The novel has been adapted for film four times, twice under its original title:
- The Maltese Falcon (1931), the first version, a pre-Code production starring Ricardo Cortez as Sam Spade and Bebe Daniels as Brigid O'Shaughnessy. In 1936, Warner Brothers attempted to re-release the film but was denied approval by the Hays Production Code censors because of its "lewd" content; this led to the production of the 1936 adaptation. It was not until after 1966 that unedited copies of the 1931 film could be shown in the United States.
- Satan Met a Lady (1936), a comedic adaptation starring Bette Davis and Warren William, with Sam Spade becoming "Ted Shane". The film received poor reviews, and Davis later referred to the film as "junk".
- The Maltese Falcon (1941), the third and best-known version, considered to be a film noir classic. This version dropped much of the suggestive content in the 1931 version. The film stars Humphrey Bogart, Mary Astor, Peter Lorre, Sydney Greenstreet, and Gladys George.
- The Black Bird (1975), a spoof sequel, featuring George Segal as Sam Spade Jr. (Elisha Cook Jr. and Lee Patrick reprised their roles from the 1941 film.)
There have been two audio adaptations of the novel:
- The Maltese Falcon (1984[3]), a full-cast dramatization by BBC Radio 4, featuring Jane Lapotaire and Tom Wilkinson.[4]
- Dashiell Hammett's The Maltese Falcon (2008), an audio dramatization by the Hollywood Theater of the Ear.[5]
There have also been US stage adaptations:
- The Maltese Falcon was produced by The Long Beach Shakespeare Company and premiered on April 29, 2005, when Hammett's book was adapted and directed by Martin Pope. Two years later the same company mounted a second adaptation, this one by Helen Borgers, the company's artistic director.[6]
- The Maltese Murder (2008), by playwright Bryan Colley, commissioned by the Johnson County Library in Kansas as part of the National Endowment for the Arts Big Read.[7]
