Best movies like The Maltese Falcon

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A unique, carefully handpicked, selection of the best movies like The Maltese Falcon Starring Humphrey Bogart, Mary Astor, Peter Lorre, Sydney Greenstreet, and more. If you liked The Maltese Falcon then you may also like: Unmasked, Vertigo, The Westland Case, Out of the Past, Risky Business and many more popular movies featured on this list. You can further filter the list even more or get a random selection from the list of similar movies, to make your selection even easier.

A private detective takes on a case that involves him with three eccentric criminals, a beautiful liar, and their quest for a priceless statuette.

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Unmasked

The editor of a sleazy tabloid newspaper has been borrowing money from his lover, the wife of a rich theatrical producer, and promises to marry her when she gets a divorce. However, the husband refuses to grant her a divorce, and takes back all the money and jewelry he has given her. The editor sees her husband leaving her apartment and, seeing his opportunity, kills her, takes all his IOUs (and the jewelry) and frames the husband for the murder.

Vertigo

A retired San Francisco detective suffering from acrophobia investigates the strange activities of an old friend's wife, all the while becoming dangerously obsessed with her.

The Westland Case

A detective must solve a case where a girl was murdered in a room--and all the doors and windows were locked from the inside.

Out of the Past

Jeff Bailey seems to be a mundane gas station owner in remote Bridgeport, California. He is dating local girl Ann Miller and lives a quiet life. But Jeff has a secret past, and when a mysterious stranger arrives in town, Jeff is forced to return to the dark world he had tried to escape.

Risky Business

Radio commentator Dan Clifford takes desperate chances to save the life of a young girl who has been kidnapped.

Kiss Me Deadly

One evening, Hammer gives a ride to Christina, an attractive hitchhiker on a lonely country road, who has escaped from the nearby lunatic asylum. Thugs waylay them and force his car to crash. When Hammer returns to semi-consciousness, he hears Christina being tortured until she dies. Hammer, both for vengeance and in hopes that "something big" is behind it all, decides to pursue the case.

Accomplice

A private detective and his assistant are hired to find a missing husband. The seemingly easy case is complicated by a dead body.

Appointment with Danger

Al Goddard, a detective who works for the United States Postal Inspection Service, is assigned to arrest two criminals who've allegedly murdered a U.S. postal detective.

Barbados Quest

Special investigator Duke Martin is in London to investigate the authenticity of a rare postage stamp called the Barbados Overplate. Someone is willing to commit murder to get his or her hands on the stamp, which puts a crimp in Duke's efforts to romance every beautiful woman he meets.

Blood Simple

The owner of a seedy small-town Texas bar discovers that one of his employees is having an affair with his wife. A chaotic chain of misunderstandings, lies and mischief ensues after he devises a plot to have them murdered.

I Walk Alone

Bootleggers on the lam Frankie and Noll split up to evade capture by the police. Frankie is caught and jailed, but Noll manages to escape and open a posh New York City nightclub. 14 years later, Frankie is released from the clink and visits Noll with the intention of collecting his half of the nightclub's profits. But Noll, who has no intention of being so equitable, uses his ex-girlfriend Kay to divert Frankie from his intended goal.

The Mirror Crack'd

Jane Marple solves the mystery when a local woman is poisoned and a visiting movie star seems to have been the intended victim.

The Last Seduction

Looking to escape her unhappy marriage, villainous femme fatale Bridget Gregory convinces her husband, Clay, to sell cocaine, then steals the profits and runs out on him. She stops in a small town en route to Chicago, where she ensnares her next conquest, insurance man Mike Swale. After getting a job at his insurance company, Bridget convinces Mike to run a scam -- but things take a deadly turn when she recruits him to help get rid of her husband.

The Maltese Falcon

A lovely dame with dangerous lies employs the services of a private detective, who is quickly caught up in the mystery and intrigue of a statuette known as the Maltese Falcon.

Private Detective

A female private eye joins forces with a police detective to investigate the suspicious murder of a millionaire.

Satan Met a Lady

In the second screen version of The Maltese Falcon, a detective is caught between a lying seductress and a lady jewel thief.

They All Laughed

New York's Odyssey Detective Agency is hired by two different clients to follow two women suspected of infidelity. Ladies' man John Russo trails Angela Niotes, the elegant wife of a wealthy Italian industrialist, while Charles Rutledge and Arthur Brodsky follow Dolores Martin, the beautiful young wife of a jealous husband. Their respective cases are complicated when John falls for Angela, and Charles falls for Dolores.

