The Maltese Falcon is a film that opened with little fanfare and few expectations in the fall of 1941. It had a modest budget of about ($381,000) and was shot in less than six weeks (from June 9 to July 18, 1941), with a first time director and no major stars. And if that wasn’t enough, two films featuring the detective Sam Spade character, adopted from a novel by Dashiell Hammett, had already flopped. And yet, its long term popularity has somewhat of historical significance considering the obstacles the film had to overcome.

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