Sam Spade Sam Spade Sam Spade is a fictional private detective and the protagonist of Dashiell Hammett's 1930 novel, "The Maltese Falcon". Spade also appeared in four lesser-known short stories by Hammett. "The Maltese Falcon", first published as a serial in the pulp magazine "Black Mask", is the only full-length novel in which Spade appears. The character, however, is widely cited as a crystallizing figure in the development of hard-boiled private detective fiction—Raymond Chandler's Philip Marlowe, for instance, was strongly influenced by Spade. Spade was a departure from Hammett's nameless and less-than-glamorous detective, The Continental Op. Spade combined several features of previous
The Maltese Falcon (1931 film) Bogart and Mary Astor was released. Once restrictions were lifted from showing this film sometime after 1966, the film was retitled "Dangerous Female" for U.S. television in order to avoid confusion with the 1941 remake, which had previously been the only version available by the original name. These films were followed by other adaptations and parodies, including the 1975 comedy-sequel, "The Black Bird", in which Sam Spade Jr., played by George Segal, inherits his father's agency. 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