The Maltese Falcon (1941)

It’s our 30th episode, dollfaces! We watched 1941’s The Maltese Falcon and dug into one of Hollywood’s biggest noir movies. We cover the iconic Humphrey Bogart and his literal presence in our lives, get into the vague history of the MacGuffin storytelling device, talk about how this is an actual mystery we traverse along with Sam Spade, and discuss how no one in the movie is really a good person—not least because everyone’s lying all the time. Katy shares a bonkers (but not so fun) fact concerning the falcon prop’s sculptor, Carrie liked the title treatment’s quotation marks, Maddy draws valid parallels between the “Fat Man” and Professor Slughorn, and Mack did some excellent real detecting and film analysis. We also come up with at least three different spin offs and/or sequels for the Maltese Falcon Cinematic Universe, Mack hosts the first partly-gay Pirate Corner™, we learn about Mary Astor’s secret diaries and what her casting meant to a contemporary audience, discuss the Hayes Code and The Celluloid Closet (again), and get into Guns-As-Penis-Metaphor tropes. We all lean in on our ‘40s radio persona for a bit and lament the lack of pirates and knights after a big title card promise. Give it a listen, baby doll!

TW: discussion of police misconduct, slave trade and piracy, historical views on homosexuality, child molestation