Customer Reviews

Satan Met a Lady [VHS]

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Something went very, very wrong when Warner Brothers decided to do this version of the Maltese Falcon. It appears they decided to lighten it up, although I'm not sure if they were going for full out comedy. The result is a strange mess that succeeds neither as comedy or as detective mystery. Warren William overplays the detective hired by various people to locate a horn full of jewels. Bette Davis overplays the femme fatale, and various character actors overplay the rest of the gang looking for the horn. The mystery is a bit confusing, despite the fact I have read the book and seen the superior 1941 version. I guess you could kindly say this version is offbeat. It was too offbeat for me!

"Satan Met a Lady" is based on "The Maltese Falcon," which is probably going to come as a surprise to a lot of people watching this 1936 film directed by William Dieterle. Warners had made "The Maltese Falcon" in 1931 and would again in 1941. "Satan Met a Lady" is more of a screwball detective story, where the object of desire is a ram's horn encrusted with precious gems that is supposedly the horn from the Song of Roland (nice literary touch). On a train to San Francisco, eccentric private detective Ted Shayne (William Warren) meets up with shapely blonde Valerie Purvis (Bette Davis), who hires him to locate Madame Barabbas (Alison Skipworth), who in turn sends one of her agents (Maynard Holms) to find out why Shayne is snooping around. The Madame makes a counteroffer for Shayne, claiming Valerie was one of her agents who has made off with the valuable ram's horn. The story should be starting to sound somewhat familiar to you by now, and there is certainly something to be said for turning Gaspar Gutman into Madame Barabbas.

There is every reason to believe that "Satan Met a Lady" is intended to be a spoof of detective films, at least in part. The only other reasonable explanation is that everyone just through up their hands trying to make sense of the convoluted plot and the cartoonish characters. Davis is fine as the femme fatale and certainly William is no Bogart, but if you want to really judge the gap between "Satan Met a Lady" and the classic "The Maltese Falcon," just compare this film's scatterbrained secretary Miss Murgatroyd (Marie Wilson), with Effie Perine (Lee Patrick). This film is an interesting curiosity, more of interest to fans of Bette Davis than of Dashiell Hammett.

This is a MUST for the total fan of Bette Davis. Her entrance is just great--in trenchcoat and spectacles. You can't miss her as she slinks into her chair. The movie itself is rather uneven, but well worth watching. Were these people all drunk while making the film? Warren William surely was. And really, he looked much more like Sam Spade from the original book "The Maltese Falcon" than Bogie did. Personally, I think this film has a more West Coast feel than the later movie, with all the unstable characters. Don't get me wrong, I think the Bogart/Astor version is definitely superior, but this movie is a lot of wacko fun.

Satan Met a Lady, 1936 film

The joyful music at the beginning in a clue. We see a crowd by a train. Reporters photograph a married couple with six babies! [A reference to the Dionne Quintuplets.] A private detective is escorted out of town. He warns an elderly lady of criminals in San Morego, she should call the Ames Detective Agency for protection. Ted Shayne returns there, and takes a phone call. [He knows how to disguise his voice.] Miss Murgatroyd is kept on. The next day Miss Valerie Purvis arrives at the agency about a problem. She followed a man who promised to marry her, and pays them $200. They must follow the man's friend to find him. Ames takes care of this personally. Early in the morning Shayne gets a phone call. Ames was found shot dead, shot with a Webley. Two police detectives question him. Ames was tailing a man named Farrell. Later Farrell was shot dead after Shayne left. Widow Ames calls on Shayne. "Be kind to me, Shayne."

Miss Purvis is checking out of her hotel because a man followed her. Shayne questions Valerie about Farrell. He will help her for $500. A man with a beret follows him. The police investigate Farrell's hotel, get the name of Valerie Purvis and a description of a tall Englishman. Travers visits Ted Shayne, he is searching for a horn and offers $2,000 for it. It is the legendary Horn of Roland, made of ivory. It was filled with jewels! Shayne returns to his office and finds it was searched. He calls a professor of European history about the horn. Shayne goes to Valerie's apartment, and is surprised. Valerie gets a Radiogram about a ship's arrival. Shayne tells Valerie about the Englishman, and a horn that was connected to the two deaths. Then Shayne searches her rooms and finds nothing.

The man with the beret drives Shayne to meet his boss - its Madame. She is looking for that French horn. They act like old friends. She explains how she acquired the horn in Salonika, but her agents Travers and Purvis went on their own. She offers Shayne $2,000 for the return of that trumpet. Shayne leaves. "Wait until he gets the trumpet." Then Kenny Boy can bump off Shayne. Travers returns to Shayne's office. Shayne will protect Valerie. Travers watches them, then calls Auntie. A city commission visits Shayne to ask him to leave town. The two detectives drop in.

A telephone message draws Shayne to the harbor, he finds a burning ship. A sailor arrives with his duffel bag, but shots are fired and both fall. The gang takes the duffel bag. There is conflict and comic confusion. Who will get that horn? The gang explains what they did to get that horn. Shayne offers the horn to the highest bidder. [The police detectives are close by, listening.] But this horn only contains sand! "We've been robbed!" The police round up the gang. Shayne leaves with Purvis. On the train Valerie talks about Ames' death. The police arrive at the next stop to finalize the story. Shayne tells all.

You will enjoy this movie if you accept it as a comic parody of "The Maltese Falcon". Perhaps it was a failure because the mixture of comedy and satire did not meet the customer's expectations. Its too bad Abbott & Costello never made "Meet the Platinum Peregrine", or the Three Stooges never adapted it for one of their comedies.

