History Trivia / TheMalteseFalcon1941

* CastTheRunnerUp: Lee Patrick was initially considered for the role of Iva Archer, but later received the part of Effie Perine.

* CreatorChosenCasting: Creator/PeterLorre was Creator/JohnHuston's first and only choice for Joel Cairo.

** Lorre and Creator/SydneyGreenstreet would go on to make nine movies together.

* ImageSource:
** MacGuffin (top left)

* ActorInspiredElement: Humphrey Bogart supplied his own wardrobe to keep costs down.
* AwesomeDearBoy: Mary Astor was familiar with the novel and signed on immediately after one meeting with John Huston. She described the script as "a humdinger".

* BillingDisplacement: Despite being billed third - under Creator/PeterLorre and Creator/SydenyGreenstreet, who are central characters and have much more dialogue - Gladys George as Iva Archer only has three scenes in the movie.

** MacGuffin (left column)

* AbilityOverAppearance: Sam Spade of the book has no resemblance to Humphrey Bogart - as he's over six feet tall, with a hooked nose and blond hair. Yet the performance is iconic and turned him into a star.

* BillingDisplacement: Despite being billed third - under Peter Lorre and Sydeny Greenstreet, who are central characters and have much more dialogue - Gladys George as Iva Archer only has three scenes in the movie.

* FakeNationality: Austro-Hungarian Peter Lorre plays the Greek Joel Cairo.
* MethodActing: John Huston had Mary Astor run around the set several times before her scenes so that she would appear convincingly breathless and nervous.

* RealLifeRelative: Captain Jacobi is played by Creator/JohnHuston's father, Walter Huston, as a good luck charm for his son's directorial debut.
* RomanceOnTheSet: Mary Astor was having an affair with Creator/JohnHuston during the making of the film.
* RealitySubtext: Mary Astor was cast primarily because she was known for having a scandalous personal life, making her rather apt to play Brigid.

** Humphrey Bogart and Peter Lorre would be in four more movies together.
** Lorre and Sydney Greenstreet would go on to make nine movies together.

** John Huston organised various pranks that the cast would play whenever members of the public visited the set. For example, Humphrey Bogart and Sydney Greenstreet would stage a vicious row if the director said "number five".
** Walter Huston trolled his son by deliberately fumbling his walk-on cameo, so they would have to shoot multiple takes.

** George Raft was originally cast as Sam Spade. He allegedly turned it down because it was "not an important picture," taking advantage of a clause in his contract that said he did not have to work on remakes. He also didn't want to put his career in the hands of a first-time director. Other candidates included Creator/MelvynDouglas, Creator/HenryFonda, Creator/FredericMarch, Creator/AnthonyQuinn and Creator/EdwardGRobinson.

** The movie ''Three Strangers'' was originally scripted as a sequel to this, with many of the original characters reappearing. However it was discovered that, while Warner Bros had the rights to the original novel, they did ''not'' have the rights to the characters. So ''Three Strangers'' was filmed with different characters, though Peter Lorre and Sydney Greenstreet starred.

* UsefulNotes/AFIS100YearsSeries:
** AFIS100Years100Movies: #23
** AFIS100Years100Thrills: #26
** AFIS100Years100MovieQuotes:
*** #14, "The stuff that dreams are made of"
** AFIS100Years100Movies10THAnniversaryEdition: #31
** AFIS10Top10
*** Mystery, #6

* AFIS100YearsSeries:

** George Raft was originally cast as Sam Spade. He allegedly turned it down because it was "not an important picture," taking advantage of a clause in his contract that said he did not have to work on remakes. He also didn't want to put his career in the hands of a first-time director. Other candidates included Creator/HenryFonda, Creator/FredericMarch, Creator/AnthonyQuinn and Creator/EdwardGRobinson.

* FakeNationality: Austro-Hungarian-American Peter Lorre plays the Greek Joel Cairo.

* ThoseTwoActors: Sydney Greenstreet and Peter Lorre would go on to make nine more movies together.

* WorkingTitle: Warner Bros. planned to change the name of the film to ''The Gent from Frisco'' or ''The Knight of Malta'' because the novel's title had already been used for a version in 1931 The studio eventually agreed to keep the original title at Creator/JohnHuston's insistence.

* EnforcedMethodActing: John Huston had Mary Astor run around the set several times before her scenes so that she would appear convincingly breathless and nervous.