The Black Bird

Columbia/ Rastar. Director David Giler; Producer Saul David; Screenplay David Giler; Camera Phil Lathrop; Editor Margaret Booth, Walter Thompson, Lou Lombardo; Music Jerry Fielding; Art Director Harry Horner

George Segal
Stephane Audran
Lionel Stander
Lee Patrick
Elisha Cook Jr
Felix Silla

This satirical contemporary update of Dashiell Hammett's novel The Maltese Falcon emerges as fair whimsy.

Basis of the plot [from a story by Don M. Mankiewitz and Gordon Cotler] is that George Segal, as Sam Spade's son, has inherited the detective agency, still in its old location, but now a rundown black neighborhood. Lee Patrick, in a delightful recasting as Effie, the secretary, hangs in there, partly because she hasn't been paid in years, and despite an animosity towards Segal. The search for the elusive Maltese Falcon is reinstated, bringing in all sorts of mysterious characters.

The general tenor of the film shows a sentimental empathy for the original material with no heartless put-downs marring the work. There are lots of smiles, many chuckles, and a few strong laughs.

(Color) Available on VHS. Extract of a review from 1975. Running time: 98 MIN.

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