The Maltese Falcon

The Maltese Falcon (1941) by John Huston

This deserves a more thorough dissection than I’m going to give it here at the moment, but here goes.

Two things seem important to me in this script:

First, Spade seems to be the only one who is “true to himself.”  The others are pursuing their own agendas, of course, but Spade has something else that’s different.  He has a center that allows him to see through the clutter around him.

Second, obsession has no good outcome.  Aside from Spade, the others are all obsessed with their goal, and all of them lose: their money and/or their lives.