The Maltese Falcon (1931 film)

Maltese Falcon
theatrical release poster
Directed by	Roy Del Ruth
Screenplay by	Maude Fulton Brown Holmes Lucien Hubbard (uncredited)
Based on	The Maltese Falcon 1930 novel by Dashiell Hammett
Starring	Bebe Daniels Ricardo Cortez Dudley Digges Una Merkel
Cinematography	William Rees
Edited by	George Marks
Distributed by	Warner Bros. Pictures, Inc.
Release date	June 13, 1931 (1931-06-13) (US)
Running time	80 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English

The Maltese Falcon is a 1931 American pre-Code crime film, based on the novel of the same name by Dashiell Hammett and directed by Roy Del Ruth. The film stars Ricardo Cortez as private detective Sam Spade and Bebe Daniels as Ruth Wonderly. Maude Fulton, Brown Holmes, and Lucien Hubbard (who went uncredited) wrote the screenplay. The supporting cast features Dudley Digges, Thelma Todd, Walter Long, Una Merkel, and Dwight Frye. The film is based on the 1929 novel The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett. (Original publisher Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. in 1929.)

In San Francisco, private investigator Sam Spade (Ricardo Cortez) and his partner Miles Archer (Walter Long) are approached by Ruth Wonderly (Bebe Daniels) to follow a man, Floyd Thursby, who allegedly ran off with her younger sister. The two accept the assignment because the money is good, even though they disbelieve her story.

Late that night, police detective Tom Polhaus (J. Farrell MacDonald) informs Spade that Archer has been shot and killed while tailing Thursby, but Spade turns down the opportunity to examine the body at the scene. As he's leaving, he has a brief conversation in Chinese with a man loitering in a doorway. Later, Polhaus and his superior, Lt. Dundy (Robert Elliott), visit Spade at his apartment. Thursby has been killed, and they want to know where Spade's been in the last few hours — they suspect him of killing Thursby to avenge the death of his partner. With no real evidence against Spade, they leave.