The falcon's trail
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | The falcon's trail |
| Original title | The Maltese Falcon |
| Country of production | United States |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1941 |
| length | 101 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 12 |
| Rod | |
| Director | John Huston |
| script | John Huston |
| production |
Hal B. Wallis , Henry Blanke for Warner Bros. |
| music | Adolph German |
| camera | Arthur Edeson |
| cut | Thomas Richards |
| occupation | |
| |
The Falcon's Trail is an American detective film from 1941. It is considered a classic detective film and, according to most film historians, marks the beginning of the classic era of film noir or the black series . John Huston wrote the script and directed.
Huston's directorial debut was already the third film adaptation of the novel The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett , but is closer to the original than the two previous versions and puts the focus of the film on the character drawings, whereby the actual plot is reduced to only a few locations.
Private detectives Sam Spade and Miles Archer are given the task of shadowing a shady character named Floyd Thursby by a woman. Shortly afterwards, Archer and Thursby are killed, and Sam Spade tries to solve the death of his partner. In his investigation, however, it turns out that it is by no means, as initially assumed, a simple case of jealousy. Rather, it's all about a golden statuette studded with precious stones, the Maltese falcon.
action
Sam Spade and Miles Archer run a detective agency in San Francisco . One day a young woman appears there who introduces herself as Ruth Wonderly. The woman asks Spade and Archer to find her sister, who ran away with a mysterious man named Floyd Thursby. Wonderly had the only clue about her sister Corinne's whereabouts from a letter in which her sister wrote that she was in San Francisco. The gallant archer is taken with the attractive Wonderly and immediately ready to seek and shadow Thursby. Spade, on the other hand, does not find the whole thing safe.
Archer is shot dead by a stranger on a street corner. Spade receives news of his partner's death and asks his secretary, Effie Perine, to inform Archer's wife Iva of her husband's death. Spade himself takes a taxi to the scene and is cleared up by Detective Polhaus about the course of the crime. Polhaus and Spade speculate that Archer was killed by someone he trusted. When the policeman asked which case Archer was working on, Spade replied evasively. Shortly thereafter, Thursby's body is found and Spade is suspected of having avenged his partner. Iva, with whom Spade has a relationship, suspects Spade of killing her husband. Spade's secretary, however, believes Iva killed her husband so that she could marry Spade.
Spade throws Iva out of his office and sets out to solve the murders. He goes to Ruth Wonderly, who, as it turns out, is really Brigid O'Shaughnessy and has otherwise told lots of lies. When Spade confronts her and finally wants to know the truth about Thursby, O'Shaughnessy answers evasively and asks Spade to protect her. Although the detective doesn't trust her, the two become partners. Another shady character appears in the form of Joel Cairo in Spade's office. He also wants to hire Spade and offers the detective $ 5,000 to get a falcon figure. Spade, who hears about the statue for the first time , is threatened with a gun by Cairo and he searches his office. Cairo justifies this with the fact that he would save the money if Spade already had the hawk. Despite the threat, the contract between the two remains.
After this meeting, Spade, O'Shaughnessy and Cairo meet at Spade's apartment. It turns out that O'Shaughnessy and Cairo already know each other and are enemies. O'Shaughnessy speaks of a fat man who is also in town. When the two of them fight and two police detectives, who have since arrived, want to take all three to the station, Spade tries to get rid of the police with fabricated stories.
Spade later finds out that Cairo is connected to would-be gangster Wilmer Cook and that the boss of the two is in turn Kasper Gutman - a seedy and unscrupulous criminal - the fat man . The three are in competition with O'Shaughnessy for possession of the valuable statue. During a conversation with Gutman, Spade learns the story of the falcon, which was intended as a tribute by the Order of Malta to Charles V , King of Spain, but has been missing since 1539. Gutman has been tracking the falcon for seventeen years and finally found it in Hong Kong . Gutman estimates the value at a million dollars.
