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Image:BlackMaskFalcon2.jpg Cover of the magazine "Black Mask", September 1929, featuring part 1 of its serialization of The Maltese Falcon, by Dashiell Hammett. The illustration is of detective Sam Spade by Henry C. Murphy, Jr. The Maltese Falcon is a 1930 detective novel by Dashiell Hammett, originally serialized in the magazine "Black Mask". The story has been adapted several times for the cinema. The main character, Sam Spade, appears only in three lesser known short stories and this novel, yet is widely cited as the crystallizing figure in the development of the hard-boiled private detective genre. Spade was a departure from Hammett's perennially nameless and less than glamorous detective, The Continental Op. Sam Spade combined several features of previous detectives, most notably his cold detachment, keen eye for detail, and unflinching determination to achieve his own justice. He is the man who has seen the wretched, the corrupt, the tawdry side of life but still retains his "tarnished idealism". Raymond Chandler based Philip Marlowe initially on Hammett's Spade and developed the character beyond its inspirational origin.
PlotSpoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.
That night, Detective Tom Polhaus informs Spade that Archer has been shot and killed while tailing Thursby. Even later that night, two officers visit Spade at his apartment and inquire about Spade's whereabouts in the last few hours. Spade asks what the visit is really about. The officers say that Thursby was also killed and that Spade is a suspect, since Thursby likely killed Archer. They have no evidence against Spade at the moment, but tell him that they will be conducting an investigation into the matter. The next day, Spade gets a visit from Archer's wife, with whom he has been having an affair. The widow asks Spade if he killed off Miles so that they could be together. Spade dismisses her and tells her to leave, and coldly orders his secretary Effie to remove all of Archer's belongings from the office. Later, Spade is visited by another man, Joel Cairo, who offers Spade $5000 if the private eye can retrieve a figurine of a black bird that has recently arrived. While Spade has no idea what the man is talking about, he plays along. Cairo leaves a card and tells Spade to contact him should anything develop. Following this, Spade is again contacted by Brigid O'Shaughnessy. She offers her sympathies for the death of his partner. Spade senses a connection between Brigid O'Shaughnessy and Cairo, and casually mentions that Cairo has contacted him. Brigid O'Shaughnessy gets extremely nervous when she hears this. She tells Spade that she must meet with Cairo, and asks Spade to arrange a meeting. Spade agrees.
The next morning, Spade makes his way to the hotel where Cairo is staying. Cairo shows up dishevelled, saying that he was held in police custody through the night. Meanwhile, Spade notices that he's being tailed by some kid named Wilmer Cook. He confronts the gunsel[1], and tells him that both he and his boss, "G," will have to deal with him at some point. He later receives a call from Casper Gutman, who wishes to meet with him. Gutman, a huge person weighing over 300 lbs, says he will pay handsomely for the black bird. Spade implies that he can get the item (though at this point this is a bluff), but wants to know what it is first. Gutman tells him that the figurine was a gift from the Island of Malta to the King of Spain a few hundred years ago, but was lost on ship in transit. It was covered with fine jewels, but acquired a layer of black enamel at some time, to conceal its value (estimated to be in the millions). Gutman learned of its whereabouts seventeen years ago, and has been looking for it ever since. He traced it to the home of a Russian General, then sent three of his 'agents' (Cairo, Thursby and Brigid O'Shaughnessy) to get it. The latter supposedly did retrieve the figurine, but learned of its value and decided to keep it for themselves. Spade starts to get dizzy at this point (Gutman has drugged him), and when he goes to leave, Wilmer trips him and knocks him out by kicking his temple. Image:Maltesefalcon1931.jpg Bebe Daniels in Del Ruth's 1931 film adaptation. When Spade awakens, he returns to his office and tells the story of the Maltese Falcon to Effie. Soon afterwards, an injured man, identified as Captain Jacobi of "La Paloma," shows up at the office; he drops a package on the floor and then dies of gunshot wounds. Spade opens the package, and finds the figurine falcon. Sam is called away from the office (in the novel, Gutman's daughter offers information; in the film, Brigid claims to be in danger). To prevent losing the item, Spade stores the package at a bus station lost luggage counter and mails himself the collection tag. He first goes to the dock where "La Paloma" was anchored, but learns that a fire had been started on board. He then proceeds to the place Rhea Gutman (or Brigid, in the film) said she was when she phoned earlier, only to find no sign of her. He realizes that it was a decoy, and returns to his apartment. As he arrives, he finds O'Shaughnessy in a shadowy