References to the book, and more commonly the film adaptations thereof produced in 1931 and 1941.
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- An Australian radio add for Spillane's nightclub had a private eye meeting the Fat Man there because he wanted to talk about a Maltese Falcon. "I suggested he try an ethnic car dealer."
Comic Strips
- In Crock, the Foreign Legion would go to "The Fat Man" for information on whether their fort was in danger. The Fat Man would then insist on being called "full-figured" or agree that the fort was in danger...from termites, and try to sell them an insurance plan.
- Brick: The line "Oh, now you are dangerous" is taken verbatim from The Maltese Falcon (1941), as is the "long short long short" warning signal.
- Carry On Spying. The head waiter played by John Bluthal was supposed to be a parody of Joel Cairo.
- Guardians of the Galaxy: In prison, Peter states the Orb has a "Ark of the Covenant, glowing briefcase, Maltese Falcon-esque vibe."
- Space Jam: A New Legacy: A Maltese Falcon world is among the many planets of the Serververse.
- Who Framed Roger Rabbit: Eddie Valiant has the Falcon in his office; he hangs his hat on it when returning after the scene with Roger at Maroon's office.
- The Cheap Detective: Lou Peckinpaugh is essentially Sam Spade drawn into the plots of Casablanca and The Big Sleep combined with The Maltese Falcon. His partner, whose wife he's been sleeping with, has been murdered, a mysterious dame who constantly changes names comes to him with a fishy case, and an international gang on the trail of a fabulous treasure pull him into the chase. They include a fat ringleader, a foreigner distinguished by a strong scent, and a very young and ineffectual gangster.
- Double Dragon: When henchman Adobo objects that an experimental steroid may kill him, Big Bad Koga Shuko says he thinks of Adobo like a son. "And like a son, [he] can always have another; however, there is only one Double Dragon."
- The Dresden Files:
- Fool Moon: The blending potion makes Harry feel monochromatic, like an extra from Casablanca or The Maltese Falcon.
- Dead Beat: Leaving Bock's to confront Cowl and Kumori, Harry muses over whether he's living out High Noon or The Maltese Falcon.
- The Falcon's Malteser is a spoof of the Hardboiled Detective genre which gets its title from the book. It includes many other allusions to the book, including an international criminal known as The Fat Man (although by the time the events of the book take place he has lost 21 stone through dieting on doctor's advice, now closely resembles a skeleton and has retained his old nickname for professional purposes), two Ambiguously Gay sidekicks, an Almost Dead Guy who is shot and only has time to mutter an incomplete explanation before dying, and a MacGuffin which is, as the title suggests, a box of Maltesers.
- Saturn's Children by Charles Stross, in addition to numerous Shout Outs to Robert A. Heinlein, has a MacGuffin disguised as a statue of a black bird.
- In the Spider-Man: Sinister Six Trilogy, the Gentleman visits The Machiavelli Club, a special society for the Wicked Cultured. Other members of the Machiavelli Club include Hannibal, Auric, the Gruber brothers, Lex, Herr Taubmann, Ra's, Soze, Napier, Randolph and Mortimer Duke, Mr Glass, and Ernst. The Gentleman has also worked with Casper Gutman.
- The Warhammer Fantasy short story "The Tilean Rat" is a Whole-Plot Reference to the story, from the beautiful lady who turns out to be a criminal, the oddly-close hitmen, and even a protagonist named Sam. The part where the statue is worthless, but the stand is actually an Artifact of Doom of interest to worshippers of Khaine is not.
- Castle: In "The Blue Butterfly", besides the general Noir style, Castle makes an explicit reference at the end, calling the titular Blue Butterfly "the stuff that dreams are made of". This also references the fact that the butterfly is a fake.
- Farscape. The episode "The Maltese Crichton" has everyone searching for John Crichton after he's turned into a statue (for plot-related reasons) which is then stolen, with various murders and scheming involved. The statue ends up being a fake after another character volunteers to take Crichton's place as the statue.
- Forever Knight. In "My Boyfriend is a Vampire", Vachon has to pose as Tracy Vetter's Mysterious Informant. While pretending to give her the word on the street he says that, "The Fat Man had his guys ice Thursby and then he took off with the bird." One of the people listening in on the conversation says it sounds strangely familiar.
- Sherlock: At one point in "A Scandal in Belgravia", John Sherlock and Irene are in 221B, and Sherlock says that he put her phone into a safe-deposit box. John's suggestion that "Molly can get it, and then have one of your homeless network members bring it here" is reminiscent of the final act of The Maltese Falcon, when Sam Spade leaves the titular artifact in a safe-deposit box, mails the ticket to another box, and then calls his secretary to get first one then the other, and bring it to his office, where he and the other principal characters are waiting. And then Sherlock immediately subverts the whole situation by pulling the phone out of his pocket.
- The Adventures of Sam Spade was a radio serial in the mid-to-late 1940s, taking place after the movie.
- Darths & Droids: The Maltese Falcon: Han calls the Millennium Falcon the Malteser Falcon in #782, titled "It's What Dreams Are Made of".
- Batman: The Animated Series: "Perchance to Dream" consists mostly of an extended dream sequence created by the Mad Hatter to keep Batman trapped in a dream world. After Batman finally wakes up into reality, he looks at the elaborate head rig created by the Mad Hatter, and calls it "the stuff that dreams are made of".
- Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers: "Adventures in Squirrelsitting" features a young squirrel girl named Tammy in love with Chip. And a Maltese Mouse.
- The Simpsons: In "Three Men and a Comic Book" after unwrapping the comic book, Martin says it's "the stuff dreams are made of".
