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July 19, 2004
Numero Uno
From http://tmcrecommend.tripod.com/themoviecritique/id8.html:
The whole theme of [The Maltese Falcon] is deceit and manipulation, Everybody is trying to chisel everybody else, so that you have no idea who's on who's side. Is Joel Cairo (Peter Lorre) for or against Kasper Gutman (Sydney Greenstreet); what was the relationship between Brigid O'Shaughnessy (Mary Astor) and dead Thursby; and where does Captain Jacobi (Walter Huston, briefly) fit in? You can't tell, and it doesn't matter, because the characters change their relationships as casually as they change their underwear. In fact, it could be argued that one of the only honest characters in the movie is the "gunsel" Wilmer Cook, played by his namesake Elisha Cook Jr, who is no more and no less than he seems to be - a cheap crook with gaudy patter.
Posted by Your Protagonist at July 19, 2004 05:08 PM