doorway. Inside, Wilmer, Cairo, and Gutman are there waiting. Gutman hands Spade $10,000 in cash in exchange for the bird. Spade takes the money, but in addition says that they need a "fall guy" to take the blame for the murders of at least Thursby and Jacobi, if not Archer as well. Reluctantly, both Cairo and Gutman agree to make Wilmer the fall guy. Gutman proceeds to tell Spade the missing pieces of the story. The night that Thursby was killed, he was first approached by Wilmer and Gutman. The latter attempted to reason with him, but Thursby remained loyal to Brigid O'Shaughnessy and refused to cooperate. Later things escalated, then Wilmer shot Thursby. Also, Brigid O'Shaughnessy had seduced Captain Jacobi and hid the Falcon with him. Later, Brigid O'Shaughnessy instructed Jacobi to deliver the package to Spade. Once Gutman learned of this fact, he attempted to remove Spade from the situation with the spiked drink. Wilmer managed to shoot the captain, but Jacobi still got to Spade's office to deliver the figurine. After finishing his story, Gutman warns Spade to be very careful with Brigid O'Shaughnessy as she is not to be trusted. Spade places a call to his secretary, Effie, and asks her to go the office and pick up the figurine. Effie brings it to Spade's apartment, and Spade hands the package to Gutman, who at this time is overwhelmed with excitement. He checks the figurine, but quickly learns that it is a fake, most likely created by the Russian as a decoy. During this time, Wilmer manages to escape from Spade's apartment. Gutman quickly regains composure, and decides to go back to Europe to continue the search. Before he leaves, Gutman asks Spade for the $10,000. Spade returns $9000, saying he's keeping the remainder for his time and expenses. Then Cairo and Gutman leave Spade's apartment. Immediately after Cairo and Gutman leave, Spade phones the police department and tells them the entire story. Wilmer killed Jacobi and Thursby. He also tells them what hotel Gutman is staying at and urges them to hurry, since Gutman and Cairo are leaving town soon. Afterwards, Spade angrily asks Brigid O'Shaughnessy why she killed Miles Archer. At first, Brigid O'Shaughnessy acts horrified at this accusation, but seeing that she cannot lie anymore, she drops the act. She wanted to get Thursby out of the picture so that she could have the Falcon for herself, so she hired Archer to scare him off. When Thursby didn't leave, she killed Archer and attempted to pin the crime on Thursby. When Thursby was later killed himself, she knew that Gutman was in town and that she needed another protector, so she came back to Spade. Image:Maltese f.jpg Actors Humphrey Bogart, Peter Lorre, Mary Astor, and Sydney Greenstreet in John Huston's 1941 film adaptation. When the police finally show up at Spade's apartment, Spade immediately turns over Brigid O'Shaughnessy as Archer's killer. They tell Spade that the kid Wilmer was waiting for Gutman at the hotel and shot him when he arrived. Spade also hands over the $1000 in bill, and the falcon to the police as evidence. Later, when Spade arrives back at the office, he tells his secretary, Effie, the entire story. She asks Sam if he sent Brigid O'Shaughnessy to jail. He smugly replies "Your Sam's a detective." She is disgusted by his actions, and asks him not to touch her. The novel ends when Archer's widow again shows up at the office. AnalysisIn this novel, Hammett redefines many of the conventions of the "Hard Boiled" Detective genre. Spade is a bitter, sardonic character who lets the police and the criminals think he is in with the criminals while he works singlemindedly to catch the crooks. Brigid O'Shaughnessy is the classic femme fatale. The other crooks are manipulative and self-centered (or merely self-centered) with no concern for anyone's well-being except their own. However, unlike some other hard-boiled detectives who have a strong sense of idealism underneath the cynical shell, we are never given a clear statement of Spade's notion of morality. He attempts to explain himself to Brigid O'Shaughnessy with the Flitcraft parable, in which Hammett makes an oblique reference to the philosopher Charles Sanders Peirce, but O'Shaughnessy and most readers have no idea what he is getting at. At the time of Miles Archer's death, Spade is having an affair with Archer's wife. And while he does "do the right thing" in the end, it is somewhat ambiguous as to why he does so. It is left unclear whether he does this because the money was simply not enough ("...a lot more money would have been one more item on your side") for the risk. Film, TV or theatrical adaptationsThe novel has been filmed three times, twice under its original title:
There have been many spoofs and sequels, including 1975's The Black Bird, a spoof sequel featuring George Segal as Sam Spade, Jr., and Elisha Cook Jr. and Lee Patrick reprising their roles from the 1941 version. Notes
See also
es:El halcón maltés (1941) fr:Le Faucon maltais (film, 1941) it:Il mistero del falco he:הנץ ממלטה (ספר) nl:The Maltese Falcon (1941) ja:マルタの鷹 pl:Sokół maltański ro:Şoimul maltez (roman) sv:Riddarfalken från Malta
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