When San Francisco private detective Sam Spade dies, his son, Sam, Jr., inherits his father's agency, including the sarcastic secretary, Effie Perine (also known as "Godzilla"). He must also continue his father's tradition of "serving minorities" (with "spade" double-entendres). When Caspar Gutman is killed outside Spade's building, his dying words are, "It's black and as long as your arm."[2]
Spade is given an offer by a member of the Order of St. John's Hospital to purchase his father's useless copy of the Maltese Falcon. A thug named Gordon Immerman has been hired to make sure Spade delivers the bird. Spade later gets an offer from Wilmer Cook for the Falcon, but before they can negotiate, Cook is killed. Shortly thereafter Spade meets a beautiful and mysterious Russian woman named Anna Kemidov, daughter of the general who once owned the real Maltese Falcon. She also wants Spade's copy and is willing to seduce him to get it. Spade is soon dealing with Litvak, a bald Nazi dwarf who is surrounded by an army of Hawaiian thugs. In the ensuing chaos, Immerman tries to become Spade's partner. Spade discovers that his "false" copy may be the real thing.[2]
Ray Stark owned the rights to The Maltese Falcon and hired David Giler to adapt. Giler tried to work on the script with his friend John Milius but they were unable to collaborate. Giler then decided to turn the project into a comedy, and Stark let him direct.[3] It was his first and only directorial effort. During principal photography, frequent clashes occurred between Stark and star George Segal.[4]
Panned by critics and audiences alike, the film is considered the weakest adaptation of the novel. Pauline Kael wrote that it is "a dumb comedy, with an insecure tone and some good ideas mixed with some terrible ones".[5] On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an aggregated score of 33% based on 12 reviews.[6]
^Sragow, Michael (1983). "Ghostwriters". Film Comment. 19 (2). Film Society of Lincoln Center: 12. JSTOR43452681. Retrieved 6 June 2022. "Giler's own favorite credit scam came on the Black-Bird, which he also directed.
^The Spadework Behind a 'Falcon' Remake: Spadework Behind Remake of 'Falcon' – A Remake of 'Falcon'
Warga, Wayne. Los Angeles Times 15 Sep 1974: q1.
^Kael, Pauline (1991). "The Black Bird". 5001 Nights at the Movies. MacMillan. p. 76. ISBN978-0-8050-1367-2. a dumb comedy, with an insecure tone and some good ideas mixed with some terrible ones.
