For a long time I've been looking for an Alabama connection to the classic Humphry Bogart film The Maltese Falcon [1941]. Well, not really, but I have found one--almost.
The original novel by Dashiell Hammett began life serialized in Black Mask magazine; the first installment appeared in September 1929. Alfred A. Knopf issued the entire novel in hardback the following year. The work fell between a pair of other Hammett novels, The Dain Curse and The Glass Key. Except for a few short stories, the work is the only appearance of the iconic detective Sam Spade.
In the years since, the book that chronicles the search for a mysterious bird statue has been adapted in a series of films and other properties. The first one appeared soon after Hammett's novel was published in book form. The 1931 The Maltese Falcon starred Bebe Daniels as the femme fatale Ruth Wonderly and Richard Cortez as Sam Spade. Like the 1941 version, this Falcon follows closely the book's story except more of Hammett's homosexual elements are present in this Pre-Code film and removed in the later one. For a number of years after the mid-sixties this film was known as Dangerous Female to distinguish it from the Bogart remake. I've seen this version and it's pretty enjoyable if you can forget about Humphrey Bogart, Mary Astor and the other excellent actors. But we do get Bebe Daniels!
In 1936 Bette Davis and Warren William appeared in Satan Met a Lady, a very loose adaptation. Warner Brothers studio owned the rights to Hammett's novel and decided to milk the property for another release. Very little of Hammett's work survived. Then that best known 1941 version has been followed in more recent decades by The Maltese Bippy [1969], a vehicle for Dan Rowan and Dick Martin of Laugh-In fame with Rowan as Sam Smith. In 1975 The Black Bird featured George Seagal as Sam Spade, Jr., in another comedic take. With Hollywood's current fascination with recycle and reuse, a new version could well appear soon. A stage version by Bryan Colley did appear in 2008.
On February 2, 1943, a serious interpretation of the story was broadcast on the Lux Radio Theatre. Lux [named after its soap sponsor] ran on various networks from 1934 until 1955, adapting Broadway plays in its first two seasons and then films. For eleven of those years the great Cecil B. DeMille introduced the stories, including The Maltese Falcon. That version starred Edward G. Robinson as Sam Spade and Gail Patrick as his female nemesis Miss Wonderly, or Brigid Shaughnessy or whatever. You can read the script of this adaptation here & listen to it on YouTube.
And there's the Alabama connection to The Maltese Falcon--Gail Patrick. I've written about Patrick's extensive film career as well as her years as executive producer of the classic Raymond Burr Perry Mason TV series. Patrick was born in 1911 in Birmingham as Margaret LaVelle Fitzgerald. She graduated from Howard College, remained there for a brief period as acting dean of women, then spent two years in law school at the University of Alabama. On impulse she entered a contest by Paramount Studios; although she did not win, she was offered train fare to Hollywood for herself and her brother. She made her film debut in 1932; she died in 1980. She had many prominent acting roles before retiring in 1948. I've also written about her early role as one of the murder victims in the very strange, very fascinating 1934 film Murder at the Vanities.
I wonder what other radio goodies are to be found in Patrick's career?
A couple of Patrick's studio glamour shots
