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Quotations from The Maltese Falcon

The Maltese Falcon is a film-noir dramatic crime film about a San Francisco private detective who takes up a case involving three eccentric criminals and a gorgeous liar as they all seek out to obtain a jewel-encrusted falcon statuette. Directed by John Huston. Starring Humphrey Bogart, Mary Astor, and Gladys George. Based on the novel of the same name by Dashiell Hammett. This was Huston's directorial debut.

The Maltese Falcon was nominated for three Oscar awards: Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Greenstreet); Best Picture; and Best Writing, Screenplay. This movie was selected to be preserved in the National Film Registry. Today, the film is considered one of the greatest movies ever made. Continue reading for some quotes from The Maltese Falcon.


Sam Spade: Ten thousand? We were talking about a lot more money than this.
Kasper Gutman: Yes, sir, we were, but this is genuine coin of the realm. With a dollar of this, you can buy ten dollars of talk.
Spade: We didn't exactly believe your story, Miss O'Shaughnessy. We believed your 200 dollars. I mean, you paid us more than if you had been telling us the truth, and enough more to make it all right.
Kasper Gutman: Here's to plain speaking and clear understanding.
Sam Spade: I don't mind a reasonable amount of trouble.
Sam Spade: If you kill me, how are you gonna get the bird? And if I know you can't afford to kill me, how are you gonna scare me into giving it to you?
Kasper Gutman: You're a close-mouthed man?
Sam Spade: Nah, I like to talk.
Kasper Gutman: Better and better. I distrust a close-mouthed man. He generally picks the wrong time to talk and says the wrong things. Talking's something you can't do judiciously, unless you keep in practice.
[sits back]
Kasper Gutman: Now, sir. We'll talk, if you like. I'll tell you right out, I am a man who likes talking to a man who likes to talk.
Sam Spade: Swell. Will we talk about the black bird?
Joel Cairo: Look what you did to my shirt.
Sam Spade: You're good. You're very good.
Wilmer Cook: Keep on riding me and they're gonna be picking iron out of your liver.
Sam Spade: The cheaper the crook, the gaudier the patter, eh?
Sam Spade: You killed Miles and you're going over for it.
Next: Miracle on 34th Street
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