The Maltese Falcon (1931 film) The Maltese Falcon (1931 film) The Maltese Falcon is a 1931 American pre-Code crime film, based on the 1930 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. A print has been held by the Library of Congress since the 1970s. In San Francisco, private investigator Sam Spade (Ricardo Cortez) and
Tribute of the Maltese Falcon the 27th as King of Castile, Granada etc., the 16th of Navarre, the 15th of Aragon, the Two Sicilies, Jerusalem and all our other realms". The grant says: The investiture had to be renewed in every case of a new succession, and completed according to the dispositions of common law. Other conditions included: The order and grand master paid the annual falcon until 1798 when the Order was expelled from the Maltese islands by the French Directory. Tribute of the Maltese Falcon The Grand Master of the Order of St John of Jerusalem had to pay an annual tribute to