I will always think how funny it is that I’m a huge fan of Golden Era Style despite only seeing a handful of films from the period. It really was about the clothes for me, found through illustrations and photographs rather than wanting to be a character from a classic movie. 

But what if that was the case? What if I got into fedoras and double breasted suits after seeing Bogey rough up Peter Lorre? My life may have been different. Maybe I would’ve stuck with being period accurate at all times rather than sending it up through a mix of vintage and contemporary clothing.  We’ll never know since I’m only watching these movies after I’ve already been immersed in my Menswear Obsession.

Anyway, the boys and I were trying to figure out what to watch for the next bonus pod and we ended up settling on The Maltese Falcon, a very iconic film (for “kino” and menswear) that I had never seen before. It was Noir-vember after all!  So I pulled it up for free on Tubi and watched it. And boy was it good. For a film that is mainly talking and negotiating, it’s so entrancing due to the writing, acting, and especially the cinematography. 

And not only is The Maltese Falcon a fantastic film, but the costuming is very good.  It does help that everyone is dressed to my taste: double breasted suits, angular fedoras, tight tie knots, and big coats. [This movie definitely makes a great case for the fedora, holy shit]. But all of that just means I like it, not necessarily that it’s good (even if I may conflate the two). You see, the menswear in The Maltese Falcon is good because of all the intentional nuances that add to the  characterization of the players in the film, even when there isn’t a big number of overall looks to begin with. 

Humphrey Bogart’s Sam Spade is quite a stylish guy. Unlike Jake Gittes of Chinatown, Spade is not a dandy detective; you won’t find octagonal sunglasses and white 3PC suits here. Instead, Spade is dressed rather conservatively, being quite close to what would be considered business attire in the 1940s: dark suits, solid shirts, and minimally patterned ties (uniform!). It definitely works for his demeanor. 

In most of his scenes, Spade wears a double breasted chalkstripe suit with a plain shirt, sometimes with a solid tie and sometimes with a foulard. This is nice and quite “trad” but it gets interesting the closer you look. You’ll immediately see that his shirt is a semi-spread point collar rather than a true spearpoint. This separates him from the other characters but with respect to the meta, this move makes him look a bit more “modern”. After all, a semi-spread with a pinstripe DB (sans fedora) is quite Ralph! 

You’ll also notice that Spade’s DB features horizontal peak lapels with narrower-than-expected width. His jacket is also nipped a fair bit in the waist and even has a shorter length, accentuating his thin figure. These details make me think that this suit is actually from the 1930s or at least done in the 30s style. 1941 is indeed a “cusp year”, which means that the Bolder details that characterize the decade haven’t come in full force yet.  

This 30s styling is also present in the 3PC suit that Spade wears in the middle of the film. It has wide peaks and a high buttoning point in the jacket and the waistcoat. With the structured shoulders, this cuts a more dramatic and almost feminine look that was more common in the 1930s than the 1940s. You can also find this more dramatic cut in his DB waistcoat as well!

It is said that Bogey supplied his own wardrobe for the film for cost-saving measures, but I am still curious on how they approached the styling of it all. Bogey wasn’t a crazy dresser, so I could believe it if he simply decided to make Spade a true extension of himself. Though if that were fully true, then we would’ve seen Spade in a bowtie.

Speaking of bowtie, that brings us Joel Cairo, played by Peter Lorre, the right hand of Kasper Gutman (the main antagonist). A lot has been said about Cairo who is coded in the film as well as the original book as being queer, with details like “smelling of gardenia” or the way he handles his walking stick. Of course, this is emphasized with dandy stylings and Lorre’s fussy portrayal of the character. 

Cairo is always seen in a stiff wing collar shirt, which immediately can be clocked as an odd choice. This is because it’s a shirt that is typically worn with morning or evening wear, though it was used in business attire (suits) in Europe, which adds to Cairo’s mysterious lore (pun intended). He pairs this with patterned bowties and a black SB peak lapel suit, which differs from Spade in that Cairo’s has bellied lapels. In one other scene, Cairo wears a tuxedo complete with a white dinner vest (which is typically done with white tie). All of this plays into his mysterious character.

Wilmer Cook is the henchman of Gutman and he could not be more different than Cairo. Instead of a flamboyant look, Cook is dressed gruffly through his big fedora and equally big overcoat. This serves as his uniform since like the other characters, he doesn’t deviate from this much at all. We unfortunately don’t see much of the suit that he’s got underneath (other than akimbo guns), but we do know he wears a spearpoint collar and foulard tie complete with collar bar. Cook may be a bit of a dummy, but at least he’s dressed nicely. 

We finish off with Kasper Gutman, the “Fat Man” who has been obsessed with the titular falcon for 17 years. He’s the definition of “affably evil” with his verbose monologues and elegant attire. In the bonus pod I surmise that Gutman is wearing a black suit but thanks to other photos I’ve just found, it’s now clear that he’s wearing a morning suit complete with a black peak lapel cutaway jacket, matching waistcoat and appropriate striped trousers. Gutman later wears a “normal” black suit that seems to be a paddock due to the high placed, two button closure. In both outfits, he has on a satin tie (with tie pin) and spats! The combination exudes a gentlemanly and slightly antiquated appearance, which serves to attempts to mask his nefarious deeds. What great costuming!

There’s a lot more to say about the film, which is why we discuss it on the latest Bonus episode of Style & Direction. This is the first real noir I’ve seen and it certainly won’t be the last. It might even be the start of us watching old films and covering them! One thing is clear though— I am definitely going to wear my chalkstripe suit and fedora very soon.

You can listen to the first 15 minutes of the bonus pod above, but you’ll have to subscribe on Patreon to get the RSS feed of the full episode (as well as access to our Discord)!

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Buh-bye!

Ethan M. Wong (follow me on IG)| StyleandDirection

The Podcast is produced by MJ.