Most-quoted character in The Maltese Falcon (1941): in 41 of its 51 quotes
Most scenes with: Brigid O'Shaughnessy (11), Gutman (7), Joel Cairo (6)
Sorry I got up on my hind legs, boys, but you fellas tryin' to rope me made me nervous. Miles gettin' bumped off upset me, and then you birds crackin' foxy, but it's all right now, now that I know what it's all about.
Sam Spade Miss Wonderly's sister ran away from New York with a fellow named Floyd Thursby. They're here in San Francisco. Miss Wonderly is seeing Thursby and has a date to meet him tonight. Maybe he'll bring the sister with him. The chances are he won't. Miss Wonderly wants us to find the sister, get her away from him and back home...If - after we've found her - she still doesn't want to leave him, well, we have ways of managing that.
Sam Spade I don't mind a reasonable amount of trouble.
Sam Spade We, we didn't exactly believe your story, Miss, uh...What is your name, Wonderly or Leblanc?...We didn't exactly believe your story, Miss O'Shaughnessy; we believed your two hundred dollars...I mean, you paid us more than if you'd been telling us the truth, and enough more to make it all right.
Sam Spade Miss O'Shaughnessy is an operative in my employ since yesterday...Cairo is an acquaintance of Thursby's. He came into my office late this afternoon and hired me to find something that Thursby was supposed to have on him when he was bumped off. It, uh, looked funny to me, the way he put it, so I wouldn't touch it. Then he pulled a gun on me. Well, that's neither here nor there unless we start proffering charges against each other. Anyway, Miss O'Shaughnessy and I discussed the matter and we decided to find out exactly how much he knew about Miles' and Thursby's killings so we asked him to come up here. Now maybe we did put the questions to him a little roughly. You know how that is, Lieutenant. But we didn't hurt him enough to make him cry for help.
Sam Spade Aw, don't you know that you're being kidded?...When I heard the buzzer, I said to Miss O'Shaughnessy and Cairo here, I said, 'There's the police again. They're getting to be a nuisance. When you hear them going, one of you scream and then we'll see how far along we can string 'em until they tumble.'...Don't be a sap. That gun was a plant. It was one of mine. Too bad it was only a .25 or maybe you could prove that was the gun that Miles and Thursby were shot with.
Sam Spade Hey, what's this bird, this falcon that everybody's all steamed up about?
Sam Spade I've got to keep in some sort of touch with all the loose ends of this dizzy affair if I'm ever gonna make heads or tails of it.
Sam Spade Everybody has something to conceal. And as far as I can see, my best chance of clearing myself from the trouble you're trying to make for me is by bringing in the murderers all tied up. And the only chance I've got of catching them and tying them up and bringing them in is by staying as far away as possible from you and the police because you'd only gum up the works...Now if you want to go to the board and tell them I'm obstructing justice and ask them to revoke my license - hop to it! You tried it once before and it didn't get you anything but a good laugh all around...And I don't want any more of these informal talks. I have nothing to say to you or the police. And I'm tired of being called things by every crackpot on the city payrolls. So if you want to see me, pinch me or subpoena me or something and I'll come down with my lawyer. I'll see you at the inquest - maybe.
Sam Spade My guess might be excellent or it might be crummy, but Mrs. Spade didn't raise any children dippy enough to make guesses in front of a district attorney, and an assistant district attorney, and a stenographer.
Sam Spade When a man's partner is killed, he's supposed to do something about it. It doesn't make any difference what you thought of him. He was your partner and you're supposed to do something about it. And it happens we're in the detective business. Well, when one of your organization gets killed, it's-it's bad business to let the killer get away with it, bad all around, bad for every detective everywhere.
Sam Spade I've no earthly reason to think I can trust you, and, if I do this and get away with it, you'll have something on me that you can use whenever you want to. Since I've got something on you, I couldn't be sure that you wouldn't put a hole in me some day. All those are on one side. Maybe some of them are unimportant - I won't argue about that - but look at the number of them. And what have we got on the other side? All we've got is that maybe you love me and maybe I love you.
Sam Spade Don't be too sure I'm as crooked as I'm supposed to be. That sort of reputation might be good business, bringing high-priced jobs and making it easier to deal with the enemy, but a lot more money would have been one more item on your side of the scale.
Sam Spade You're a good man, sister.
Sam Spade You're good, you're very good.
Spade When you're slapped, you'll take it and like it!
Spade Now give me all of it fast. When you first came to my office, why did you want Thursby shadowed?
I told you, Sam. I thought he was betraying me and I wanted to find out.
Spade That's a lie...You wanted to get rid of him before Jacobi came with the loot so you wouldn't have to split it with him. Isn't that so? What was your scheme?
I thought if he knew someone was following him, he'd be frightened into going away.
Spade Miles wasn't clumsy enough to be spotted the first night. You told Thursby he was being followed.
