The Bergenfield Library will launch its 2008 Summer Film Festival with the film classic "The Maltese Falcon."

The 101-minute film, starring Humphrey Bogart, Mary Astor and famed character actors Peter Lorre and Sydney Greenstreet, will be shown 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, July 1.

Directed by John Huston, the film is based on a novel by Dashiell Hammet, starring tough guy detective Sam Spade.

Spade becomes involved in the search for a jewel-encrusted statue by a woman who seeks his help. Then his partner is killed, and the death leads to more intrigue.

Film critics agree that the heavily plotted film, while faithful to the Hammett novel, depends on its characters to succeed.

Mary Astor plays Brigid O’Shaugnessy, a portrait in feminine betrayal. She is the woman who does not hesitate to kill her lover.

An erratic Peter Lorre and a dangerously polite Sydney Greenstreet are equally memorable villains. "The Maltese Falcon" was Greenstreet’s film debut.

Sam Spade is the cynic with a code of ethics. He is cunning, incorruptible and vulnerable, but not a fool for love.

And, once you have heard it, who can ever forget Bogart’s gravelly voice as Sam Spade?

Tuesday morning programs are sponsored by the Friends of the Library. They are free and open to the public. Coffee and light refreshments are served starting at 10:15 a.m.

The film festival continues each Tuesday from July 1 through to Sept. 2, the first Tuesday after Labor Day. A complete list of films for the Summer Film Festival is available at the Bergenfield Library, located at 50 W. Clinton Ave.