The Maltese Falcon in Read the Movie

Sep 09, 2011 Henry Avila rated it liked it · review of another edition

Sam Spade a cynical, tough yet honest San Francisco private eye is having a good day Miss Wonderly , later Leblanc and still later Brigid O'Shaughnessy (what's in a name, a rose by any other name would be confusing), comes into his office. All sophisticated charm and beauty, so she lies a little who doesn't, more important gives Sam and his disliked partner Miles Archer $200 for a job, they could use some cash like most people during hard times. Miss Won...Leb... O'Shaughnessy, her name slips fr Sam Spade a cynical, tough yet honest San Francisco private eye is having a good day Miss Wonderly , later Leblanc and still later Brigid O'Shaughnessy (what's in a name, a rose by any other name would be confusing), comes into his office. All sophisticated charm and beauty, so she lies a little who doesn't, more important gives Sam and his disliked partner Miles Archer $200 for a job, they could use some cash like most people during hard times. Miss Won...Leb... O'Shaughnessy, her name slips from one to the other, no big deal this happens often in the sleazy business , recites a dubious story of a runaway younger sister accompanied by the mysterious Floyd Thursby. Effie Perine his loyal secretary tells Sam, her "woman's intuition" says O'Shaugnessy is good, you can trust, not quite. Miles agrees to shadow Thursby; the couple has just arrived in town, it will be Archer's last assignment. He is soon found dead, in a dark lonely street ...why. And the culprit who killed him this butcher must be found quickly, a strange case to solve if possible, there are things which remain unknown, however afterwards Thursby is also rubbed out this occurs frequently in these type of books for obvious reasons. Suspicion falls on Spade...revenge for Thursby shooting his partner, maybe or his affair with Archer's wife the cause. That's what two inflexible police detectives are investigating, the effeminate Joel Cairo comes to Sam 's office and tells him about the Maltese Falcon a priceless blackbird statuette, from the Middle Ages with a bloody past, numerous deaths induced by those wanting possession of the item . Joel offers him a lot of money for its recovery, a proposition the detective can't refuse. Casper Gutman, (for once a name which describes him perfectly) the leader of a gang of greedy thieves with a small weight problem, is Cairo's secret boss. In addition there's the unimpressive Wilmer Cook the murderous kid gunman, he enjoys his vocation the weapon makes him feel big... After La Paloma a ship from Hong Kong docks in San Francisco, Jacobi the captain goes to Sam's office ( an unusually busy place ) and expires on the floor, with four bullet holes in him the understandable reason . But not before giving the shamus a package...can it possibly be the long sought Maltese Falcon? This superb mystery from long ago still brings in the readers and will always do that. ...more

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May 27, 2013 Richard rated it it was amazing

Shelves: mystery, classics, on-hold-at-library, book-to-movie, 1929

Classic. Great read. Makes me want to see the movie again. The dialogue is great. I guess they didn't need to do much for the screenplay as it was all there in Hammett's novel. Nobody but Bogey could have played Spade: "I hope they don't hang you, precious, by that sweet neck. Yes, angel, I'm gonna send you over. The chances are you'll get off with life. That means if you're a good girl, you'll be out in 20 years. I'll be waiting for you. If they hang you, I'll always remember you."

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Mar 10, 2017 Janelle rated it liked it · review of another edition

I had to read this for my Detective Fiction class. It was interesting to read about the hard-boiled detective and the seedy underworld. It is very different from the likes of Agatha Christie's mysteries or Sherlock Holmes, but it was entertaining, however it wasn't my favorite. 3/5 Stars. ...more

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Jul 13, 2015 Mr. Twinkie rated it liked it

Slightly disappointing...? The simple description was fun at first then it became repetitive.

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Sep 07, 2007 Benjamin marked it as to-read · review of another edition

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Dec 20, 2007 Jen rated it liked it · review of another edition

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Apr 30, 2009 Pam Williams rated it really liked it

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May 09, 2011 Jael rated it it was amazing

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Jul 23, 2011 Frances rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites, read-often, memorable-lines-passages, favorite-mystery-books, s-heros-heros, mystery, favorite-authors, yes-yes-yes, 2nd-time-around, film

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