“The stuff that dreams are made of.”

Though he was already well established as one of Hollywood’s top screenwriters of the era, John Huston successfully pivoted to the director’s chair with his debut feature THE MALTESE FALCON, the genre-defining 1941 “film noir” which he adapted from Dashiell Hammett‘s 1930 novel of the same name. The film, starring Humphrey Bogart as tough San Francisco private detective Sam Spade, was eventually nominated for three Academy Awards (including “Best Picture”). The story follows Spade’s involvement with a deadly band of international thieves who will lie, double-cross, and murder to obtain a small, jewel-encrusted statue known as the Maltese Falcon. Spade’s partner, Miles Archer (Jerome Cowan), accepts a job protecting a young woman (Mary Astor). Neither Spade nor Archer believe the woman or the story she tells them, but they do believe her money. Then, when Archer is murdered, Spade’s search for the killer drags him in the web of lies and death spun by the desperate people seeking the now-famous statue. Also starring Peter Lorre.

“Suspenseful, labyrinthine, and brilliantly cast, THE MALTESE FALCON is one of the most influential noirs — as well as a showcase for Humphrey Bogart at his finest.” (Rotten Tomatoes)

“This is one of the best examples of actionful and suspenseful melodramatic story telling in cinematic form.” (Variety)

“On a number of accounts it is distinguished celluloid entertainment, but it is of great interest to the trade because it reveals, in startling terms, the unheralded talent of topflight scenarist, John Huston.” (The Hollywood Reporter)

Wednesday, August 19
Doors 6:00 pm | Movie 6:30 pm *Start time subject to change.
Advance tickets $15 HERE | $15 at the door

*Minors welcome in the balcony! Must be 19+ w/ID for bar service and main floor seating.
*Rio Theatre Groupons and passes OK. Please redeem at the door.

PLEASE NOTE: All of the Rio Theatre’s screenings are operating at a sharply reduced capacity. We can’t guarantee availability of tickets at the door, so advance tickets for all screening events are strongly recommended. Our online box office can be found at www.riotheatretickets.ca. Online sales for every screening automatically end 1 hour before any given showtime.

THE MALTESE FALCON (John Huston, 1941 / PG / 101 mins) Humphrey Bogart’s private eye Sam Spade finds himself stalked by a magnificent array of villains as he searches for a mysterious statuette.