THE MALTESE FALCON
TCM, 8:00 p.m. ET
Mary Astor is today’s “Summer Under the Stars” saluted thespian, and TCM has saved for prime time a movie classic that could just as well, and as proudly, be presented on days devoted to Humphrey Bogart, Sydney Greenstreet, and Peter Lorre. John Huston’s 1941 film noir classic presents Bogart as world-weary gumshoe Sam Spade. Bogart is perfect, Astor is a fine femme fatale, and Greenstreet and Lorre are deliciously entertaining villains – though the title character’s performance, it must be said, is a little stiff.