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 (1941 film) "Satan Met a Lady". In a new documentary, "The Maltese Falcon: One Magnificent Bird", a blooper reel, makeup tests and three radio show adaptations—two featuring the film's original stars—are also present. Another special feature is a Turner Classic Movies documentary, "Becoming Attractions: The Trailers of Humphrey Bogart". Hosted by TCM's Robert Osborne, the 45-minute feature traces Bogart's evolution from a heavy in the 1930s to a romantic leading man in the 1940s, and his return to playing bad men late in that decade. The film was colorized for television by Turner Broadcasting System and released on video by MGM/UA in