Some years ago, I came across a quote from Dashiell Hammett in a 1934 edition of the New York Evening Journal that changed the direction of my own writing. For this reason, I demur when it comes to grounding the Falcon with any one definition, volunteering instead only to share here what the Maltese Falcon has come to mean to me and what I suspect it may represent for many other authors as well, even if they have never given a single thought to the mythical black bird. A great part of the enduring appeal of the Maltese Falcon is the ineffable quality these varied references suggest. Or the Maltese Falcon may be regarded in terms of the narrative purpose it serves in the story that is, to use a term popularized by Alfred Hitchcock to stand for any object that entices characters and drives plot, a “MacGuffin.” Unattainable, perhaps, but irresistible. Additionally, the Maltese Falcon may be thought of as the statuette itself-an objet d’art of legendary repute and incalculable financial value. The Maltese Falcon may be thought of as a novel by Dashiell Hammett published in 1930 or as a trio of film adaptations produced between 19 (the middle of the three being a comedic mess renamed “Satan Met a Lady” and the last being the John Huston/Humphrey Bogart classic).
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