"The Maltese Falcon" and Masculinity

Paper Summary:

It may seem at first as though John Huston's film The Maltese Falcon (1941) is a detective story about the search for the title object; a story with a fatalistic ending in which the object is found to be a fake. But the search for the falcon is not nearly as important as the search for the killer of Miles Archer (Jerome Cowan) and the story is, in fact, a triumphant account of Sam Spade's (Humphrey Bogart) defense of his masculinity, and of American masculinity in general, against those who would destroy, distort, question, or undermine it.

From the Paper:

"It may seem at first as though John Huston's film The Maltese Falcon (1941) is a detective story about the search for the title object; a story with a fatalistic ending in which the object is found to be a fake. But the search for the falcon is not nearly as important as the search for the killer of Miles Archer (Jerome Cowan) and the story is, in fact, a triumphant account of Sam Spade's (Humphrey Bogart) defense of his masculinity, and of American masculinity in general, against those who would destroy, distort, question, or undermine it. The elaborate structure of the film places Spade at the center of a number of forces over which he must, in one way or another, exert his authority and control. Each of the three members of the four groups that surround him threatens or questions his masculinity in some fashion. By acting shrewdly, intelligently, fearlessly..."

More papers on "The Maltese Falcon" and Masculinity:

• Film Review # 26400 : "The Maltese Falcon" and Search for the Killer"
• Essay # 73870 : "The Maltese Falcon"

APA Citation:

MLA Citation: