The Maltese Falcon is a wonderful, old-fashioned mystery film. The audience learns from the beginning that many things in the lives of the characters are not as they seem. For example, although Sam is close to his partner, he is even closer to his partner's lovely wife.

The film uses black and white to its advantage. The darkness helps to make different scenes difficult to discern, which adds to the mystery. The characters are almost disguised in these scenes, and viewers really get involved with the plot and the action as a result.

Special shots are also used to make the film more interesting. As the camera pans across empty streets or zooms in on the terrified face of Brigid, viewers are easily able to understand the setting of the story and the emotions of the characters.