Spade receives the statuette from the hand of a dying captain whose ship has just entered the port of San Francisco from Hong Kong. At another meeting, this time in Spade's apartment, where everyone involved is gathered, some secrets are cleared up for Spade: Gutman, who believed that Thursby was playing a wrong game and wanted the hawk to himself, had him killed by Cook who also shot the captain down. When the secretary brings the falcon into Spade's apartment, it turns out that the black enameled falcon is a fake made of lead . Gutman had already paid Spade $ 10,000. Gutman and Cairo decide to leave for Istanbul and continue to investigate the whereabouts of the falcon. Wilmer has now run away unnoticed after the group decided to hand him over to the police. Gutman, who moves Spade at gunpoint to return the advance on the falcon, politely bids farewell and leaves with Cairo Spade and O'Shaughnessy. Spade immediately picks up the phone and reveals Gutman and Cairo to the police. These are likely to be caught soon.
Then he takes on O'Shaughnessy and forces her to admit the truth. O'Shaughnessy killed Archer when he refused to let her persuade him to kill Thursby to get the hawk. Spade, who fell in love with the notorious liar, turned her over to the police anyway. He owes this to his murdered partner.
The police arrive and arrest O'Shaughnessy. When the policeman Tom Polhaus examines the Maltese falcon and asks Spade what kind of character it is, Spade speaks the famous final sentence: "A material from which dreams are made."
History of origin
John Huston had successfully written screenplays for the Warner Brothers since 1938 and was given the chance to direct the film for the first time in 1941. The novel, published in 1930 The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett had previously been filmed twice: in 1931 as The Maltese Falcon with Ricardo Cortez and Bebe Daniels in the lead roles and in 1936 as Satan Met a Lady with Warren William and Bette Davis in the leading roles, directed by William Dieterle . While the version from 1931 remained close to the novel, the version from 1936 took a lot of liberties with the novel Hammetts, was more humorous and was not particularly successful. Warner Bros. decided to realize the novel a third time, as the production company had made it a principle during the Depression of the 1930s to buy the rights to the respective templates as cheaply as possible and then to use them completely. The film rights were secured on June 23, 1930 for 8,500 US dollars. Robert Hass, who was already responsible for the set design in the film adaptation from 1931, and Arthur Edeson, the cameraman for Satan Met a Lady , worked again in their respective functions on this remake .
Huston was not only a director but also a screenwriter on this film adaptation. Similar to Alfred Hitchcock for Rebecca , Huston created a storyboard on which each film scene was specified. In Huston's opinion, however, the previous scriptwriters and directors did not understand how to properly translate Hammett's book. Huston rewrote the novel almost true to the scene and dialogue, but deleted some characters (e.g. Gutman's daughter Rhea). He also reduced the scenes to a few locations (including the detective's office, Sam Spade's apartment, some hotel rooms) and thus created a claustrophobic atmosphere that was supported by the camera work, the camera settings and the music. This also kept production costs low. The comparatively weakly illuminated set not only contributed to this effect, but also reduced costs: the sparseness of many furnishings could be obscured somewhat by the weak lighting.
A stipulation from the studio was to have George Raft play the lead role of Sam Spade, but Raft declined to work under an inexperienced director. Huston then assigned the role to his friend Humphrey Bogart , who was one of the leading actors in low-budget productions at the time. The role of Brigid should initially go to Geraldine Fitzgerald , which she refused. Then Mary Astor was hired for the lead role. Casting the corpulent Kaspar Gutman was particularly difficult. After various candidates were rejected, Huston brought the 62-year-old theater actor Sydney Greenstreet in front of the camera. For Greenstreet this was a brilliant film debut, which should immediately bring him an Oscar nomination.
The Falcon's Trail had a fairly small budget of $ 381,000, making it one of the low-budget films. The shooting lasted from June 9, 1941 to July 18, 1941 and was two days shorter than originally planned. The cost was also below budget at $ 327,000. The relatively low production costs are partly due to the fact that the actors under contract with the respective film studios were not paid per film, but received an annual salary. For example, Bogart received a salary of $ 96,525 in 1941.
