Mary Astor in The Maltese Falcon

[ken123]

Mary Astor as the femme fatale in " The Maltese Falcon ", as always left me cold. I thought was she was much better in ' Act of Violence ", starring Van Heflin, Robert Ryan, and Janet Leigh, not a femme fatale, in that one, but close.

I favorite " bad ladies are Joan Bennett, Linda Darnell, Barbara Stawyck,Claire Trevor, Jane Greer, and marie Windsor.

[MissGoddess]

While I enjoyed Astor's duplicitous portrayal in The Maltese Falcon, I was really bothered by her mannish hair style, which, to me, completely cancelled out any sex appeal she might have projected.

Some call Gilda a film noir and some don't, but if it qualifies then she's my favorite bad girl by far. If it doesn't, then Ava Gardner, Linda Darnell and Jane Greer are probably next in line.

[Dewey1960]

Astor's a strong enough actress to pull off her role in the general sense, but I agree that she has absolutely no sex appeal in the FALCON. But that's the least of that fine film's problems (sorry, but it barely qualifies as film noir).
As for classic femmes fatale I would hereby nominate my three favorites:
Jane Greer (for OUT OF THE PAST)
Jean Gillie (for DECOY)
Ann Savage (for DETOUR)

[jdb1]

Astor's a strong enough actress to pull off her role in the general sense, but I agree that she has absolutely no sex appeal in the FALCON. But that's the least of that fine film's problems (sorry, but it barely qualifies as film noir).
As for classic femmes fatale I would hereby nominate my three favorites:
Jane Greer (for OUT OF THE PAST)
Jean Gillie (for DECOY)
Ann Savage (for DETOUR)

I remember we spoke about Astor in this film at The Other Place, and most agreed that this was one of her lesser efforts in the femme fatale department. I think another problem is that there wasn't much chemistry between her and Bogart.

Nevertheless, I enjoyed Astor's day and my appreciation of her grows.

[benwhowell]

I've seen "The Maltese Falcon" and "Meet Me In St. Louis" countless times over the years, but I've only recently begun to appreciate Mary. Like you, Judith, I enjoyed her day... and anticipate seeing more of her performances. I discovered that someone has posted "Desert Fury" on YouTube (in 14 parts.) Here's part 2-the reunion of mother (Mary) and daughter (Lizabeth Scott.) It sounds like a great screenplay adaptation from A.I. Bezzerides and Robert Rossen...

[markbeckuaf]

I totally agree with most here who have been disappointed with Mary Astor in the 41 MALTESE FALCON. I love Mary in many films, but here, she just leaves me totally cold, I never believe her in the part, there is no chemistry between she and Bogie, and in general...just falls flat. The male leads are strong, but generally speaking, I find the female leads, as a whole, MUCH stronger in the 31 version of this film, which I feel overall compares very favorably to it's 41 sequel.

[jdb1]

"Return to Peyton Place" was broadcast either last week or the week before. I thought Mary was really excellent as the smothering mother/book-banning town leader. The movie is a very pale sequel to "Peyton Place," but Mary's scenes made it come alive.

[nightwalker]

I too would agree that Mary was ill-served by whoever designed her "look" in THE MALTESE FALCON. She is capable of looking the part of a femme fatale, but misses the mark in that movie.

Chemistry between she and Bogart was ok, nothing notable, but I really enjoyed how they played off each other during the lighter moments in ACROSS THE PACIFIC the following year.