The third and the most revered (but, please, not the definitive) movie version of Hammett's mystery novel. It insists on the fun involved in private-eye escapades, as it wobbles underneath the consequences of some whimsical casting and playing — Sidney Greenstreet, Peter Lorre, Elisha Cook, Mary Astor, and Bogart as Spade. This is John Huston's first directing job, and he seems determined to make a lark of it. Some of that spirit is contagious. (1941) — Duncan Shepherd
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