Big sleep v Maltese Falcon

Both are good film noir classics but I think The Maltese Falcon is the better of the the two. It's a nice little, simpler, self contained story with fewer characters but probaly the finest cast ever assembled in a motion picture and shows great fidelity to the novel it's based upon, The Big Sleep has a more complicated and realistic plot with far more characters, action and scenery, but at the same time, I agree that the film would have probaly been even better with Marlowe's narration and it is generally a looser adaptation of the superior book.

Maltese Falcon. Hands down.

It would have been great to see Lauren Bacall be in The Maltese Falcon,she might have played the role less vulnerable and more alluring but those two are amazing in anything.the Maltese Falcon had a better plot and but the Big Sleep had really enticing dialogue between Bogart and Bacall

"No ferris wheel, no heart to steal, no laughter in the dark...",

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'The Big Sleep' is the better film and has stood better than Maltese. I liked Maltese a lot but the only thing that's kept the film fresh is Bogart and Peter Lorre.

The main reasons as to why it's better are of course that the plot while more complicated(re:hairbrained) is obviously not of import in 'The Big Sleep' while it remains so in 'The Maltese Falcon', second 'The Big Sleep' has better dialogue and third 'The Big Sleep' has Lauren Bacall and more importantly Bogey and Bacall. It's no contest.






How much is a good nights sleep worth?

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Both are great films. It took me several viewings to actually understand and appreciate The Big Sleep. Now I love it. On the other hand, I’ve always liked the Maltese Falcon but my problem with it is the last 30 minutes of the film when they’re all confined to Spade’s apartment. It’s all talk, talk, talk. Unlike The Big Sleep, it loses momentum towards the end.

"When the legend becomes fact, print the legend."

The Falcon.