Tonight's Wednesday Classic is the 1941 film "The Maltese Falcon" starring the always fun to watch Humphrey Bogart!
"The Maltese Falcon" is a krazy movie with an amazing cast of characters! I feel stupid even writing about it, because I just feel like everybody should already know everything about a movie like this, but then, maybe not considering the school system these days!
I'm not exactly sure where this movie takes place......
......Maybe in California if I had to guess!
Probably my favorite comedy bit is The Firesign Theatre's "The Further Adventures of Nick Danger," from their album "How Can You Be In Two Places At Once When You're Not Anywhere At All," which is an insane story about a private detective named Nick Danger that is totally based on "The Maltese Falcon."
One of the very first audio gags at the start of the story has Nick Danger introducing himself as Regnad Kcin because he's reading his name backwards from the writing on the glass door just like this!
Humphrey Bogart is Detective Sam Spade, and his partner is Jerome (Black Zoo) Cowan as Miles Archer!
In the middle is their new client, an absolutely insane woman in my opinion named Brigid O'Shaughnessy, posing as a Miss Wonderly, as played by Mary (Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte) Astor!
Jerome Cowan was also in the "Twilight Zone" episode titled "The Sixteen-Millimeter Shrine."
Right out of the box, Miles Archer is shot and killed!
Sam Spade can only get so upset by the death of his partner since he was having an affair with his wife!
This is a great shot of Sam visiting the scene of the crime!
Here's an amazing pair of Detectives as played by Barton MacLane and Ward Bond!!
Barton MacLane had 182 tough guy credits including "Nabonga," "The Mummy's Ghost," "Cry Of The Werewolf," and "Unknown Island."
It's hard to see Ward Bond as anybody else except Major Seth Adams after watching over 100 episodes of "Wagon Train" as a kid!
Sam Spade and Miss Wonderly develop a very strange relationship!
Bogie must roll and smoke at least five cigarettes during the course of the film!
In the middle is their new client, an absolutely insane woman in my opinion named Brigid O'Shaughnessy, posing as a Miss Wonderly, as played by Mary (Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte) Astor!
Jerome Cowan was also in the "Twilight Zone" episode titled "The Sixteen-Millimeter Shrine."
Barton MacLane had 182 tough guy credits including "Nabonga," "The Mummy's Ghost," "Cry Of The Werewolf," and "Unknown Island."
It's hard to see Ward Bond as anybody else except Major Seth Adams after watching over 100 episodes of "Wagon Train" as a kid!
In the Nick Danger episode, the Joe Cairo character is named Rocky Rococo, because The Firesign Theatre recording is a combination of "The Maltese Falcon," and The Beatles' song "Rocky Raccoon!"
Just some of Elisha's freakin' 219 credits are "House On Haunted Hill," "Black Zoo," "The Haunted Palace," "Blacula," "Messiah Of Evil," etc. etc., and you could usually count on him to have a name like Ice Pick, Mousy, Sweeper, Inky, Banjo, or Spinks!
Too bad it's a fake!!
"The Further Adventures Of Nick Danger!"
It's a guaranteed good time!
I'm just going to leave you with this!
I honestly believe this is one of the most remarkably odd posters I've ever seen!
One of my top 5 movies. The dialog is so awesome. The first time I saw it I was stunned that a movie that old would use a line like "When you're slapped, you'll take it and you'll like it!"
ReplyDeleteThanks! We'll probably get in trouble for even repeating a line like that today Robert!
ReplyDeleteGeorge Raft turned it down, thinking that it would be a cheapie quickie "B" movie. He also turned down High Sierra, because he was tired of being typecast in gangster movies. Both proved to be big hits for Bogart.
ReplyDeleteA lot of people think that the word "gunsel" means a hit man or a hired gunman, because Spade refers to Wilmer by that term. Actually, it comes from a Yiddish word for a male prostitute. Spade was actually insinuating that Wilmer was Gutman's "kept man" or male mistress.