I just finished rereading "the Malese Falcon" for only the
third time--I'm sure that some here have read it many more
times.
Here are some of the things tha strike me (Other than the
fact that Sam Spade looks like a blond Satan--that gets me
every time even though I know it's coming.)
1: The movie follows the story very closely, including many
of the same lines by Spade, Gutman, Brigid etc. The actors in
the Bogart version did an excellent job portraying the
characters on the screen. The movie was cast well.
2: Spade had all the information he needed to solve Miles'
murder a few chapters in.
3: The gathering of the cast of characters for the
explanation worked in context, maybe because I saw the movie
first. But I generally do not like those endings. It didn't
hurt that virtually all of the characters were colorful and
fully differentiated.
4: Partly because I read some posts on various lists lately,
the historic aspects of the Falcon compare with "The Davinci
Code," but they are not as important or over-the-top in the
other book.
SPOILER ALERT if you haven't read it or seen the movie, but
my guess is that just about evrybody here had done one or the
other--
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5: For me, the romance angle didn't hold up. Others have
argued that it was quite a personal sacrifice for Spade to
turn Bigid over to the police. I had a sense that Spade, like
many hardboiled heros through the last 3/4 century, was
taking what he could get when it was offered.
6: Some of the same people have argued that the loss of
Brigid and the arrest and death of some of Gutman's gang
makes the book noir. I disagree. For me, it is just
hardboiled.
Jack Bludis
===== Now: "The Big Switch," and "The Deal Killer" September,
"Shadow of the Dahlia." "Munchies," Shamus and Anthony
nominee, Best Short Story http://www.jackbludis.com
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