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) Just then, Cairo arrives and tells Gutman privately that Spade does not have the falcon, that Captain Jacoby (Agostino Borgato), whose ship "La Paloma" arrives from Hong Kong that night, does. Gutman then slips Spade a mickey in a celebratory drink, and retrieves his $1000. Later that night, Spade arrives back in his office, where he finds Effie asleep behind his desk. Suddenly, a man staggers in, collapses to the floor and dies—it's Captain Jacoby, having been shot several times. The suitcase he was carrying has the precious black bird in it. Spade checks the bag at a baggage check