SATAN MET A LADY is Warner's first remake of Dashiell Hammett's "The Maltese Falcon." This serio-comic mystery bears little resemblance to the original Sam Spade story. Here, the "dingus" isn't a blackbird statuette but a ram's horn trumpet purportedly filled with precious gems. The reworked story's climax is quite satisfying: a rainy night, a bit of chaos, a shootout.

All the character names have changed and their actions vary widely from the book or familiar John Huston film. One example, private eye Ted Shayne (dapper Warren William as pseudo-Spade) searches the apartment of Valerie Purvis (Bette Davis in the Brigid O'Shaughnessy role) while holding her at gunpoint, much as Joel Cairo does in Sam's office. Shayne, unlike Spade always carries a pistol (sometimes two!) and he's not reticent to brandish it when necessary.

Other significant differences: Sydney Greenstreet's Kaspar Gutman is here called Madame Barrabas, played by Alison Skipworth (who reminds one of a shorter version of Marie Dressler). The exotic Mr. Cairo (Peter Lorre) is now Anthony Travers (Arthur Treacher), "gunsel" Wilmer Cook (Elisha Cook Jr.) is transformed into chubby yet menacing Kenneth (the uncredited Maynard Holmes). The best cast change is Marie Wilson's simpleminded Miss Murgatroyd. She assays the role of Sam's Girl Friday, Effie Perrine (Lee Patrick) and adds a sparkling sexuality that plays well against devil-may-care Williams.

If the viewer readily accepts that THIS movie is NOT meant to be "da Fawlkun," then the final train ride and arrest will also play well. However, for those looking for a recognizable alternative to 1941's THE MALTESE FALCON (VHS) (DVD) try the original 1931 picture, retitled DANGEROUS FEMALE for TV audiences. (VHS)


"Satan Met a Lady" is also available on DVD along with the '31 "Falcon."


Parenthetical number preceding title is a 1 to 10 viewer poll rating found at a film resource website.

(6.8) Satan Met a Lady (1936) - Bette Davis/Warren William/Marie Wilson/Alison Skipworth/Arthur Treacher/Wini Shaw/Porter Hall/Olin Howland/Charles C. Wilson (uncredited: Maynard Holmes/Billy Bletcher/Leo White)

This movie is the precursor to The Maltese Falcon, and I actually like this version better. Warren William steals the show as the detective searching for the mysterious bird. The pace is fast, the dialogue delightfully light and witty, and the casting is wonderful. Bette Davis is entrancingly lovely as the villainess. Her eyes have never been bigger! I highly recommend this movie for a fun evening. Definitely enjoyed Alison Skipworth and the very polite robber, Arthur Treacher.

A reviewer says that this movie is based on Watch on the Rhine--not so. (That's a play by Lillian Hellman.) This movie is based, as the other reviews indicate, on The Maltese Falcon. However, the reviewer who made that mistake is otherwise correct--it's a very disappointing movie. In fact, it's puzzling why anyone would take Hammet's The Maltese Falcon and do this tepid waste.

Satan Met A Lady - and her name was Bette Davis!

In this earlier screen version of The Maltese Falcon, Bette Davis stars as a young woman embroiled in the mystery surrounding an ancient, gem-filled horn.

Upon her arrival in town. Valery (Davis) enlists private investigator Ames and his associate Ted Shayne (Warren William) to help her locate the missing boyfriend she was supposed to meet. Unbeknownst to them, the man they are looking for is being sought by an assortment of crooks and goons in search of the ram's horn he possesses. When their investigation leads to Ames' murder, Shayne pits the thugs against each other to find out who killed his partner, and to solve the mystery at hand.

With Bette Davis and the help of an outstanding supporting cast, this delightfully comedic adaption of the Dashiell Hammett classic is a must-see.

I have tried to watch "Satan Met a Lady" quite a few times now, because I have seen some good performances by the lead, Warren William, but this is one bad movie. I don't know what happened, but William just weirded out on this awful version of "The Maltese Falcon". Bette isn't much help, Arthur Treacher slightly better than Bette. Those who made this picture must have had some vision in mind, but the message remains arcane. I don't understand why Warren William is directed in this bizarre way--it seemed a suicide mission in terms of outlandish histrionics. I don't think I shall ever sit through this in its entirety, so one star is the best it can get from me.

A mysterious woman, Valerie Purvis (Davis) hires Ted Shayne (Warren William), a private detective to locate a certain Mrs. Barrabas (Alison Skipworth) but she won't tell him why....I finally watched this obscure little flick out of sheer curiousity: it really isn't very good. This is the second filming of Dashiell Hammett's classic detective story THE MALTESE FALCON which was filmed priorly in 1931 with Ricardo Cortez and Bebe Daniels. It was a good adaptation, but certainly not up to par with the 1941 classic with Humphrey Bogart, Mary Astor, Peter Lorre and Sidney Greenstreet. This middle version is the bad apple of the bunch which is played largely for laughs: it concerns a ram's horn filled with valuable jewels. As an interesting footnote, Davis had just finished her role in the critically approved THE PETRIFIED FOREST when Jack Warner thrust this ill-scripted mess at her. Davis was adamant that the part was an inconsequential one and that she needed a rest. Warner had a doctor examine her, and Davis was forced to relent as she couldn't afford to take a suspension due to piling bills and increasing debt. Davis was correct about the film however: it never found an audience, and it was thoroughly dismissed as trash by the critics upon its initial release in 1936.