Farewell, My Lovely

Private eye Philip Marlowe is hired by ex-con Moose Malloy to find his girlfriend, a former lounge dancer. While also investigating the murder of a client and the theft of a jade necklace, Marlowe becomes entangled with seductress Helen Grayle and discovers a web of dark secrets that are better left hidden.

I Love Trouble

A wealthy man hires a detective to investigate his wife's mysterious past.

Mr. Moto Takes a Vacation

Mr. Moto is in Egypt to thwart a criminal mastermind determined to steal the priceless crown of the Queen of Sheba. When the precious treasure is transported to America, Mr. Moto must race against time to unmask the cunning thief who will stop at nothing—not even murder—to get what he wants.

Mysterious Intruder

A private detective is hired to find a young heiress but finds himself accused of murder.

Partners in Crime

After being dismissed for imitating his boss's voice on radio, former Assistant District Attorney Richard Deming witnesses a store robbery and is taken captive by the criminals. Suspected of the crime, he is sought by the police, but his sweetheart, Marie, convinced of his innocence, enlists the help of two friends, a newspaper reporter and a half-witted detective. Hoping to win the girl's favor, the two go to the gangsters' hideout, encounter a violent gang war, and accidently set off a case of police tear bombs. The police, summoned by Marie, arrive just in time to save the kidnaped attorney.

The Cobra Strikes

A newspaper reporter investigates the near-fatal shooting of a medical scientist.

The Cheap Detective

A spoof of the entire 1940s detective genre. San Francisco private detective, Lou Pekinpaugh is accused of murdering his partner at the instigation of his mistress—his partner's wife.

The Brasher Doubloon

Mrs. Elizabeth Bright Murdock hires Marlowe to find an old rare coin, the Brasher Doubloon, that belonged in her deceased husband's collection. Marlowe begins investigating, but quickly finds himself entangled in a series of unexplained murders.

The Case of the Howling Dog

A very nervous man named Cartwright comes into Perry's office to have the neighbor arrested for his howling dog. He states that the howling is a sign that there is a death in the neighborhood. He also wants a will written giving his estate to the lady living at the neighbors house. It is all very mysterious and by the next day, his will is changed and Cartwright is missing, as is the lady of the house next door. Perry has a will and a retainer and must find out whether he has a client or a beneficiary.

No Questions Asked

A young lawyer's primrose path to success gets him framed for murder.

The Crooked Way

A war veteran suffering from amnesia, returns to Los Angeles from a San Francisco veterans hospital hoping to learn who he is and discovers his criminal past.

Homicide for Three

While on shore leave to celebrate his first anniversary, Lt. Peter Duluth (Warren Douglas) takes his wife, Iris (Audrey Long), to a Los Angeles hotel but is turned away. When mysterious Colette (Stephanie Bachelor) offers them her suite, the young couple becomes entangled in a murder plot. Aided by two PIs, Peter and Iris find two corpses and are desperate to locate Colette before she becomes the next victim, but the killers are one step ahead.

The Last Express

A woman finds herself unwillingly mixed up in a series of murders. At the behest of the district attorney, private detective Duncan MacLain (Kent Taylor) investigates the probability of corruption in high government circles.

Mister Dynamite

A gambler hires a detective to investigate when a murder is committed in his casino.

The Black Bird

The son of famous detective Sam Spade carries on the family tradition of getting involved with the Maltese Falcon - and with the people who will stop at nothing, including murder, to get it.

Chick Carter, Detective

Detective Chick Carter (Lyle Talbot)finds himself on his most exciting case when Sherry Martin (Julie Gibson), a singer at the Century Club, reports the robbery of the famous Blue Diamond, owned by Joe Carney (Charles King), the owner of the nightclub.

Counterfeit Lady

Phyllis Fowler claims to be just a "simple little country girl" trying to get by in the wicked big-city, and she takes a big getting-by step when she pulls a scam that gains her a $17,000 diamond from an exclusive jewelry store. Soon, a private-detective, who has a dupe gem matching the stolen one, the police, and two gangster buddies of the jeweler are all racing each other to get the diamond back from Phyllis. The country-girl provides them all with a wild chase.

The Case of the Lucky Legs

A con man who stages phony "lucky legs" beauty contests and leaves town with the money is found with a surgical knife in his heart by Mason.

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