Dashiell Hammett's novel "The Maltese Falcon" on the silver screen. What a cast: Effie Perrine [Lee Patrick], Joel Cairo [Peter Lorre], Kasper Gutman [Sydney Greenstreet], Miss Ruth Wonderly [Mary Astor], Sam Spade [Humphrey Bogart], Detective Tom Polhaus [Ward Bond], Wilmer [Elisha Cook, Jr.]. Murder and mayhem over a bird made of solid gold.