"Best Film Noir: The Maltese Falcon!" Topic

You were asked – TMP link

Best Film Noir?

And in the final round of voting:

44% said "Maltese Falcon, The (1941)"
21% said "Casablanca"
17% said "Blade Runner"

Obviously, people don't know what " Film Noir" is then…

Andrew, Film Historians consider "The Maltese Falcon" to be the first true Film Noir.

Perhaps Andrew is referring to the inclusion of Blade Runner.

TCM runs a Sunday morning series called "Noir Alley" where they show much of the genre.

Except, TMF is a rather light-hearted effort, it's certainly NOT dark in the accepted Noir manner.

I think the Big Sleep would be a better, easier fit, but then again, just MHO!

I can see the argument for Casablanca and To Have and Have Not, they do fit the genre, but then again, they are wartime efforts, so…

A muddled mix, but when I think of FN, I think of that crazy Richard Widmark movie, or Sterling Hayden planning a race-track heist or Kansas City Confidential, to me those are the epitome' of the FN genre, but…life goes on.

I appreciate the fact that no one jumped on me about my statement…Thanks!

Andrew, I am a huge fan of Noir, and watch the TCM series every Sunday. Funny, I don't consider Casablanca or TO Have and Have Not noirs at all. I think what makes TMF noir is the double dealing and betrayal that permeates the film. The other films you mention are indeed Noir classics, I assume you mean "Night and the City" (Widmark).

I wouldn't class "Casablanca" as noir, even though it is one of my favourite films.
"The Maltese Falcon" ticks all of the noir boxes.
I agree that Sterling Hayden was excellent in "The Asphalt Jungle", and another favourite is "The Killers", the film that introduced Burt Lancaster (and seeing William Conrad whom I only knew as Cannon, as a hitman was quite an eye-opener).
So many great film noirs, but IMHO The Maltese Falcon is a leading contender & probably deserves its win

Thanks Nick…YES, Night and the City, name escaped me.

Check out David N. Myers "A Girl and a Gun", from 1998, it reviews all the noirs available on dvd when it was written. There are several films missing, notably "Act of Violence", but it is a good overview.

When you said Widmark I thought of Widmark's first movie appearance in "Kiss of Death" (1947), as the giggling, sociopathic villain Tommy Udo.

Sorry, that was the one Ed, I was confused! Amazed that he became an A list star relatively soon afterwards, because early roles like that either lock in or doom a career!