What does John Huston make of the Film Noir conventions in his film The

Outdoor lighting is quite similar, outside scenes are usually lit by headlights and street lamps. A scene outside is a good place for someone to hide as the beam of light is often focused on one direct spot. A good example is when Miles Archer is standing in a circular beam of light. This part of the film really shows well that lighting is very beneficial to a black and white film by presenting different tones and creating different atmospheres. Whilst archer is standing outside of the light the surroundings are pitch black so you cannot tell who else is standing with him which creates a tense edgy atmosphere.

Another good example of this is when, at the very beginning, Miles Archer is killed and he is shot in the back. He rolls down a dusty hill into the river, you can only just see the body because it is very dark but the streetlight highlights the dust as the dead body falls to its watery grave.

The dialogues of the Maltese Falcon is very confusing. Often people will speak quickly so that they come across nervous but secretly it is a ploy so that the person listening will not understand. The way the script works is very cunning and adds a feeling of disillusionment and mystery which are two of the main conventions of Film Noir. Many questions go unanswered leaving those in the film creates a convoluted plot, like this example:
Sam spade: “Havant you tried to buy my loyalty with money and nothing else?”
Brigid O’saughnessy: ”What else can I buy you with?”
 Another good way that the dialogue confuses the viewer is by making the characters talk over the top of one another. This is good as most films would try to avoid this but Film Noir makes this part of the film. Talking over one another makes it virtually impossible to hear what’s being said, this backs up the convoluted plot theory. Accents adds to the confusion of this film. Joel Cairo has a different tone of voice and way of speaking to the rest of the characters. In my view, him having a different voice slightly distracts you from what he is saying. Another way speech is used to confuse people is by each character adding a lot of useless information into what he or she is saying. I think this works because when you are listening, if you know what you are listening for, you will hear it otherwise you will not understand what is being said. For example an enemy trying to gain information would not understand. Slang or unusual words are commonly used to fool the other members of the gang. In the scene where everyone finds out that the “Maltese Falcon” is a fake Joel Cairo says: “you.......you bungled it”, “Bungled” is not a word used by many people so you notice it the most. In the very first scene of the film the dialogue is misleading and confusing. The first scene is O’Shaughnessy coming to talk to Sam Spade about finding her lost and suspected murdered sister. At this point she calls herself “Miss Ruth Wonderly”. I think the fact she announces herself as a Miss is part of the plan to get the detectives on her side and make herself attainable. Her story about her brother is later found out to be a lie and her name is in fact “Bridgid O’Shaugnessy”. She speaks very quickly and as a listener you find it hard to understand exactly what she has said.

Almost all of the characters in the Maltese Falcon were misleading and deceptive. Within the film to me there are six obvious stock characters. The main character is Sam Spade. He is the detective inspector who takes on Bridgid’s case. Kasper Gutman is the second stock character. I noticed that he leads the gang to find the Maltese Falcon. To me he is the typical bad guy who is very selfish. Gutman is a German name and in English means  “good man” which is a misleading name as he is one of the most cunning players in the fight for the Maltese Falcon. Brigid O’Shaughnessy was the “femme fatale” which, in English means “dangerous woman”. I think that this is apt as she is very deceptive and uses her female assets to get people exactly where she wants them. Effie Perine is the loyal secretary to Sam Spade. She and him have a good honest relationship. I think Wilmer was the henchman. Finally, I think Joel Cairo is the exotic yet camp double crosser. His appearance is very delicate and truthful but he has a strange presence about him throughout the film.

All the characters gave out mixed and confusing body language. Sam Spade tended not to give anything away with his body language as I though he held himself quite rigidly throughout the entire film. Joel Cairo was the complete opposite. He often expressed himself through his eyes. Although more often than not, it would not be how he truly felt, this is all part of the twisting plot.

The oblique camera angles in a film are very important especially in Film Noir. Many of the scenes where one person was dominating another, the shot would be taken from below the waist to make character seem bigger and threatening. This works because the larger character takes up the majority of the screen and so we automatically think of them being more dominant. Often the females would be made to look a lot smaller than the males. This made us think of the girls as innocent and helpless towards the men as they were half the size of them. As in the cases of most Film Noir this was not true but actually a carefully crafted way of fooling us when actually the females were ruling over the males. A good example of the camera angle being used to gain emotion and atmosphere is the part where Spade and Kasper are in Gutmans house and are having a conversation about the bird. The camera is placed so that it is looking up to Kasper, he looks tall and overpowering. It is at this stage we realise that he is not the good man but actually bad.