The Maltese Falcon

Roy Del Ruth's 1931 film is the first screen adaptation of Dashiell Hammett's novel. The woman who comes to the private detective Sam Spade lies from the start; his partner is killed soon after and Spade finds himself among a group of swindlers chasing a statuette. The story follows the same plot as the better known later version, but the register is markedly different: this one was made before censorship rules were strictly enforced, and the sex, the greed and Spade's moral looseness are far more open. Ricardo Cortez plays him as sardonic and perpetually smiling, far from the hardness of the later reading. The film stayed in the shade for a long time and was only reassessed afterwards. It is short and fast. Who it's for: viewers who like pre-code Hollywood and crime adaptation. Who it's not for: anyone expecting the tone of the famous version; this film is quite unlike it.