Otto Matiesen Movies

This first of three film adaptations of Dashiel Hammett's The Maltese Falcon plays at times like the road-company version of the more famous 1941 John Huston/Humphrey Bogart adaptation. Ricardo Cortez stars as a slick, rogueish edition of Sam Spade, using his office as a trysting place for his various amours. Bebe Daniels plays the Brigid O'Shaughnessy character, here rechristened Ruth Wonderly. Ruth hires Spade and his partner Miles Archer (Walter Long) to locate her missing sister. Archer is killed while on duty, confirming Spade's suspicion that Ruth's lost-sister story was a subterfuge. In fact, Ruth is one of several disreputable types in search of a valuable falcon statuette encrusted with jewels. Others mixed up in the quest for the "black bird" are portly Casper Gutman (Dudley Digges), Gutman's neurotic gunsel Wilmer (Dwight Frye, better known as Renfield from Dracula) and effeminate Joel Cairo (Otto Matiesen). It is giving nothing away at this stage of the game to note that, after all the various intrigues concerning the falcon have come and gone, Spade turns Ruth over to the cops as the murderer of Archer. As would be the case with the 1941 version, the 1931 Maltese Falcon does not use Hammett's original ending, in which Spade callously resumes his affair with Archer's widow (Thelma Todd). Instead, we are offered a jailhouse coda, where a suddenly compassionate Spade asks the matron to treat the incarcerated Ruth gently during her 20-year stay. When Maltese Falcon was due for a reissue in 1936, it was denied a Production Code approval on the basis of one single line: Archer's widow, spotting Ruth Wonderly in Spade's bedroom, exclaims "Who's that dame in my kimono?" In between the 1931 and 1941 versions of Maltese Falcon, there would be a heavily disguised reworking of the Hammett novel, Satan Met a Lady (1936), starring Warren William and Bette Davis. To avoid confusion with the 1941 remake, the 1931 Maltese Falcon has been retitled Dangerous Female for television. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In this early talkie that contains very little talking, an Austrian showgirl working in a cabaret moonlights as a thief. When she is caught in the act, a young lawyer offers to defend her. Unfortunately, he isn't very good and loses the case, causing her to spend several months in jail. Fortunately, the two have fallen in love, and he promises to wait for her. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

On a meager budget of $5000, European director Paul Fejos tried to crack the American film market with an experimental effort titled The Last Moment. With a cast of unknown volunteers, an inexperienced production staff, and several reels of donated film stock, Fejos came up with a visually stunning "subjective-time" drama focusing upon the final thoughts of a suicide victim (Otto Matiesen). Despite a 54-minute running time, this Freudian exercise never lagged or became repetitious -- and though the production values left a great deal to be desired, Fejos handled his subject matter with clarity and precision. Highly praised by such notables as Charlie Chaplin, The Last Moment at long last opened the professional doors that had previously been closed to the Hungarian expatriate director. This humble project enabled Paul Fejos to secure a contract with Universal Pictures, resulting in such well-received films as Lonesome(1928) and Broadway(1929). ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

While most of director Edward H. Sloman's silent films have vanished, one of the best, Surrender, is happily still in existence. In his only American film appearance, Ivan Mosjoukine stars as an aristocratic Russian officer who falls in love with winsome Jewish peasant girl Mary Philbin. Not surprisingly, the officer is forbidden to marry the girl, but the juggernaut known as the Soviet Revolution changes everything. After years of deprivation and atonement, Mosjoukine and Philbin are finally reunited. Much of the story is told in the "expressionistic" fashion of the European cinema, with subjective-viewpoint angles and montage sequences abounding. Though the climactic revolution scene is the one everybody remembers, the film is at its best in its quieter moments, notably the charming sequence in which hero and heroine meet for the first time. Surrender was based on Lea Lyon, a play by Alexander Brody. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

With Mack Swain and Arthur Houseman in the cast, it's obvious that this murder mystery-melodrama has a lot of comic relief. There are murders being committed, and each one is foretold by a phone call in which a whispering voice relates the hour it will happen. After two of these strange deaths, Doris Stockbridge (Anita Stewart) finds her own life in danger. She and her sweetheart, Barry (Edmund Burns), call in a pair of detectives, Cassidy and McCarthy (Swain and Houseman, respectively). Not that this pair is capable of doing much. In fact, their efforts come to naught until a bloodhound is called in on the case. The dog proves to be smarter than the detectives. This trio helps (or hinders) Barry as he attempts to find the killer -- which he does primarily through his own wit. The guilty parties -- an escaped convict and a mad inventor -- are rounded up before they can harm Doris. ~ Janiss Garza, Rovi

This low-budget production -- Josef von Sternberg's first directoral effort -- earned praises from Charles Chaplin and was released by United Artists. (Chaplin also used the female lead, Georgia Hale, in The Gold Rush.) The Salvation Hunters was a highly unusual film for its era. Its moody cinematography, symbolism, and purposely ugly backgrounds just did not exist in other films (except for Erich von Stroheim's Greed). In spite of Chaplin's high praise, however, this wasn't a film that audiences of the 1920s found appealing, and nowadays, when von Sternberg's once innovative techniques have become integrated into modern filmmaking, it seems heavy-handed. The story focuses on a boy (George K. Arthur), who is a failure and a coward; a girl (Hale), who is used to the rough life on the riverfront; and a child (Bruce Guerin), whose parents have been killed by the dredge on which the girl lives. In order to "get away from the mud," the boy convinces the girl to take the child and accompany him to the city. There they meet up with the brute (Olaf Hytten), who offers them shelter only because he fancies the girl. The brute takes them out to the country, where he begins to abuse the boy, who finally drops his cowardice and overcomes him in a fight. The girl, who was disgusted by the boy's weakness, is now thrilled with his valor, and they look to the future with new hope. ~ Janiss Garza, Rovi

Although the Warner Bros. version of Rafael Sabatini's novel made Errol Flynn a star in 1935, it wasn't the first time the romantic adventure was made into a film. J. Warren Kerrigan starred as Peter Blood, the physician turned pirate in this silent Vitagraph version. Peter Blood gets lumped in with a group of rebels who have plotted against King James and is sent to the island of Barbados as a slave. He is purchased, along with his friend, Jeremy Pitt (James Morrison), by Colonel Bishop (Wilfred North), at the request of his willful niece, Arabella (Jean Paige). When a Spanish ship takes over the town, Blood leads the slaves and captures the vessel. After becoming the terror of the seas (but never attacking an English ship), Blood and his men rescue Lord Wade (Allan Forrest) and Arabella from a burning ship. When William III ascends to the British throne, Blood aligns himself with the new king, defeats the French fleet and saves Port Royal. He is appointed governor of Jamaica for his heroic deeds, and finally wins the hand of Arabella. ~ Janiss Garza, Rovi