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angel, you're taking the fall: "the maltese falcon" (1941) as an example of early of film noir by tracy taylor What makes John Huston's The Maltese Falcon an example of early film noir? Even though it is stylistically less expressionistic than the classic noir that followed, an analysis of the final scene between Sam Spade (Humphrey Bogart) and Brigid O'Shaughnessy (Mary Astor) focusing on the "hard-boiled tradition" will demonstrate evidence of this film noir element. Paul Schrader's 1972 article "Notes on Film Noir" will be used as the reference which defines this element.
Spade is tough, cynical, and realistic. He tells the blubbering Brigid that, yes, he may suffer a few sleepless nights after sending her over, but that will pass. He will endure, but only if he adheres to his own strict code of moral behavior. Moreover, Spade informs Miss O'Shaughnessy that if he lets her get away with murder, she will certainly turn on him. He is just getting her before she gets him. On the bright side, if she's not hanged by her "sweet neck", she will be out in twenty years or so. Spade assures her he'll be waiting. Spade's world is a cold and heartless place, but it is the world he must live in, true to nothing or no one but his own code. This final scene of The Maltese Falcon clearly validates Schrader's posit of the "hard-boiled tradition." (Article referenced appears in Silver, Alain. Ed. Film Noir Reader. Limelight Editions, 1996.) Copyright © 2003 The Write Word, Inc. All rights reserved. |
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this final scene, Spade tells Brigid she's "taking the fall" for the
murder of his partner. He has concluded that she is guilty, and his
moral standards will not allow him to let her get away with it. Spade
quickly dictates his code here: a good private dick must put avenging
the murder of his partner above any woman he may desire. His delineation
in this scene of the "hardboiled" moral code clearly makes Bogart's
Spade a prime example of a man from the "hard-boiled tradition" (Schrader
56).