Movie Notes: The Maltese Falcon
Synopsis
Sam Spade (Humphrey Bogart) is hired by Brigid O’Shaughnessy (Mary Astor) to tail her husband, and the trail leads to unusual, unexpected places.
Movie Notes: The African Queen
Synopsis
In deep World War II Africa, loner steamboat captain Charlie Allnut (Humphrey Bogart) reluctantly takes missionary Rose Sayer (Katharine Hepburn) on as an unwanted passenger.
Movie Notes: The Treasure Of The Sierra Madre
Synopsis
Penniless Dobbs (Humphrey Bogart), Curtin (Tim Holt) and Howard (Walter Huston) prospect for gold in Mexico.
Movie Notes: Chinatown
Chinatown is of the film noir genre and although it was made in the seventies, its story is set in the period when many film noirs were made. The setting is Los Angeles, where water is money because of its desert location. The basic plot surrounds water’s value to the city of Los Angeles. Whomever controls the water has power and can generate insane wealth merely by choosing where and when water goes. In fact, California today is still very much subject to both power corruption (Enron making profits by shifting power from one state to another) and insane land valuations being propped up by the highest bidder.
Movie Notes: Casino Royale (1967)
For completeness’ sake, I watched the 1967 spy spoof Casino Royale, which features several James Bond type characters and more than one director. It’s stuffed with familiar actors: Orson Welles, David Niven, Peter Sellars, and Woody Allen. To call this film bizarre is an understatement (it’s a “psychedelic comedy”). I found it particularly surreal to watch after the recent, way serious, Casino Royale starring Daniel Craig as Bond.