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The Maltese Falcon Directed by John Huston (1941)
Starring Humphry Bogart
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For Sam Spade, Dashiel Hammett's prototypical detective in the Maltese Falcon, the black bird was "the stuff that dreams are made of". Revealed in the end to be enameled lead, the objet d'art was a metaphor for corruption, obsession and self-destruction in the pursuit of material reward. As portrayed by Humphrey Bogart, Spade became the icon of manhood: independent, aloof, maintaining a personal code of honour in a world of deceit and corruption. The iconography was later parodied in Woody Allen's Play It Again Sam.
Reviewer Kerry J. Schooley is a poet, a mystery writer, a cynic, a nag and a pedant.
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