BV FRANK P. GILL Trn Prrna Motion 1'lrture Kdllnr Tl f ESSRS. ALFRED HITCH- L'JL COCK and Fritz Lang, filmdom's ace thriller directors, had better look to their laurels, for they are facing dangerous competition in John Huston whose maiden effort as a direc tor, "The Maltese Falcon," opened Friday at the Michigan All the customary hokum, which has come to be an Integral part of murder mystery films, has been eliminated nere as far nossible. and the result is polished, volatile and gripping melodrama, excellently acted and interestingly photographed. Huston, In the screen credits, appears in a dual capacity as writer as well as director, and he is entitled to high praise for his slick script, based on the best' selling Dashiell Hammett novel of some years dsck. Suspense Is Held In this type of film, suspense is a paramount feature, but custom has prescribed that a formula be created for the identity or me murderer, so that the suspense. In most cases is synthetic. In "The Maltese Falcon," however, this element of suspense is realistic, and the audience is as baffled as the detective until the final se quences. Throughout the narrative of the cynical detective who is willing to play with the law against it, for money, there is a tnreaci or sar donic humor and a certain impli' cation of evil intrique which adds materially to the thrills in the plot.. Once the mood is created by the director, the cast carries It through to the bitter end by a series of fine sensitive performances, in which no false notes are sounded, Acting Is Excellent Humphrey Bogart as Sam Spade, the detective, gives an outstanding characterization, keeping the emo tions of an audience mixed and perplexed. Mary Astor, steadily addine to her stature as a dramatic screen, is very effective as Brigid O'Shaughnessy, However, even more spectacular than either of theHe stars, Is the debut of Sidney Greenstreet, the portly actor who creates the role of Kasper uuttman. head or eancr of thieves, in a sustained series of brilliant scenes. Green-street Is ,suave,, intensely evil and urbane, providing a perfect foil for the more ruthless Spade. Wal ter Huston makes a brief appear ance in one scene.