This hard-boiled detective movie glides like silk along the contours of Dashiell Hammet’s exciting novel. It’s remarkably faithful to it. Humphrey Bogart doesn’t fit the exact physical description of Hammett’s Sam Spade, but it’s no matter. If you read the book after watching this film, you’ll still see Bogie as you zip through the pages. From his facial tics to the way he grins in the face of danger, few private detectives in the movies have ever been stranger, sexier, or more dangerous. 1941 was a big year for Bogart. This, along with High Sierra, bumped him up from supporting roles to leading man parts and a legend was born.
The story can get convoluted, but here’s all you really need to know: Up until the climax, pretty much everyone is lying to Bogart. If you’re confused, he’s confused, too. He’s a private eye who got hired for a job, but it was all a lie. As a result, he becomes a prime suspect for a murder that he didn’t commit and gets caught up in the middle of a group of assholes and their ruthless search for a rare jewel-encrusted falcon statue.
This is the third film adaptation of Hammett’s novel in just ten years and it was so great that nobody’s touched it since. It was also the first film directed by John Huston (George Raft turned down the role of Sam Spade here because he didn’t want to work with a first-time director!) and was a low-budget production that became a surprise hit for Warner Bros. Detective stories were no longer just the realm of B-movies after this. They became A-movie fare and Bogart would go on to play the other great private detective of 1940s cinema, Raymond Chandler’s Phillip Marlowe in The Big Sleep.