The Maltese Falcon

How this film uses it

A MacGuffin is the object everyone in a story is chasing. The Maltese Falcon, the jewel-encrusted statuette, drives the entire plot. Every character has killed or will kill to own it. When the falcon turns out to be a fake, Spade calls it 'the stuff that dreams are made of'. No line defines the MacGuffin better. Wanting the object was the point all along. Huston and Hammett pinned down the MacGuffin before the term existed.

Where to see it

The final revelation. The falcon is a fake. Gutman barely loses his composure before he turns to the next scheme. The object is worthless, which shows that the chase itself was always the prize.

How this film uses it

Arthur Edeson's photography sets the look that film noir would copy: faces half in shadow, rooms lit by single lamps, venetian blind patterns on walls. This kind of strong light-and-dark contrast is called chiaroscuro. Every character in the film has a shadowed side, on screen and in their morals. I feel like the lighting is telling you that no one in this world is fully in the light, the detective included.

Where to see it

Spade's office. There's a single window light, and faces move between light and shadow. This is the look that would define film noir for a decade.

How this film uses it

Spade investigates entirely by watching how people behave. He reads people first, and evidence comes second. Every meeting is an interrogation and he draws a conclusion from every conversation. Huston gives you exactly what Spade has (gestures, contradictions, dodged questions) and lets you reason alongside him. Spade is almost never wrong, and that makes his final choice matter all the more.

Where to see it

Spade's reading of Brigid's first story. He spots the lies right away and takes the case anyway. You can see what he has worked out in the gap between what he says and what he knows.

How this film uses it

Spade is your guide through the film, but he is playing his own game. He is loyal to his own code, and the film never fully spells that code out. Everyone in the film is guilty, so guilt isn't why he turns Brigid in. He does it because of the specific rule she broke. Huston keeps Spade's reasoning from you until the final scene. Until then, you are never sure whose side he is on.

Where to see it

Spade's explanation to Brigid: 'When a man's partner is killed he's supposed to do something about it.' He finally reveals his code, and you finally get his point of view stated outright.