A. O. Scott on The Maltese Falcon (John Huston, 1941)

The Maltese Falcon is one of the indispensable American films and a big influence on film noir style and themes. Here New York Times critic A. O. Scott suggests a deep connection between noir's exposure of the corruption at the heart of the American romance with wealth and the present crisis of the national economy. (Well, he says as much as he can expect his masters in corporate media to tolerate.)
The Maltese Falcon set the noir theme of the hero who is deeply flawed, cynical, maybe almost entirely amoral--except that he has a job to do; and the treacherous woman who tries to lead him astray. Why would this theme feature so prominently in American popular film?