Stolen Jewels Hidden In A “Maltese Falcon”

Manawatu Times, Volume LIV, Issue 7314, 15 November 1933, Page 5

Stolen Jewels Hidden In A “Maltese Falcon”

MYSTERY ROMANCE ON A DOUBLE FEATURE BILL

In “The Maltese Falcon,” which stars Bebe Daniels and commences to-day at the Kosy with “Play Girl,” a vast store of stolen jewels is supposed to he hidden in a statuette which is in the iorm of a falcon—that strange bird of prey whose skill has made it the centre of one of the most ancient sports in the world.

Hawking is another name for falconry, in which a hooded falcon, liawiL eagle, or other bird, is fastened to a cord and borne on tho wrist to bo set free at a signal, to capture birds in flight. For the purpose, the hood is removed. Falconry is mentioned in the writings of Pliny, Aristotle and Martial and appears to have been known in China 2000 years B.C. It is found in Japanese records ns far back as 600 8.C., and at an equally early elate in India, Arabia, Persia and Syria. Falconry was introduced into England about S6O A.D. and was followed with ardour not even excelled by fox hunting, down to the seventeenth centuryStringent laws were passed, notably during the reigns of William tho Conqueror, Edward 111., Henry VIII., and Elizabeth relative to tho sport.

Falcons and hawks arc allotted to degrees and orders of men according to their rank and station, for instance, to tho emperor the eagle and vulture to royalty the jerfalcon —to an earl the peregine—to a yeoman the goshawk—to a priest the sparrow-hawk —and to a knave or servant the useless kestrel. In all hawks the female is larger and more powerful than the male. “The Maltese Falcon” pictures a type of woman "who is also more dead!} than the male. Miss Daniels portrays this strangely alluring alventuress with superb finish. Others in the cast are Ricardo Cortez, Dudley Digges, Una Merkel, Robert Elliott, Thelma Todd, Otto Matiesen, Oscar Apfel, Walter Long, Dwight Frye, J. Farrell Mac Donald and Agostino Borgato.