The Maltese Falcon - videos, teasers and stills from filming
All videos, teasers and footage from the filming of the film "The Maltese Falcon"
The Maltese Falcon (1941)
Timing:
1:40 (100 min)
7.704/10
1851
1851
7.705/10
13159
13159
8/10
164537
164537
What's left behind the scenes
- A film adaptation of the novel of the same name by Dashiell Hammett (1930).
- Production period: June 9 – July 18, 1941.
- John Huston, receiving his first directorial project, didn't complicate the script; fans of the novel note that the entire film – is practically a literal, scene-by-scene repetition of the literary source. However, he meticulously thought through every mise-en-scène, every camera movement, and every long shot. The impeccable skill of Huston and cinematographer Arthur Edeson can be seen, for example, in the seven-minute camera movement that first follows Spade and Gutman from room to room, then goes down the long hallway, then moves into the living room, then pans from left to right and stops on Spade’s drunken face. Two days were spent rehearsing this scene.
- The role of Brigid O'Shaughnessy was offered to 27-year-old Geraldine Fitzgerald. Studio executives really wanted to cast an unknown actress in this role. But Geraldine refused, and ironically, it went to movie star Mary Astor. Other candidates for the role were Olivia de Havilland, Rita Hayworth, and Ingrid Bergman.
- Two Maltese Falcon statuettes had to be made for the film – one of which Humphrey Bogart dropped during filming.
- A torn poster for the film “Swing Your Lady” (1938), in which Humphrey Bogart played the lead role, briefly appears in one of the scenes.
- Humphrey Bogart provided the final reference to Shakespeare.
- The climactic confrontation of the five main characters lasts approximately 20 minutes, which is one-fifth of the entire film. The scene was rehearsed for a whole week, except for one day – filming fell on July 4th.
- Humphrey Bogart’s classic line that the Maltese Falcon is made “of the stuff that dreams are made of” was ranked 14th by the American Film Institute on its list of the most memorable quotes in cinema history.
- The working title of the film was “The Gentleman from Frisco.”
- The film's release had to be postponed because moral guardians insisted on softening the profanity coming from Spade’s mouth, as well as downplaying the non-traditional orientation of Fat Man, Cairo, and Wilmer (which is explicitly hinted at in the book).
- Robert Serber claimed in his memoirs that he named the atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki "Fat Man" after one of the characters in "The Maltese Falcon".
- The role of the MacGuffin (a valuable object that the characters are hunting for) is given to a diamond-encrusted falcon statuette. The film's artist made this prop based on the Count Knipphausen Cup from the Chatsworth House collection (made in 1697).
- The falcon statuette made for the film was sold at auction for over $4 million in 2013.
- The episodic role of the wounded captain who brought the falcon statuette to Spades' office was played by the director's father – Walter Huston. He did not receive a single cent for his appearance on screen.
- Almost all scenes featuring Mary Astor's character contain visual hints that she will end up behind bars. She either wears striped pajamas, or striped light falls on her from the blinds, or the bars of a lattice resemble patterns on furniture, and so on.
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