Line #13 Trivia/TheMalteseFalcon1941


1	* AbilityOverAppearance: Sam Spade of the book has no resemblance to Creator/HumphreyBogart - 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.
2	* ActorInspiredElement: Creator/HumphreyBogart supplied his own wardrobe to keep costs down.
3	* AwesomeDearBoy: Creator/MaryAstor was familiar with the novel and signed on immediately after one meeting with Creator/JohnHuston. She described the script as "a humdinger".
4	* BeamMeUpScotty: Done by Spade himself. He was paraphrasing a line from ''Theatre/TheTempest'', "Such stuff as dreams are made on."
5	* BillingDisplacement: Despite being billed third - under Creator/PeterLorre and Creator/SydneyGreenstreet, who are central characters and have much more dialogue - Gladys George as Iva Archer only has three scenes in the movie.
6	* BreakthroughHit: For Creator/JohnHuston.
7	* CastTheRunnerUp: Creator/LeePatrick was initially considered for the role of Iva Archer, but later received the part of Effie Perine.
8	* CreatorChosenCasting: Creator/PeterLorre was Creator/JohnHuston's first and only choice for Joel Cairo.
9	* CreatorsFavoriteEpisode: This was Creator/PeterLorre's favourite of all his films.
10	* DarkhorseCasting: Creator/SydneyGreenstreet had acted on the stage for forty years prior to making his film debut here at age sixty.
11	* DawsonCasting: Elisha Cook Jr. was 38 when the film came out, playing the "boy" Wilmer, who is described as "about twenty."
12	* TheDanza: Elisha Cook Jr. playing Wilmer Cook.
13	* DivorcedInstallment: 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 Creator/WarnerBros 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 Creator/PeterLorre and Creator/SydneyGreenstreet starred.
14	* ExecutiveMeddling: The studio insisted upon the scene where Miles is shot, against the director's intention to have all scenes from Sam Spade's POV.
15	* FakeNationality: Austro-Hungarian Creator/PeterLorre plays the Greek Joel Cairo.
16	* MethodActing: Creator/JohnHuston had Creator/MaryAstor run around the set several times before her scenes so that she would appear convincingly breathless and nervous.
17	* NoBudget: Only made for $300,000 - which is roughly about $5 million in today's rates.
18	* ProductionPosse: John Huston would later direct Humphrey Bogart and his father Walter in ''Film/TheTreasureOfTheSierraMadre''. He would also work with Bogie in ''Film/TheAfricanQueen''.
19	* RealLifeRelative: Captain Jacobi is played by Creator/JohnHuston's father, Creator/WalterHuston, as a good luck charm for his son's directorial debut.
20	* RealitySubtext: Creator/MaryAstor was cast primarily because she was known for having a scandalous personal life, making her rather apt to play Brigid.
21	* RomanceOnTheSet: Creator/MaryAstor was having an affair with Creator/JohnHuston during the making of the film.
22	* StarMakingRole: Sam Spade was the role that really put Creator/HumphreyBogart on the map as a plausible leading man.
23	* StillbornFranchise: Following the film's success, Creator/WarnerBros immediately made plans to produce a sequel entitled ''The Further Adventures of the Maltese Falcon'', which Creator/JohnHuston was to direct in early 1942. However, due to Huston's high demand as a director and the unavailability of the major cast members, the sequel was never made.
24	* ThoseTwoActors:
25	** Creator/HumphreyBogart and Creator/PeterLorre would be in four more movies together.
26	** Lorre and Creator/SydneyGreenstreet would go on to make nine movies together, and Bogart and Greenstreet went on to make four more movies together.
27	* TrollingCreator:
28	** Creator/JohnHuston organised various pranks that the cast would play whenever members of the public visited the set. For example, Creator/HumphreyBogart and Creator/SydneyGreenstreet would stage a vicious row if the director said "number five".
29	** Creator/WalterHuston trolled his son by deliberately fumbling his walk-on cameo, so they would have to shoot multiple takes.
30	* WhatCouldHaveBeen:
31	** 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/FredricMarch, Creator/AnthonyQuinn and Creator/EdwardGRobinson.
32	** Creator/OliviaDeHavilland, Creator/RitaHayworth and Creator/IngridBergman were considered for Brigid.
33	* 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.

Context Trivia / TheMalteseFalcon1941