I told him. I told him. Yes, but please believe me, Sam. I wouldn't have told him if I thought Floyd would kill him.
Spade If you thought he wouldn't kill Miles, you were right, angel. Miles hadn't many brains but he'd had too many years experience as a detective to be caught like that by a man he was shadowing up a blind alley with his gun in his hip and his overcoat buttoned. But he'd have gone up there with you, angel. He was just dumb enough for that! He would have looked you up and down and licked his lips and gone, grinning from ear to ear. And then you could have stood as close to him as you liked in the dark and put a hole through him with a gun you got from Thursby that evening. The police will be here any minute. Now talk!
Oh, why do you accuse me?
Spade This isn't the time for that school girl act. We're both of us sitting under the gallows. Now, why did you shoot Miles?
I didn't mean to at first. Really, I didn't. But when I found out that Floyd couldn't be frightened, I...oh, I can't look at you and tell you this... [hiding her head in her hands]
Spade You thought Thursby would tackle Miles, and one or the other of them would go down. If Thursby was killed, you were rid of him. If it was Miles, you'd see that Thursby was caught and set up for it, isn't that right?
Spade When you found that Thursby wasn't going to tackle him, you borrowed his gun and did it yourself, right? And when you heard Thursby was shot, you knew Gutman was in town, and you knew you needed another protector, somebody to fill Thursby's boots. So you came back to me.
Yes. But oh, sweetheart. It wasn't only that. I'd have come back to you sooner or later. From the very first instant I saw you, I knew...
Spade Well, if you get a good break, you'll be out of Tehachapi in 20 years and you can come back to me then. I hope they don't hang you, precious, by that sweet neck...Yes, angel, I'm gonna send you over. The chances are you'll get off with life. That means if you're a good girl, you'll be out in 20 years. I'll be waiting for you. If they hang you, I'll always remember you.
Polhaus It's tough, him getting it like that, ain't it? Miles had his faults just like any of the rest of us, but I guess he must have had some good points too, huh?
Spade I guess so.
Spade I've never seen Thursby dead or alive.
Dundy Well, you know me, Spade. If you did it, or if you didn't, you'll get a square deal from me and most of the breaks. Don't know as I blame you much - a man that kills your partner, but that won't stop me from nailing ya.
Spade Fair enough. [toasting] Success to crime!
Iva Sam, did you kill him?
Spade Who put that bright idea in your head?
Iva Well, I thought you said if it wasn't for Miles, you'd --- Be kind to me, Sam!
Spade You killed my husband, Sam. Be kind to me.
Do they have to know about me, I mean - can't you shield me so that I won't have to answer their questions...I can't tell you now. I will later when I can. You've got to trust me, Mr. Spade. Oh, I'm so alone and afraid. I've got nobody to help me if you won't help me. Be generous, Mr. Spade. You're brave. You're strong. You can spare me some of that courage and strength surely. Help me, Mr. Spade. I need help so badly. I've no right to ask you, I know I haven't, but I do ask you. Help me.
Spade You won't need much of anybody's help. You're good. It's chiefly your eyes, I think, and that throb you get in your voice when you say things like 'Be generous, Mr. Spade.'
I deserve that. But the lie was in the way I said it. Not at all in what I said. It's my own fault if you can't believe me now.
Spade Now you are dangerous.
Spade How bad a spot are you actually in?
As bad as could be.
Spade Physical danger?
I'm not heroic. I don't think there's anything worse than death.
Spade Then it's that?
It's that as surely as we're sitting here - unless you help me.
Spade Who killed Thursby? Your enemies or his?
I don't know. His, I suppose. I'm afraid, I don't know.
Will you please clasp your hands together at the back of your neck? I intend to search your offices.
Spade Why, sure. G - go ahead, I won't stop ya.
Spade You, uh - you aren't exactly the sort of a person you pretend to be, are ya?
I'm not sure I know exactly what you mean.
Spade The schoolgirl manner, you know, blushing, stammering, and all that.
I haven't lived a good life - I've been bad, worse than you could know.
Spade That's good, because if you actually were as innocent as you pretend to be, we'd never get anywhere.
I won't be innocent.
Spade Good.
It's more than I can ever offer you if I have to bid for your loyalty.
Spade That's good coming from you. What have you ever given me beside money? Have you ever given me any of your confidence, any of the truth? Haven't you tried to buy my loyalty with money and nothing else?
What else is there I can buy you with?
Spade I don't care what your secrets are. But I can't go ahead without more confidence in you than I've got now. You've got to convince me that you know what this is all about, that you aren't just fiddling around, hoping that it will all come out right in the end.
Can't you trust me a little longer?
You know I never would have placed myself in this position if I didn't trust you completely.
Spade That again?
You know that's true, you know.