Studio boss Jack L. Warner was very impressed with the statue's backstory. He got Huston to give the character Kasper Gutmans more text. In addition, the film tells in the opening credits with a few explanatory sentences that the Knights Templar on Malta wanted to send the statue to the Spanish king as a tribute in 1539, but it was stolen by pirates and has since been lost. In fact, the Knights Templar had already been resolved at that time and the Hospitallers of the Sovereign Order of Malta in Malta resident.
effect
Huston relied entirely on the presence of Humphrey Bogart in his role as Samuel Spade in his film. There is only one scene in the whole film in which Bogart cannot be seen (when his partner Miles Archer is shot). The camera is always close to Bogart / Spade and most of the shots give the viewer the feeling of seeing what is happening from their point of view or at least looking over their shoulder. The detective is initially a rather unsympathetic, callous type who almost rejects his partner, even has a relationship with his wife, and is constantly - in a diffuse way - on the verge of legality. When Spade gets caught up in a web of intrigues and lies and is even suspected of killing Thursby or Archer or even both, the antihero gains sympathy, especially since Spade remains true to himself and his principles in everything he does.
Huston creates speed through constant phone calls, taxi rides and the resulting changes of location. In addition, the film takes place continuously at night and that every person appearing is apparently after the ominous figure of the falcon, including the half-silk Joel Cairo, who carries passports with different nationalities and whose homosexuality is indicated by perfumed handkerchiefs, among other things . Further examples are Brigid O'Shaughnessy / Ruth Wonderly, who at first appears naive and turns out to be a dangerous femme fatale , the gang boss Kasper Gutman, who seems far too cultured for a villain, and his almost pitying and incompetent gunslinger Wilmer Cook. All of them carry a secret that the audience is asked to solve. Only Spade's secretary Effie Perine appears as a calming pole in the midst of the mysterious events.
With his adaptation of the Maltese Falcon, Huston appropriately brought the type of hardboiled detective created by Hammett and Raymond Chandler to the screen.
Others
The film premiered in the USA on October 3, 1941, and the film was shown in German cinemas for the first time in 1948.
The film contains a self-reflective moment: when Spade speaks to Polhaus at the scene of Archer's murder, a tattered film poster can be seen. The poster advertises the film Swing Your Lady (1938) with Humphrey Bogart in the leading role.
A sequel planned due to the great success failed due to Hammett's excessive fee demand.
John Huston put his father, well-known actor Walter Huston , in a cameo as the ship's officer.
The final sentence refers to William Shakespeare - The Tempest ( The Storm ), Act 4, scene 1, says in the Prospero: "We are seeking stuff as dreams are made on" (We are of the same stuff of which one dreams power).
synchronization
The German dubbed version was created under the direction of Wolfgang Schick in 1964. The version gives the film a completely different character. The entire film music was replaced by lively jazz themes that do not fit into the time the film was made, but rather into the post-war period, while the dialogues take a parodic direction, so that the original atmosphere and thus the intended tension are not insignificantly lost .
| role | actor | German Voice actor |
|---|---|---|
| Sam Spade | Humphrey Bogart | Arnold Marquis |
| Bridget O'Shaugnessy | Mary Astor | Elisabeth Ried |
| Iva Archer | Gladys George | Eva Pflug |
| Joel Cairo | Peter Lorre | Klaus Schwarzkopf |
| Caspar Gutman | Sydney Greenstreet | Hans Hinrich |
| Effi Perrine | Lee Patrick | Eleanor Noelle |
| Det. Lt. Dundy | Barton MacLane | Hans W. Hamacher |
| Tom Polhaus | Ward Bond | Heinz Engelmann |
reception
In their song The Friends of Mr. Cairo from the album of the same name, the music duo Jon & Vangelis uses the film as a starting point for reflections on cinema. Dialogues from the film are also quoted in the song.
