Having seen the 1941 version of The Maltese Falcon at least ten times, it is kind of hard to swallow the story as kind of a madcap comedy.The film stars one Warren William, who I frankly never heard of, as the private eye, here renamed Ted Shane. Bette Davis plays Valerie Purvis, the Brigid character, and in the film's most hilarious part, Arthur Treacher, playing Anthony Travers (Joel Cairo in the '41 version).Davis, as widely reported, was given lackluster parts at this point in her career, and it definitely shows here. She does very little here and there is no indication of her being as dangerous as the character portrayed in the '41 version.To get back to Warren William. He was probably somewhat of a big name in the 30s but it certainly doesn't show here. His character is wildly uneven when it comes to what he is supposed to be. If his character is comedic, then he isn't that funny? If his character is supposed to be a threat, he is as much a threat as Dennis was a menace.The best parts are played by Marie Wilson as Miss Murgatroyd and the aforementioned Arthur Treacher as Anthony Travers. Wilson's "How you doing" is oddly hysterical for some reason. Don't let me explain why, and Treacher has a funny scene with William discussing the trumpet (this movie's version of the falcon).All you can say is nice try but I totally agree with the naysayers of this version. Stick with the Bogart film.

A famous spoof, "Satan Met a Lady" (1936) is based on – and decidedly kids – Dashiell Hammett's 1930 novel, "The Maltese Falcon". No-one seems to have noticed that Warner Brothers issued the original, never-before-seen 74-minutes cut of this movie on DVD in November 2006. Oddly, although IMDb has altered the plot outline to accord with the 74-minute version, Warren Low is still listed as film editor. Warren Low did not edit the 74-minute version. When Bette Davis complained to Jack Warner about the movie, Jack agreed that her part was far too small. To placate Davis, Warner called Warren Low to his office and asked him to re-cut the movie by leaving Davis's scenes untouched but shearing everyone else's. Low brought the running time down to 66 minutes, chiefly by ruthlessly cutting Arthur Treacher, Wini Shaw and Marie Wilson. He also introduced Davis into the plot at a much earlier stage. (It's possible that additional footage was shot for this scene but, if so, it was not directed by William Dieterle). Now that we see the original cut for the first time, the first thing that strikes us is that it's actually quite different from the movie released in July 1936 and that we have all seen in countless re-runs on TV. It's much more amusing, and everyone has a glorious time spoofing Dashiell Hammett except, of course, Miss Davis, who seems to have missed the joke. Everyone else is outrageously funny, with Warren William and Alison Skipworth grandly leading the way. Arthur Treacher's scenes now make some sort of nonsensical logic, and Miss Wilson comes over as delightfully scatty. Porter Hall is a hoot too, while Maynard Holmes (in Peter Lorre's role) contributes the performance of his career.

Warren William plays a scoundrel of a private eye named Shayne (no relation to the character in the series starring Lloyd Nolan). He tangles with a gang of thieves looking for the legendary Horn of Roland which is supposedly stuffed with jewels. Along the way, William battles the likes of Bette Davis and Arthur Treacher to get to the bottom of some murders and find the priceless artifact.Calling this film a remake of THE MALTESE FALCON (1941) is really a misnomer, as only the smallest bits and pieces from the exceptional Dashiell Hammett's original story remain. All the the great sarcasm, grit and intelligence was stripped away in this truly bad retooling of this prior film that had starred Ricardo Cortez (the more famous Humphrey Bogart version would not appear until 1941 and was the 3rd version of the story). While I usually like Warren William in movies, here he plays the role almost like it's a comedy, not a serious drama. Because of this, you have no idea how he possibly solves the murders!! As for the Fat Man and his cronies, having the old dame and her limp gang (with, of all people, Arthur Treacher?!) play these roles was just insulting and dumb. Why they had the very dippy Marie Wiilson in the film is anyone's guess--as it further reinforced the comedic aspects of the film--making it seem even less serious than a Saint or Falcon series film.Overall, perhaps my 4 is too generous--especially considering how little they did with such great material. Still, if you totally ignore that it's supposed to be THE MALTESE FALCON, then it's at least an agreeable enough time-passer.By the way, I watched the Ricardo Cortez version just before seeing this film and the contrast was amazing. Fortunately, you can get both films on the same DVD from Warner Brothers/Turner Entertainment.

If you believe that old movies don't make classic movies just because they're old, Satan Met a Lady will make your case. It's based more or less faithfully on The Maltese Falcon, the first movie of which was made in 1931. This version stars Warren William as Ted Shayne (Sam Spade), Bette Davis as Valerie Purvis (Ruth Wunderly), Alison Skipworth as Madame Barabbas (Caspar Gutman) and Arthur Treacher as Anthony Travers (Joel Cairo), with Maynard Holmes as Kenny (Wilmer Cook) and Marie Wilson as Miss Murgatroyd (Effie Perrine). The intent must have been to take the Dashiell Hammett story and turn it into a comedy murder mystery. The music under the opening credits is so jaunty you might expect a musical. Does it work? Sadly, no, not in my opinion. Of the characters, only Arthur Treacher comes off as genuinely interesting. If Treacher is remembered now it's probably only as one of the many stuffy English butlers he played. Here, he's remarkably good, dealing with fast dialogue and, in this movie, what passes for ironic and witty lines. He's a completely different type from Peter Lorre's Joel Cairo, but he's almost as vivid. The highlight of the film, in fact, is when we first meet him ransacking Shayne's apartment, then having some dueling dialogue with Shayne when Shayne unexpectedly appears. This scene is good stuff. For the rest, some of the actors are competent and some are mediocre. Bette Davis, surprisingly, doesn't make much of an impression; she's just too obviously intelligent and self-centered for the role. You watch her, but you're not much taken by her. Warren William probably comes off weakest, and some of this is not his fault. He had a profile as sharp as the prow of a yacht, a smooth, trained baritone, great diction and a sense of humor. Unfortunately, William is saddled with a trench coat that looks half a size to large for him; the collar gaps noticeably every time he leans over, sits down or is roughed up. He wears what appears to be a black Stetson. The combination makes him look almost silly at times. More damaging, we meet his version of Sam Spade being run out of town, then charming a large lady with jewels, then coming on very strong to Marie Wilson's ditzy, dumb blonde of a secretary, Miss Murgatroyd. The effect is less of a private eye who is a charming seducer than of a sleazy, middle-aged goat. He wears quite a bit of pomade on his hair. Satan Met a Lady is a curiosity piece, nothing more.