O’Shaughnessy, and they all have different roles in Sam Spade’s life. In The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett, Brigid O’Shaughnessy plays the role of femme fatale, Iva Archer plays the role of Spade’s unfortunate future, and Effie Perine plays the role of Spade’s right-hand woman.

Film Noir was extremely trendy during the 1940’s. People were captivated by the way it expresses a mood of disillusionment and indistinctness between good and evil. Film Noir have key elements; crime, mystery, an anti-hero, femme fatale, and chiaroscuro lighting and camera angles. The Maltese Falcon is an example of film noir because of the usage of camera angles, lighting and ominous settings, as well as sinister characters as Samuel Spade, the anti-hero on a quest for meaning, who encounters the death of his partner but does not show any signs of remorse but instead for his greed for riches.

American cinema flourished due to their movies about Italian Americans being portrayed as mafia. “ Our national obsession for violence, and blood and our out-of-control appetite for wealth and power is siphoned off and projected onto Italian organized crime.” This quote clearly stated that due to the Americans obsession to watch violence and blood, Italian Americans became the main target for them to achieve that due to their history. However, they ignore the fact that it was only a certain percentage of Italian Americans that were part of the mafia while the rest Italian Americans were immigrants struggling to survive past those stereotypes. “ According to the

Samuel Spade of The Maltese Falcon novel by Dashiell Hammett is quite different from Samuel Spade of “The Maltese Falcon” motion picture. The book was written a good decade before that version of the movie was produced and in a much more casual time period. The novel focuses on making Sam out to be a more complex character than the movie does. He is not just “the good guy” as he is portrayed more so in the movie. The time period may have had a lot to do with the differences between the 1941 movie and the book, published in 1929. The first thing to consider is that the late 1920’s were a much more relaxed, party era, while the early 1940’s were an era of strict decorum. While

Films have been around for a very long time starting from the silent era leading to the classical phase up until today, and with time comes change and adapt to what’s current and popular. However, one thing that has stayed constant are the upcoming of film genre. One of the primary ways to identify and differentiate films are by their genres and styles. This lays out the foundation of the film using many factors like iconography, language, conflicts, lighting and story plot. One of the most iconic styles in the cinematic world would have to be the typical gangster films. Two of the most recognizable gangster films of their time were the Public Enemy (1931), along with the film Scarface (1983). Although these two films were shot in completely different eras of the U.S. we see both encounter the same stages in life despite the time change. This goes to show that these two films strongly symbolizes and demonstrates just what the gangster genre is all about in terms of social context, themes, conflict and iconography.

     Many time in our lives, we have seen the transformation of novels into movies. Some of them are equal to the novel, few are superior, and most are inferior. Why is this? Why is it that a story that was surely to be one of the best written stories ever, could turn out to be Hollywood flops? One reason is that in many transformations, the main characters are changed, some the way they look, others the way they act. On top of this, scenes are cut out and plot is even changed. In this essay, I will discuss some of the changes made to the characters of the Maltese Falcon as they make their transformation to the ?big screen.?

Film Noir, a term coined by the French to describe a style of film characterized by dark themes, storylines, and visuals, has been influencing cinematic industries since the 1940’s. With roots in German expressionistic films and Italian postwar documentaries, film noir has made its way into American film as well, particularly identified in mob and crime pictures. However, such settings are not exclusive to American film noir. One noteworthy example is Billy Wilder’s film Sunset Boulevard, which follows the foreboding tale of Joe Gillis, the desperate-for-success protagonist, who finds himself in the fatal grips of the disillusioned femme fatale Norma Desmond. Not only does the storyline’s heavy subject matter and typical character

How does the film shown reflect the time in which it was made, and satirise American stereotypes, views, and society?

Men get the equivalent of a free pass for the events that transpire, despite the influence of hegemonic patriarchal ideals on the way women conduct themselves. Taking things one step further, even when men are active participants in that which the female characters are condemned for, they are usually spared their fair share of the blame. In The Maltese Falcon, it is revealed that O'Shaughnessy is part of a larger plot to obtain the Maltese Falcon idol. Two male characters involved in the theft and smuggling of the falcon are Joel Cairo and Kasper Gutman, and despite the violence and mayhem that follows as a result of their actions, O'Shaughnessy is the only one arrested at the film's conclusion. The only person who is actively punished for their role in the plot is Brigid. Her performance of traditional femininity deteriorates as the audience learns more about her, and she is held responsible for everything that took place. The blame that is placed on Brigid O'Shaughnessy also ignores her specific circumstances within the male-dominated community. Her suffering may be much more systemic that we might initially believe. Jack Boozer makes reference to the influence of the American Dream on women who are often labelled femmes fatale. It is with this framework in mind that I theorize the reason for the solitary punishment of Brigid. Boozer

Film Noir was a result of it's time - The war had just ended and It was time where prohibition had influenced an abundance in crime and corruption. Film noir serves to highlight the darkest aspects of human beings. ‘Society is making the machinery of it's own destruction.

As is the case with many of the original novel, “Three Women” and literally translates roughly scenario in John Huston’s film 1941. Amendments and screen three of the Maltese Falcon, Houston’s version captures the best of both of these women in the flesh cinematic. Pour through a seasoned and strong performance in later, and the film fleshes of three very different (yet familiar) examples of females: in companion, and “Spider”, and conniving bitch. Interactions spade with three women that are intertwined with his own, Effie, Eva, and Wonderly life (soon to be revealed as Brigid O'Shaughnessy) reveal a lot about his character, as well as shed light on how refuses Spade über between the masculine and the very concept of femininity, even

If I were to write my essay over film, I would like to explore what inspired the Film Noir period’s cynicism. The Film Noir period was a film movement in the 40’s and 50’s best characterized by its cynical plotlines and overall dark themes. I believe that it is the product of societal traumatization from the Great Depression and would like to investigate what circumstances led to such a pessimistic movement. An example of a criterion for writing my essay over film is to include the historical, social, and cultural context of the film(s) that are being analyzed. Another example of a criterion that differs from the other criteria

The film is about a group of 5 people fighting to find and keep the

Phillip Marlowe (Humphrey Bogart), P.I, is hired by the rich General Sternwood to out a blackmailer, but quickly finds himself tangled in the Sternwood family’s dirty laundry — it’s the classic film noir narrative. At the center of it all seems to be Vivian Rutledge (Lauren Bacall), a Sternwood daughter, and the woman attempting to cover up the murder at the bottom of Marlowe’s case. I used Vivian’s tidy adherence to the femme fatale archetype to dig deeper into its true message about women’s nature, beyond the mysterious façade.