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
The Maltese Falcon (novel) who passes out on the floor. Spade awakens alone and returns to his office where a wounded ship's captain staggers in and dies, carrying a package containing the falcon. O'Shaughnessy calls the office, begging for Spade's help but sending him on a wild goose chase. When he returns, O'Shaughnessy is waiting in front of Spade's apartment building. Inside it they find Gutman, Wilmer, and Cairo in wait with guns drawn. Gutman presents $10,000 in cash for the falcon but Spade remarks that the police must arrest someone for the murders that have been committed. During a fight, Spade knocks Wilmer