Am i the only one who thinks........Average?

It is not deep, but it is fun to watch. It does have a bit more of an edge to it than other similar films.

it is finally so absorbing because it plays like a lyrical road odyssey that’s also a detective story.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

This film begins with a private detective named "Sam Spade" (Ricardo Cortez) interviewing a new client by the name of "Ruth Wonderly" (Bebe Daniels) who asks him to track down her missing sister who has somehow become involved with a dangerous and unseen man known only as Floyd Thursby . As it so happens, Sam's partner "Miles Archer" (Walter Long) arrives at that moment and decides to take over the case personally. That night Miles is shot and killed--and since Sam is having an affair with his partner's wife--he becomes the leading suspect. And then when Thursby is shot and killed hours later he also become the primary suspect in that murder as well. It then becomes apparent that Ms. Wonderly hasn't quite told Sam the entire truth and he soon finds himself involved in a complicated scheme concerning an extremely valuable statuette known as the Maltese Falcon--and the people looking for it will stop at nothing to get their hands on it. Now rather than reveal anymore I will just say that, while I have seen the more famous film by the same title produced in 1941, I didn't realize that there was an older movie that preceded it. That being said, although I found this particular film to be a bit more dated, it was surprisingly more risqué as well. Be that as it may, while it isn't as good as the version with Humphrey Bogart, this one is certainly enjoyable and for that reason I have rated it accordingly. Above average.

Despite the silent-to-talkie transition style, I liked this one better than the Bogart one. In fact, I think it exposes Bogart's counterfeit toughness (among other things, he was too short). Ricardo Cortez was a great choice. Perhaps George Raft might have been a better Sam Spade in the 1941 version. The similarity in dialogue between the two movies begs the issue of insufficient originality in the later version.Comparing 1931 v 1941 characters, I think only Sydney Greenstreet provides a more interesting product. As the same (or similar) character, Alison Skipworth, as Madame Barabbas in Satan Met a Lady 1936, finishes second. From that same movie, Marie Wilson finishes second to Una Merkel as Effie, with 1941's Lee Patrick a distant third.I like them all. I like the structure of the mystery. It reminds me (it's just me) a little of John Le Carre mysteries where, as in Tinker Tailor, the investigator knows the answer from the beginning.

The 1941 version of The Maltese Falcon starring Humphrey Bogart was actually the second remake of The Maltese Falcon. The first remake was Satan Met A Lady, (1936) starring Bette Davis. This film (The Maltese Falcon - 1931) was the original. It doesn't have the pizazz of the Humphrey Bogart version, and it is not a film noir version, but it is extremely faithful to the story, and much more explicit about the various adulterous affairs, out of wedlock sex, and homosexuality. Ricardo Cortez was a big star at the time.Contrary to the many comments in user reviews, it is not a pre-code movie. The Movie Production Code (aka Hays Code) was instituted in 1930, but largely ignored by the studios. It wasn't enforced until 1934 when Joseph Breen took over as head of the Motion Picture Code. The story of the years 1930 - 1933 films which contained much more explicit material than was technically permitted by the code is well told in the TCM documentary "Forbidden Film".Of the three versions of The Maltese Falcon, this is, in my opinion, the second best, with Bogart's version being the best. But this version is a close second, with much to recommend it. It is not more faithful to the novel than the 1941 version, but it is much clearer, especially concerning the sexual sub-plots of the film. It was an A movie in it's time, with top stars including Thelma Todd, Una Merkel, and Dwight Frye. If you like the Bogart version you will probably enjoy this antecedent. Film aficionados and lovers of film history should take special note of this gem.

***SPOILERS*** Original version of the film "The Maltese Falcon" that has the Latin lover looking Ricardo Cortez, who's real name was Jacob Krantz, as San Francisco private eye Sam Spade the part that made Humphrey Bogart the Hollywood legend that he was to become some 10 years later.Spade gets himself involved in a missing person case that soon mushrooms into murder that leaves some half dozen people dead by the time the film is over. One of those murdered was Spade's partner fellow PI Miles Archer, Walter Long. It was Archer's wife Iva, Thelma Todd, whom Spade was having an affair with while he was on vacation. Ruth Wounderly, Babe Daniels, shows p at Spade's office looking for her sister whom she tells Spade has took off with her boyfriend someone called Thursby. Miss.Wounderly is very concerned about her sister in that she feels that Thursby is a mental case and threat to her sisters safety. Spade realizes that Miss. Wounderly's story is nothing but a load of BS but takes the case anyway because the money, a $200.00 retainer, is more then he expected. Spade has Miles tailing Thursby who ends up getting shot and killed the first night on he's on the case. Within an hour after Miles' body was discovered Thursby himself is found shot to death with Thursby's partner Sam Spade being the prime suspect in his murder. The police feel that Thursby's death was an act of revenge on Spade's part. It's later that Spade is confronted by a Dr.Cairo, Otto Matieson, who at first offers him $5,000.00 for this mysterious black bird statuette whom his boss Casper Gutman, Dudley Diggs is willing to pay him. It's when Cairo gets a little pushy by pulling a gun on Spade, who quickly disarmed him, that he took his offer seriously. By then all the pieces of this mysterious case starting coming together in that the black bird was the Maltese Falcon that had disappeared from sight over 70 years ago and was worth a cool two million dollars. And even more disturbing it was Miss.Wounderly,Spade's client, and the late Mr. Thursby who were the last person to have possession of the bird! Not as good as the Humphrey Bogart version of the film but still worth watching in Cortez's, who was an odd choice for the part, as private dick Sam Spade. Cortez seemed to have trouble taking the role of Sam Spade seriously! He just could't stop smiling, which made you wounder in watching the movie if it was either a screw ball comedy or serious hard boiled detective story!