Ahoy, squirts! Quint here with today’s Behind the Scenes Pic!
In the wee hours of the morning I put a call out on Twitter for the movie or movies that made you realize old didn’t equal boring. There were a surprising amount of insomniacs and Brits awake and responding.
For me it was Casablanca and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance. I mean, color films didn’t really count as “old” to me, so Wizard of Oz and most of the older films I watched on a regular basis were safe. My parents loved movies, but they were by no means film scholars. Like most people they loved the movies they loved, so I was pretty free to explore my movie passion, but it wasn’t until my early teens that I began dipping my toes into the massive pool of old Hollywood filmmaking.
I was surprised by how a handful of films kept being mentioned by the Twitter responses. There was a great diversity overall, but it was fascinating select few that kept being mentioned: Casablanca, Citizen Kane, Rope, Psycho, King Kong and today’s featured movie The Maltese Falcon.
Dashiell Hammett deserves some credit, of course, but the MVPs are clearly John Huston and Bogie here. Bogart had done High Sierra by this point, but in his early career he was usually a supporting character, mostly delinquents. I think it’s safe to say that Maltese Falcon firmly cemented the Humphrey Bogart we all know as part of our shared cultural history. That archetype had been toyed with, but his Sam Spade locked it into place.
Today’s image shows the cast taking a little nap… well, all except for Mary Astor, it seems. Way to ruin the pic, Mary! Gold stars and cookies to Bogart, Sydney Greenstreet and Peter Lorre. Thanks to Robin Jones for the image.
If you have a behind the scenes shot you’d like to submit to this column, you can email me at quint@aintitcool.com.
Tomorrow’s pic needs a hug and gets one from a blushing bride.
-Eric Vespe
”Quint”
quint@aintitcool.com
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Click here to visit the complete compilation of previous Behind the Scenes images, Page Two
