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The Maltese Falcon's Femme Fatale

5/8/2013

3 Comments

 
Picture
I just finished re-reading Dashiell Hammett's classic,The Maltese Falcon. Because I've seen the movie dozens of times, I hear Bogart as Sam Spade and Mary Astor as Brigid O' Shaughnessy as I read the book. I hear the tremor in Mary Astor's voice, when as Brigid, she says, "I don't have to tell you how utterly at a disadvantage you'll have me... if you choose." In the book,  Brigid is very  young and very beautiful. She's selling damsel-in distress looking for her knight-errant. Her power comes from finding men who can fight, steal and even kill for her.

Now look at Mary Astor. She was thirty-five when she made this picture. Does she look like a damsel-in-distress? Hell no. 

Imagine a different actress playing Brigid. Say Gene Tierney. At twenty-one Gene could have totally sold her helplessness. And then when Sam Spade says, "You're very good. It's chiefly your eyes, I think, and that throb you get in your voice...,"  think  how we'd  feel. What is wrong with Spade—does he hate all women? In the end, we'd realize that our detective  knows a whole lot more about human nature than we do.

Who would you choose?

3 Comments
MikePDX
5/8/2013 03:48:51 pm

I never bought Mary Astor in that role either. Gene Tierney would have been brilliant.

Reply
Gianfrancesco
5/9/2013 01:50:44 am

As the devil's advocate: I wonder how much it really matters who the actress was. The femme fatale is astute at letting men see what they want to see. If we as the onlookers observe a disconnect—Hey, Buddy, where are your eyes??—doesn't that serve the story?

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Lily Gardner link
5/9/2013 02:19:21 am

Good point. I see how that disconnect works in stories like "Double Indemnity" and "Pushover". As the viewer I sympathize with the protagonist for his bad judgment, but still I prefer to be deceived right along with the protagonist.
Thanks for the comment.

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