Editing Humphrey Bogart (section)

==== ''The Maltese Falcon'' ====
[[File:TheMalteseFalcon3 sz175.jpg|thumb|left|175px|Bogart in a publicity picture with the prop Maltese Falcon]]
Now regarded as a classic [[film noir]], ''[[The Maltese Falcon (1941 film)|The Maltese Falcon]]'' (1941) was [[John Huston]]'s directorial debut. Based on the [[Dashiell Hammett]] novel, it was first serialized in the pulp magazine ''[[Black Mask (magazine)|Black Mask]]'' in 1929 and was the basis of two earlier film versions; the second was ''[[Satan Met a Lady]]'' (1936), starring [[Bette Davis]].<ref name=Meyers_p123>{{Harvnb|Meyers|1997|p=123.}}</ref> Producer [[Hal B. Wallis]] initially offered to cast George Raft as the [[leading man]], but Raft (then better known than Bogart) had a contract stipulating he was not required to appear in [[remake]]s. Fearing that it would be nothing more than a sanitized version of the pre-[[Production Code]] ''[[The Maltese Falcon (1931 film)|The Maltese Falcon]]'' (1931), Raft turned down the role to make ''[[Manpower (1941 film)|Manpower]]'' with director [[Raoul Walsh]], with whom he had worked on ''[[The Bowery (1933 film)|The Bowery]]'' in 1933. Huston then eagerly accepted Bogart as his [[Sam Spade]].

Complementing Bogart were co-stars [[Sydney Greenstreet]], [[Peter Lorre]], [[Elisha Cook Jr.]], and [[Mary Astor]] as the treacherous female foil.<ref name=Meyers_p125>{{Harvnb|Meyers|1997|p=125.}}</ref> Bogart's sharp timing and facial expressions were praised by the cast and director as vital to the film's quick action and rapid-fire dialogue.<ref name="Sperber p.127">Sperber and Lax 1997, p. 127.</ref> It was a commercial hit, and a major triumph for Huston. Bogart was unusually happy with the film: "It is practically a masterpiece. I don't have many things I'm proud of&nbsp;... but that's one".<ref name=Meyers_p131>{{Harvnb|Meyers|1997|p=131.}}</ref>