The Maltese Falcon (PG)

San Francisco private detectives Sam Spade and Miles Archer meet with a prospective client – a young woman with a sob story that's not quite as convincing as the money she's willing to pay.

But when Archer takes on the job and winds up dead, Spade's search for the killer drags him into the orbit of a band of international thieves who will lie, double cross and murder to obtain a small, jewel-encrusted statue known as The Maltese Falcon.

Deliciously convoluted in its plotting, dripping with atmosphere, and featuring a perfectly pitched performance from Humphrey Bogart as the unknowable protagonist, The Maltese Falcon is one of Hollywood's greatest film noirs. The film would be one of the first roles to launch Bogart to full-blown stardom, and was the directorial debut of his great collaborator John Huston.