0

The Maltese Falcon [1941] [DVD]

Posted by Notcot on Jul 17, 2011 in Noir

The Maltese Falcon is still the tightest, sharpest, and most cynical of Hollywood’s official deathless classics, bracingly tough even by post-Tarantino standards. Humphrey Bogart is Dashiell Hammett’s definitive private eye, Sam Spade, struggling to keep his hard-boiled cool as the double-crosses pile up around his ankles. The plot, which dances all around the stolen Middle Eastern statuette of the title, is too baroque to try to follow, and it doesn’t make a bit of difference. The dialogue, much of it lifted straight from Hammett, is delivered with whip-crack speed and sneering ferocity, as Bogie faces off against Peter Lorre and Sidney Greenstreet, fends off the duplicitous advances of Mary Astor, and roughs up a cringing “gunsel” played by Elisha Cook Jr. It’s an action movie of sorts, at least by implication: the characters always seem keyed up, right on the verge of erupting into violence. This is a turning-point picture in several respects: John Huston (The African Queen) made his directorial debut here in 1941, and Bogart, who had mostly played bad guys, was a last-minute substitution for George Raft, who must have been kicking himself for years afterward. This is the role that made Bogart a star and established his trend-setting (and still influential) antihero persona. –David Chute END

<- Read More Buy Now for [wpramaprice asin=”B00004TLBB”] (Best Price)

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

 
0

Humphrey Bogart Collection (6 Disc) (Casablanca , Treasure of Sierra Madre, Maltese Falcon , High Sierra) [DVD]

Posted by Notcot on Apr 14, 2011 in Noir

Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,

 
3

The Maltese Falcon (2 Disc Special Edition) [DVD] [1941]

Posted by Notcot on Dec 28, 2010 in Noir

The Maltese Falcon is still the tightest, sharpest, and most cynical of Hollywood’s official deathless classics, bracingly tough even by post-Tarantino standards. Humphrey Bogart is Dashiell Hammett’s definitive private eye, Sam Spade, struggling to keep his hard-boiled cool as the double-crosses pile up around his ankles. The plot, which dances all around the stolen Middle Eastern statuette of the title, is too baroque to try to follow, and it doesn’t make a bit of difference. The dialogue, much of it lifted straight from Hammett, is delivered with whip-crack speed and sneering ferocity, as Bogie faces off against Peter Lorre and Sidney Greenstreet, fends off the duplicitous advances of Mary Astor, and roughs up a cringing “gunsel” played by Elisha Cook Jr. It’s an action movie of sorts, at least by implication: the characters always seem keyed up, right on the verge of erupting into violence. This is a turning-point picture in several respects: John Huston (The African Queen) made his directorial debut here in 1941, and Bogart, who had mostly played bad guys, was a last-minute substitution for George Raft, who must have been kicking himself for years afterward. This is the role that made Bogart a star and established his trend-setting (and still influential) antihero persona. –David Chute

<- Read More Buy Now for [wpramaprice asin=”B000IOMZTM”] (Best Price)

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

 
2

Film Noir – The Pocket Essential Guide

Posted by Notcot on Sep 3, 2010 in Noir

Average Rating: 2.5 / 5 (2 Reviews)

Product Description
The laconic private eye…the corrupt cop…the heist that goes wrong…the Femme Fatale with the rich husband and dim lover – all are trademark characters of the movement known as film noir, that elusive mixture of stark lighting and even starker emotions. Noir explores the dark side of post-war society – gangsters, hoodlums, prostitutes and killers – and showed how it corrupted the good and the beautiful. Many of these films are now touchstones of what we regard as ‘classic’ Hollywood – The Maltese Falcon(1941), The Big Sleep(1946), Double Indemnity(1944) and The Postman Always Rings Twice(1946). This Pocket Essential charts the progression of the noir style as a vehicle for film-makers who wanted to record the darkness at the heart of American society as it emerged from World War into Cold War. As well as an introductory essay on the origins of Film Noir, this Pocket Essential discusses all the classics from the heyday of the movement in detail and includes a handy reference section for readers who want to know more.

Film Noir – The Pocket Essential Guide

Buy Now for

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Copyright © 2024 Notcot All rights reserved. Theme by Laptop Geek. Site by I Want This Website. | Privacy Policy.