The Maltese Falcon (1941)  

A highly influential, prototypical film noir mystery about a hard-boiled private detective tracking an elusive, sought-after black bird statue, based on the crime novel by Dashiell Hammett. This was John Huston's directorial debut film. Hard-drinking, snarling untrusting private eye Sam Spade (Bogart), hired by femme fatale Brigid O'Shaugnessy (Astor), searches in a claustrophobic San Francisco for the priceless statuette while evading greedy and duplicitous characters, conveyed with first-rate performances: the gardenia-perfumed Mr. Cairo (Lorre), the scheming, jovially-sinister Fat Man (Greenstreet), and an effete gunsel Wilmer (Cook). Academy Award Nominations: 3, including Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor--Sydney Greenstreet, and Best Screenplay (John Huston).