This is a pretty good movie that ages fairly well, but I do not feel compelled to pour superlatives down over as most reviews do, both critics and regular viewers. The actors look like they are having fun with it and this classic movie is worth watching just because of that. The dialogue, which I like to think is a specialty in my own otherwise unremarkable novels, is excellent.
I had trouble with how blasé Sam Spade seems to be with the bad news he received near the beginning, and how he reacted to it. (He redeemed himself a bit at the end in a passionate little speech about partners). And all the patter about love between Sam Spade and Miss O’Shaughnessey seemed silly to me, as there was never any sign they were connecting and getting closer: never mind they were also plotting each other’s downfall. Personally, Sam, I think your own assistant Effie was cuter, sweeter and a better catch.
But the movie is fun to watch and the mystery solving ending by Mr. Spade is top-notch stuff. The supporting cast is fine. See if you can pick out the guy who played Bert the cabdriver in Its A Wonderful Life (“My mouth’s bleeding, Bert! My mouth’s bleeding!”). And if you look closely, you can see Humphrey Bogart curl his mouth in that way the comic impressionists always exaggerate when they impersonate him.
There is only one Humphrey Bogart.