Reviews
“The beginning of the 'Black Series', the adjectives of film noir are promising reasons to admire this film, but disappointment is inevitable. It's not the film's fault, it's the time. With the beginning of the era of pessimistic, dark films, from today's perspective, no impressive introduction is shown, one only sees a vague hint. Anyone who hopes for a storm will at most see thunderclouds, today's viewers are too spoiled for that. "
“Legendary style-defining film of the American 'Black Series', which he helped to define, perfectly built, impressively played, cynical, pessimistic and full of the blackest humor, precise in the dialogues, impressive in the density of the 'black' atmosphere, not least due to the lighting is achieved in the tradition of German Expressionism. "
"For The Maltese Falcon , which swooped down onto the screen of the Strand yesterday, only turns out to be the best mystery thriller of the year, and young Mr. Huston gives promise of becoming one of the smartest directors in the field. ( All that can be said about The Trail of the Falcon , which literally jumped onto the screen yesterday, is that it is the best mystery thriller of the year, and young Mr. Huston is sure to be one of the brightest directors of the future.) "
"The perfect visualization of Dashiell Hammett's thriller."
“The track of the falcon was an impressive debut film [...]. But overrated, talkative, slow and often with clumsy camera work. Bogart's moods change constantly and Mary Astor's Brigid doesn't help either, but it does illustrate Huston's misogyny. "
Awards
The Falcon's Trail received three Oscar nominations at the 1942 Academy Awards , but could not prevail in any category:
- Best movie
- Best Screenplay (John Huston)
- Best Supporting Actor (Sydney Greenstreet)
Humphrey Bogart and Mary Astor each won the National Board of Review Best Actor Award in 1941 .
In 1989, The Trail of the Falcon was included as one of the first films in the National Film Registry of US films that are considered particularly worthy of preservation.
In the top 100 lists compiled by the American Film Institute in 1998 , The Trail of the Falcon is represented three times: in the list of the 100 best American films of all time at number 23 and in the list of the 100 best American thrillers at number 26 the list of 100 best movie quotes of all time ranked the stuff did dreams are made of. (“This is the stuff dreams are made of.”) In 14th place.
literature
- Alan G. Barbour: Humphrey Bogart: his films - his life , Heyne, Munich 1984. ISBN 3-453-86001-2
- Paul Duncan, Jürgen Müller (Eds.): Film Noir, 100 All-Time Favorites , Taschen GmbH, Cologne 2014. ISBN 978-3-8365-4353-8 (pp. 92 - 97)
- Dashiell Hammett: The Maltese Falcon , Diogenes, Zurich 1974. ISBN 3-257-20131-1
- Stuart M. Kaminsky: John Huston: his films - his life , Heyne, Munich 1986. ISBN 3-453-86037-3
- Willi Winkler: Humphrey Bogart and Hollywood's Black Series , Heyne, Munich 1985. ISBN 3-453-86084-5
Web links
- The Maltese Falcon in theInternet Movie Database(English)
- The track of the falcon in the German synchronous file
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e f Gene D. Phillips: Out of the Shadows: Expanding the Canon of Classic Film Noir . Scarecrow Press 2012, ISBN 978-0-8108-8189-1 , Chapter 3.
- ↑ Jim Hillier and Alastair Phillips: 100 Film Noirs . Palgrave Macmillan 2009, ISBN 978-1-84457-216-8 , p. 174.
- ^ Andrew Dickos: Street with No Name: A History of the Classic American Film Noir . University Press of Kentucky 2002, ISBN 978-0-8131-2243-4 , p. 109.
- ↑ The Falcon's Trail. In: Synchrondatenbank.de. Retrieved May 30, 2020 .
- ↑ Michael Denks: The track of the falcon. In: Zelluloid.de. August 25, 2008, archived from the original on April 7, 2017 ; accessed on August 24, 2018 .
- ↑ The Falcon's Trail. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed August 24, 2018 .