![]() The first version of The Maltese Falcon was distributed to theaters in 1931 while the book was still fresh in the minds of its first eager readers. Left to right: Bebe Daniels as Ruth Wonderly, Dudley Digges as Casper Gutman, and Otto Matieson as Joel Cairo. The original 1931 version of The Maltese Falcon is today known as Dangerous Female. ![]() What still seems amazing, though, is that Warner would turn it into a movie not once, not twice, but three times, all within the span of a decade. So it was almost preordained that The Maltese Falcon would be turned into a movie by Warner. ![]() ![]() Robinson and Doorway to Hell with James Cagney. Hammett’s briskly told story also seemed a natural for the movies, particularly the kind they were making at Warner Bros., the home of rat-ta-tat-tat dialogue, reality tinged urban melodramas and tough crime pictures like that year’s Little Caesar with Edward G. Today it’s easy to understand why the book was quickly hailed as a classic: It’s a fast-paced, deftly written novel, packed with crackling dialogue, highly original characters and a boldly fashioned hero-cynical private eye Sam Spade, the perfect embodiment of America’s new hardboiled detective. Over eight decades ago-in February, 1930-Dashiell Hammett’s The Maltese Falcon was first published in book form. Humphrey Bogart as Sam Spade in John Huston's 1941 classic adaptation of The Maltese Falcon. Between 1931-41, Dashiell Hammett’s The Maltese Falcon was filmed three times-but only one movie became a classic. ![]()
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