The Galleries
- Robert E. Petersen Collection
- Ancient Firearms
- The Road to American Liberty
- Seeds of Greatness
- The Prospering New Republic
- A Nation Asunder
- The American West
- Innovation, Oddities and Competition
- Theodore Roosevelt, Elegant Arms
- World War I and Firearms Innovation
- WWII, Korea, Vietnam and Beyond
- For the Fun of It
- Firearms Traditions for Today
- William B. Ruger Special Exhibits
- Freedom's Doorway
The Maltese Falcon (1941)
The Maltese Falcon (1941)
Film historians cite this telling of Dashiell Hammett's dark
detective drama as the first in the genre they call Film Noir.
Adapted for film in 1931 and 1936, it was John Huston's direction
and casting that made this 1941 version an instant classic. The
title card sets the stage: In 1539, the Knight Templars of Malta,
paid tribute to Charles V of Spain, by sending him a Golden Falcon
encrusted from beak to claw with rarest jewels - but pirates seized
the galley carrying this priceless token and the fate of the
Maltese Falcon remains a mystery to this day -
Its fate is a mystery no longer. After having passed through the
hands of Sam Spade, Joel Cairo, Kasper Gutman, Brigid O'Shaughnessy
and Captain Jacobi, the original "dingus" makes a rare appearance
here as a silent sentinal to dozens of other film props. In the
world of other iconic cinematic masterpieces, this has no peer,
after all, it is "the stuff dreams are made of..."
Loaned by Dr. Gary Milan