October 3 1941 

THE MALTESE FALCON premieres in New York. Adapted from Dashiell Hammett's 1929 novel by debuting director John Huston. Humphrey Bogart stars as Sam Spade, a cynical, hard-nosed San Francisco private eye whose missing person investigation quickly entangles him in a web of murder and double cross spun by a duplicitious femme fatale, and a couple of unsavory lowlifes searching for a fabled jewel-encrusted falcon statuette. Veteran Warner Bros repertory players Mary Astor, Sydney Greenstreet, Peter Lorre and Elisha Cook Jr. help personify the film's cult status.

 

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