Watching this 1931 version of the classic tale was like watching a movie reflected in a funhouse mirror, everything’s there it’s just a little distorted. Ricardo Cortez is an oilier, smarmier Spade, much less likable than Bogie’s take on the role, Otto Matieson is a taller, yet less threatening Dr. Cairo than Peter Lorre, Dudley Digges is a less rotund Casper Gutman than Sydney Greenstreet…the list goes on.
With one exception the cast in the later, more famous version, were superior, that exception being Dwight Frye. If you wanted barking mad then Dwight was the man to call in 1931, appearing as Renfield in Dracula and Fritz in Frankenstein, in The Maltese Falcon though he’s a much more subtle loony, playing Gutman’s pet killer, Wilmer. He doesn’t get a lot of dialogue and has to do most of his acting with his eyes, but he gives the impression he could explode at any moment.
While it’s always going to take second place to John Huston’s version this was still very entertaining, more so for being pre-Hays Code and therefore a little racier than you might expect.
One of the rare occasions where the original isn’t the best.
