MovieChat Forums > The Maltese Falcon (1931) Discussion > The End *Spoiler*

The End Spoiler

posted 16 years ago by deadparrotsoc
4 replies | jump to latest

Who else thought the ending was a disappointment? I loved the rest of it and then came when Spade rats Wonderly out and then the film lost its edge.

Maybe I'm just comparing it with the 1941 version where Bogie makes that speech about how she killed his partner and that's why he was putting her in jail. I think that reasoning brought a major character trait in Sam that the 1931 version missed. Plus the flying newspaper thing just elongated the end unnecessarily. I love it in the Huston one where they cops take her to the elevator and its symbolism for a jail cell.

"He's not Ginger! He's African Sunset!"

[–] Chesterfield_Invincible 16 years ago

What I didn't like was the fact that the Falcon itself was all but forgotten after it was discovered to be a fake...and this in a picture where the object is the title!!!!! Warners had wanted Huston to the title the picture "The Gent From Frisco" because TMF had already been used. But he insisted on using the original title, because he wanted the Black Bird...the stuff that dreams are made of...to be the center of attention.

[–] mikeoak840 16 years ago

Why wouldn't everyone forget about the bird? It's not THE Maltese falcon that they were looking for - it was a painted lead replica. As the movie The Black Bird suggests, maybe it did end up stashed away in Spade's file cabinet until his son discovers it 30+ years later.

[–] PillowRock 15 years ago

In the '41 version Sam gives it to the police to take to the evidence storage room because it does directly relate to the murders.

That is what *should* happen to it (at least in the short term; after the trial is over it might go back to Spade to be forgotten in his file drawer). In the '31 version, Jacobi's suitcase should go into the evidence room along with it. (As I recall, in the '41 version there was no such durable case holding it.)

For that reason alone, the statue that they've got shouldn't comepletely forgotten at the end.

[–] shoobe01-1 8 years ago

I don't understand all this. I assume everything was gathered up, processed, many statements were made, the bird maybe even held up in court. But we don't care anymore because it's no longer critical to the story.

I had no problem with the ending, and actually maybe prefer it. But it does hinge (a bit clunky for film making) on the newspaper clipping. Sam knew all along about Wonderly and is as clever as he thinks he is. His scheming worked, and he got paid, got out from under the murder rap, turned everyone in, and got a steady job as a result of it. Win all around in a way that feels organic, vs. the many silly "bad guy must loose" endings imposed just a few years later.