What 1941 film starring Humphrey Bogart is considered the first major film noir?

The 1941 Humphrey Bogart film considered the first major film noir is The Maltese Falcon. Written and directed by John Huston in his directorial debut, it adapts Dashiell Hammett’s 1930 detective novel.

Bogart plays San Francisco private investigator Sam Spade, who becomes involved in a deadly search for a jewel-encrusted falcon statuette. Mary Astor plays Brigid O’Shaughnessy, while Peter Lorre and Sydney Greenstreet portray two of the film’s memorable schemers. Shifting loyalties, deception, murder, and moral uncertainty drive the plot.

The film helped define noir’s hard-boiled detective, femme fatale, shadowy atmosphere, and morally compromised characters. Its low-key lighting and sharp, economical dialogue reinforce the sense that nearly everyone is hiding something. It was also a major turning point in Bogart’s career and cemented his screen image as a tough but complicated leading man.

The film is sometimes confused with later classics such as Double Indemnity or The Big Sleep. Those are important noirs, but The Maltese Falcon came earlier and is frequently cited by film historians as the first major example of the genre.