I agree with Martha, Dick.
Particularly at the end of the film where the interaction
between Spade and
"Ms. Wonderly" is so important to understanding the value
system of Spade, his professionalism, and his dedication to
his partner--even a louse of a partenr.
No question in my mind that Bogart/Huston got the dialogue
and ambience of Hammett's novel perfectly. I've seen portions
of a series of the remakes--and the dialogue doesn't sizlle
at all. As I recall, Bette Davis was wasted in one version.
Wish i could remember the name of the tv production that
presented a good series of clip comparisons.
Keith
Martha Fischer wrote:
> while i've not seen the cortez version, i would
argue that there is a fair
> degree of menace to bogart's spade. his scene with
mary astor (the one that
> ends with "oh, you're good") is one that reeks of
danger; as a viewer, i'm
> never sure that he won't ignore or even hurt
her.
>
>
>
>
> > Spade, as Paretsky notes, is not a wonderful
human being. That's
> > why I think
> > the sleek and vaguely sinister Ricardo Cortez,
in the first film version,
> > comes closer to Hammett's concept than
Bogart.
> >
> > Dick Lochte
>
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