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 Falcon Takes Over a craven bid to cash in on the popularity of the Warner Bros. hit, "The Maltese Falcon", turning Marlowe into a detective called the Falcon (played by George Sanders) and releasing the movie with the title, "The Falcon Takes Over". The Falcon Takes Over The Falcon Takes Over (also known as The Falcon Steps Out), is a 1942 black-and-white mystery film directed by Irving Reis. The B film was the third, following "The Gay Falcon" and "A Date with the Falcon" (1941), to star George Sanders as the character Gay Lawrence, a gentleman detective known by the sobriquet the Falcon.