By Katie Robinson
“The Maltese Falcon”, though classic in
the history of films, is a confusing movie. There are a lot of characters,
schemes and changing stories that it is sometimes difficult to keep track of
what is happening and what will happen next most of the time. However, what is
clear and remains constant in the movie is the cool, confident character of Sam
Spade, which I find to be one of the most important aspects of the plot in this
tale.
Emotions in general are very crucial to
any plot in a movie, but this movie especially, where we see how life threatening
lust, greed, and determination can be. We
see how being greedy can make a man, Kasper Gutman specifically, give up years
of his life, as well as the lives of his friends and foes to find the precious
Maltese Falcon. With the precious statue being the one priority in his life, he
is more than willing to not only drag his partner, Joel Cairo, through years of
illegally hunting down the trophy, but he also emotionlessly allows to give up
his son-like apprentice, Wilmer, to the police in order to have an alibi for
his own crime. Brigid O’Shaughnessy uses her lust to get what she wants, which
is protection from the scary Gutman, as well as her own crimes involving the
Maltese Falcon.
Yet Sam’s character is the one that
makes up the solid core of the movie. He is the one who is in charge of solving
the mystery of the Maltese Falcon, as well as ensuring the safety of Brigid, so
he makes sure to not let his feelings get too much in the way of all the drama
going on around him. This is seen in the way that he always stays calm and
collected. Even when his partner is killed, or a gun is put to his head, he
keeps a level-headed, cool attitude that keeps situations under control. We see
how beneficial his wit and cleverness is when he has to make up fake stories to
tell to the cops throughout the movie, in order to keep the case where he wants
it and to protect the people involved. Even when he has to get information out
of Brigid he doesn’t angrily demand it, but rather he is calm enough to ease the
story out of her eventually.
Keeping his emotions out of the way and staying
dedicated and focused to his job and to himself ultimately ends up saving Spade’s
life. His partner, Miles Archer was not so lucky, when he ends up getting
killed while being swooned by the beautiful Ms. O’Shaughnessy on the job. Though
Sam develops a romantic relationship with Brigid, we see that in the end it is
not worth it for Sam to give up his legal responsibilities and life for a
gorgeous, yet lying woman. Because of his uncanny knack for solving mysteries
and staying cool, Sam Spade not only ensures his survival in the movie, but makes
the film the classic story that it is today.
By Rachel Molique
ReplyDeleteI agree with the statement that “Keeping his emotions out of the way and staying dedicated and focused to his job and to himself ultimately ends up saving Spade’s life.” I think that a good example of this is when Sam has to turn Brigid in for the murder of Miles Archer and Thursby. He says that if he were to let Brigid go he would have no way of knowing that she wouldn’t put “a hole on him one day”, So in a sense he is saving his life by turning her in.
He also is putting his emotions aside by turning her in. Sam is in love with Brigid and it takes a lot for him to let go and turn her in when he really doesn’t want to. He says he has to do it though. One reason he has to do it for his partner, Miles Archer. And the other reason he has to do it is because he doesn’t want to play the fool for Brigid.
I think you made a good point with this blog post. The idea of the role that emotions play in this movie didn’t really cross my mind. By you bringing this point to my attention it really made me rethink the movie and see that Sam’s cool, calm, and collected emotions really do end up being the reason he solves the mystery and comes out on top.
I like that you pointed out how fast pace the film was. I completely agree with the fact that it was hard to keep track of what was going to happen next-- which is good because it keeps the audience on their toes and interesting in what is going on. I also, agree with that at times it was difficult to understand what was going on!
ReplyDeleteLike Rachel said I also agree with the characterization of Sam Spade. He was very dedicated to his job and nothing got in his way. He did anything and everything in order to do his job of solving the murders.
I believe that he never truly loved or even liked Brigid-- it was all just a game, so that he could gain her trust. Which in the end, worked out for him. She confessed to the crimes and paid the price for what she had done. The fact that Spade turned Brigid in to the police showed that he really doesn't have emotions, he really works hard and puts all things aside in order to do his job. I think that him playing a game with her emotions was probably just in his so called "job description". Meaning, in order to be successful at finding the murderers you cannot have emotional ties to the people who could be involved.
I think that it's important to also point out how greed played a lot into the emotions of each of the characters. The fact that most of the main characters were all after the falcon, makes things complicated and adds drama to the film.