DUE TO SOME other pressing tasks, of late we haven't been very attentive to doing our regular time at the reviewing desk. The just finished screening of this 1931 (original screen version) THE MALTESE FALCON has brought us just about directly to the old keyboard. While we saw many differences, the end result was that of great satisfaction.BEING DONE A full decade before the John Huston directed/written screenplay had, by virtue of its belonging to a new era of film, a very different mood, feel and appearance. Although there are so many of the typically Warner Brothers' elements in both, the earlier one bore a rather intimate relationship to the Silents; which had of course just recently "rode off into the sunset." Its Humphrey Bogart vehicle remake had the advantage of all of the elements of the highly developed and polished Warner product of the 1940's war years. In essence, it was the Warner Brothers movie being at the very zenith of their power.BEING THAT THIS production is one of the "pre-code" era, there is a lot of material that is, while not necessarily explicit, very highly implied. We are referring mainly to the sublet of S-E-X. We see ladies' man (now called a "womanizer" in today's vernacular) in several highly 'adult' situations, always in the company of females. The opening scene has Sam revealed to be in a 'private' conference with a briefly shown 'flapper'; who has to adjust her stockings before departing his office. Mr. Spade then tidies up his couch, having to pick up the multitude of throw pillows that are scattered about the floor.HID LATER MEETING with Miss Wonderly include their sharing his apartment for the night. Although any even partial nudity and simulated sex is never shown, there's no doubt in our minds. (The nudity and intercourse were about 40 years ahead in the Hollywood of the '70's) IN DEFENSE OF this "original" version of the FALCON, in many respects the plot seems to be somewhat clearer to we, the audience. This applies mainly to understanding the relationships between those contesting for possession of "the Black Bird." HAVING VIEWED THIS '31 version for the first time today, after years of familiarity with the latter, provided us with a sort of scrambling of our Time/Space continuum. The only previous similar experiences were in viewing some other previously made movies after the later, more familiar. They are: THE SPIRIT OF NOTER DAME (Universal, 1931), which in many ways laid the foundation for Warner Brothers KNUTE ROCKNE: ALL-American (1940); RIO BRAVO (Warners, 1959)remade as EL DORADO ()and especially ZERO HOUR (Paramount, 1957) which was fractured and remade into AIRPLANE (1980).ANY REVIEW OF this film must refer to the casting that was done. Of course we had Bogart in for Ricardo Cortez (Spade) and Bebe Daniels giving away to Mary Astor's Miss Wunderly. Others who were very different than the later cast members are: Walter Long/Jerome Cowan (Miles Archer), J. Farrell McDonald/Ward Bond (Det. Sgt. Tom Pohlhaus0, Una Merkel/Lee Patrick (Essie),Thelma Todd/Gladys George (Iva Archer).BUT FOR OUR money, the two roles that are so different in casting are that of Dudley Diggs to Sydney Greenstreet's Casper Gutman; as the mannerisms were similar, but where's the bulk, Diggs ? The other is Dwight Frye to Elisha Cook, Jr. as Wilmer. Dwight had a lot less to do and only a few lines. He was also the king of the creepy characters in the 1930's Universal horror epics. Elisha's characterization was able to fully develop that of a psychotic killer. (Oddly enough or maybe because of this fact, Wilmer's surname is given in the '31 version, but not in the latter. It is Cook!) WE GIVE THIS on many thumbs up and recommend it to any and all !

Striving to make a clever headline, you may think I'm dismissing an inferior imitation of the Humphrey Bogart movie. Not so. This film can stand on its own; I just mean it's a truncated version of the later classic. It is a pre-code and is a little more daring than the '41 picture, and depicts Sam Spade as a ladies man. Bogart was scowling and all business, but here he is genial and smiling.Ricardo Cortez plays Spade but was not nearly the actor Bogart was. There are similarities between the two versions but are not exact copies of one another. This earlier one is easier to follow but the crucial role of the femme fatale suffers with Bebe Daniels in the part. She was no match for Mary Astor. Dudley Digges plays Casper Gutman almost as well as Sidney Greenstreet, who must have patterned his part after Digges's. But Greenstreet's was a more idiosyncratic portrayal and not nearly as eccentric. And Peter Lorre was a more fascinating Cairo, and, combined with Greenstreet, they made a more explosive team. Left out for obvious reasons was a scene in which Spade is looking for a missing 1,000 bill and makes Bebe Daniels strip (off-screen) to prove she didn't steal it. This is a scene from the book which was omitted in the later version.Most reviewers know the story, but it's always interesting to compare different versions of the same film. The later film is a well-known favorite to most of us, but there is a lot to recommend this earlier picture. If you get a chance, check it out. It's good but suffers by comparison.

. . . Humphrey Bogart's THE MALTESE FALCON of 1941 is like saying THE OPENING OF MISTY BEETHOVEN is far sexier than Beethoven's Fifth Symphony, simply because it has more overt sex in it. To someone who has never seen the latter masterpiece, sure, the earlier fumble may seem like something is better than nothing. Unfortunately, the plot of the 1931 movie is hopelessly convoluted, and someone who has never seen the Bogart version (1941) would be hopelessly at sea, such as the movie-goers of 1931 (which is probably why this movie could not hold a candle at the box office to Al Jolson in his follow up to THE JAZZ SINGER, THE SINGING FOOL). Sure, actress Bebe Daniels is sort of topless in private eye Sam Spade's bath tub, but there's not that much more nudity than in Jamie Leigh Curtis' mom's shower scene in Hitchcock's scream fest, PSYCHO. Surely the young teenage boys of 1931 could have found something sexier around the hay stack in the back 40 than they could by shelling out a dime to see this version of THE MALTESE FALCON. If not, one has to wonder what REALLY was so good about those late, lamented "good ol' days."

Despite the silent-to-talkie transition style, I liked this one better than the Bogart one. In fact, I think it exposes Bogart's counterfeit toughness (among other things, he was too short). Ricardo Cortez was a great choice. Perhaps George Raft might have been a better Sam Spade in the 1941 version. The similarity in dialogue between the two movies begs the issue of insufficient originality in the later version.Comparing 1931 v 1941 characters, I think only Sydney Greenstreet provides a more interesting product. As the same (or similar) character, Alison Skipworth, as Madame Barabbas in Satan Met a Lady 1936, finishes second. From that same movie, Marie Wilson finishes second to Una Merkel as Effie, with 1941's Lee Patrick a distant third.I like them all. I like the structure of the mystery. It reminds me (it's just me) a little of John Le Carre mysteries where, as in Tinker Tailor, the investigator knows the answer from the beginning.