The Maltese Falcon (1941)

Director: John Huston

Starring: Humphrey Bogart, Mary Astor, Gladys George, Peter Lorre, Barton MacLane, Lee Patrick, Sydney Greenstreet, Ward Bond, Jerome Cowan, Elisha Cook Jr., James Burke, Murray Alper, John Hamilton

More info: IMDb

Tagline: A guy without a conscience! A dame without a heart!

Plot: Sam Spade is a partner in a private-eye firm who finds himself hounded by police when his partner is killed whilst tailing a man. The girl who asked him to follow the man turns out not to be who she says she is, and is really involved in something to do with the 'Maltese Falcon', a gold-encrusted life-sized statue of a falcon, the only one of its kind.

My rating: 10/10

Will I watch it again? Yes.

Geez.  What can I possible say about this flick except that it's fucking awesome!  Bogart owns this role and he along with the supporting case rule this picture.  Well, not entirely.  The story and dialogue are amazing.  The words rip through the actors' mouths like bullets from a tommy gun - fast and furious.  There are more clever lines in this picture than a weekend-long dinner party at Oscar Wilde's place.  Every single actor was perfectly cast.  I was fortunate enough to see this at a local performance theater that showed a few old movies every Saturday for a few weeks.  I couldn't catch even half of them but I cancelled plans to see this one, one of my favorites.  What a grand night that was.  Man, I love this picture.