#24: The Maltese Falcon (1941)
Although it is listed last, The Maltese Falcon is no slouch of a film. It is a film noir classic starring Humphrey Bogart as Sam Spade and Mary Astor as Brigid O’Shaughnessy. Based on a novel of the same name, the 1941 film was John Huston’s directorial debut and went on to be one of the first films in the National Film Registry.
Spade is a private eye who is hired on a series of cases that sets him squarely in the middle of a criminal enterprise. It is often considered both the first major film in the noir style and the best detective film of all time.