Robson, Eddie. Film Noir. London: Virgin Books, 2005. 17-30.

This book exists as a guide to film noir movies, giving a brief synopsis and overview for most of the notable films of the movement.  In its description of The Maltese Falcon, the book begins by stating the specifications of the movie: including its length, producers, and director.  This is followed by a list of the cast and a summary of the movie.  The chapter then covers the life work of the author and director of the movie, followed by a description of the movie’s development, casting, and production.

The chapter becomes much more interesting and pertinent in the next few sections.  Robson addresses the reception the movie received when it was first released.  This section is made especially interesting because it is one of the few film noir movies that was received well by its contemporary audience.  The next section, “Aspects of Noir”, is equally pertinent, because The Maltese Falcon is often considered the first film noir, but that title is still largely contested.  In this section, Robson attempts to pinpoint exactly what makes The Maltese Falcon a film noir movie.  He acknowledges that the lighting in the movie does not conform to the high-contrast style that most film noir movies adopt.  Robson instead attributes the film noir aspect of the movie to come mainly from Humphrey Bogart’s acting and John Huston’s script.  He continues to expand on this idea for the remainder of the Aspects of Noir section, before finishing with a discussion of the movies afterlife.

Robson’s interpretation of what makes The Maltese Falcon a film noir is the most interesting part of this essay, as it tries to pin down exactly what about The Maltese Falcon actually makes it one of the first noir films.  He is willing to admit that the movie does not hold many of the conventions of the movement, which makes one question why it is considered a noir movie at all.  Fortunately, he is able to give a concise and impressive answer to this question, making the essay all the more useful.

Knight, Deborah. “On Reason and Passion in The Maltese Falcon.” The Philosophy of Film Noir. Ed. Mark T. Conard. Lexington: The University Press of Kentucky, 2006. 207-221.

Deborah Knight uses her chapter in The Philosophy of Film Noir to look at the seemingly emotionless film noir detectives.  She states that she believes many of these detectives to be both passionate and reasonable, and uses the example of Sam Spade from The Maltese Falcon to prove her point.  Knight begins by giving her take on film noir detectives as a whole: what they need to accomplish, how they do so, and how they are separated from so called classic detectives, such as Sherlock Holmes.

After this description, Knight details the relationship between a film noir detective and his client.  Most of the focus in this section is on the relationship between Sam Spade and Brigid O’Shaughnessy.  She outlines most of the interactions between the two characters, and repeatedly brings up the subject of trust.  This leads directly into the next section of the essay, which is in fact titled “The Question of Trust”, and which reminds the reader that trust is a subject brought into question in most film noir movies.   The essay ends with a description of the last scene in the movie, and an explanation of how Sam Spade – the seemingly impassive detective – is able to use reason and passion to escape Brigid and the possible downfall she would lead him to.

The main problem with this essay is that it is written in a very convoluted manner (as one may be able to tell from my summery).  It repeated ly changes focus from the film noir movement to The Maltese Falcon, and these shifts in focus, rather than adding to the author's argument, often serve only to confuse the reader.  This essay does, however, give some important insight into Sam Spade's behavior, and it reminds the reader that the film noir detective is not as one dimensional as he may often appear.

Silver, Alain and James Ursini.  Film Noir. London: Taschen , 2004. 9-21.

Silver and Ursini use the first chapter of their book Film Noir to outline the characteristics of the film noir movement.  After briefly describing the apathy film noir films were originally met with, the authors explain why that contemporary reaction was completely undeserved.

The authors first point to the two themes that pervade the film noir movement: the haunted past and the fatalistic nightmare.  The book argues that both of these relate to a feeling that America felt as a whole, both through its newfound acceptance of existentialist thought as well as the bellicose and distrustful feelings resulting from World War II.  The authors also recognize the Femme Fatale as an important and unique character of film noir; showing her as an early female alternative to the male rebel.  In looking at other areas that set film noir apart, the authors point to the impressive use of the moving camera, the urban landscape, and the movement back towards German expressionist style lighting.  The authors also point to the poetic quality of the dialogue, ass well as the frequent voice over narration, as unique and innovative characteristics of the film noir movement.

This chapter is an enlightening read in relation to The Maltese Falcon, as the movie is usually considered one of the first (if not the first) films made in the film noir style.  The authors discuss the style in detail; explaining how each of the above mentioned characteristics of film noir movies are used, and how they set film noir apart as an important movement in film history.