Spade You don't have to trust me so long as you persuade me to trust you. Don't worry about that now. He'll [Cairo] be along any minute.
You are a god-send.
Spade Oh, now don't overdo it.
Spade You are a liar.
I am. I've always been a liar.
Spade Don't brag about it. Was there any truth at all in that yarn?
Some...not very much...Oh, I'm - I'm so tired, so tired of lying and making up lies, not knowing what is a lie and what's the truth.
Spade Let's go someplace where we can talk.
No, no, no. Our private conversations have not been such that I'm anxious to continue them. Forgive my speaking so bluntly, but it is the truth.
Spade You mean last night? What else could I do? I had to throw in with her. I don't know where the bird is and neither do you. She does. How are we gonna get it if I don't play along with her?
You always have a very smooth explanation ready, huh?
Spade What do you want me to do - learn to stutter?
Spade By the way, where were you the night Miles was murdered?
Iva Home. [He disagrees by shaking his head.] I was!
Spade No, but if that's your story, it's all right with me.
We begin well, sir. I distrust a man who says 'when'. If he's got to be careful not to drink too much, it's because he's not to be trusted when he does. Well, sir, here's to plain speaking and clear understanding. [They drink.] You're a close-mouthed man.
Spade No, I like to talk.
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. Now, sir, we'll talk if you like. I'll tell you right out - I'm a man who likes talking to a man who likes to talk.
Spade Swell. Will we talk about the black bird?
You're the man for me, sir. No beating about the bush, right to the point. Let's talk about the black bird, by all means. But first, answer me a question. Are you here as Miss O'Shaughnessy's representative?
Spade Well, there's nothing certain either way. It depends.
It depends on? Maybe it depends on Joel Cairo.
Spade Maybe.
The question is, then, which you represent. It'll be one or the other.
Spade I didn't say so.
Who else is there?
Spade There's me.
Ah. That's wonderful sir, wonderful. I do like a man who tells you right out he's looking out for himself. Don't we all? I don't trust a man who says he's not.
Spade Uh-huh. Now, let's talk about the black bird.
Lets. Mr. Spade, have you any conception of how much money can be got for that black bird?
Spade No.
Well, sir, if I told you - if I told you half, you'd call me a liar.
Spade No, not even if I thought so. But you tell me what it is and I'll figure out the profit.
Spade Oh, I know what it's supposed to look like. And I know the value in human life you people put on it.
She didn't tell you what it is? Cairo didn't either?
Spade He offered me ten thousand for it.
Ten thousand. Dollars, mind you, not even pounds. Do they know what that bird is, sir? What is your impression?
Spade Oh, there's not very much to go by. Cairo didn't say he did and he didn't say he didn't. She said she didn't, but, uh, I took it for granted she was lying.
Not an injudicious thing to do. If they don't know, I'm the only one in the whole wide, sweet world who does.
Spade Swell. When you've told me, that'll make two of us.
Mathematically correct, sir, but I don't know for certain that I'm going to tell you.
Spade Oh, don't be foolish. You know what it is and I know where it is. That's why I'm here.
Well, sir, where is it? You see, I must tell you what I know but you won't tell me what you know. That's hardly equitable, sir. No, no, I don't think we can do business along those lines.
Spade Now think again and think fast. I told that gunsel of yours you'd have to talk to me before you're through. I'm telling you now, you'll talk to me today or you are through! [throwing his drink to the floor] What are you wasting my time for? I can get along without you! And another thing: Keep that gunsel out of my way when you're makin' up your mind! I'll kill him if you don't, I'll kill him!
Spade Think it over. You've got till 5 o'clock, then you're either in or out! For keeps!
Wilmer Keep on ridin' me. They're gonna be pickin' iron out of your liver.
Spade The cheaper the crook, the gaudier the patter, huh?
That would amount to a vastly greater sum.
Spade How much greater?
Who knows? Should we say a hundred thousand? Would you believe me if I name a sum that seems a probable minimum?
Spade Why not?
What would you say to a quarter of a million?
Spade And you think the dingus is worth a million, huh?...That's a lot of dough....Minimum, huh? What's the maximum?
The maximum I refuse to guess. You'd think me crazy. I don't know. No telling how high it could go, sir. It is the one and only truth about it.
Yes, sir, we were, but this is genuine coin of the realm. With a dollar of this you can buy ten dollars of talk. And they're more of us to be taken care of now.
Spade That may be, but I've got the falcon.
Spade I'm in this up to my neck, Gutman. I've got to find somebody - a victim - when the time comes. If I don't, I'll be it. Let's give 'em the gunsel. He actually did shoot Thursby and Jacobi, didn't he? Anyway, he's made to order for the part, look at him. Let's give him to 'em.
By gad, sir, you are a character, that you are. There's never any telling what you'll say or do next, except that it's bound to be something astonishing.
Spade Give them Cairo.
Spade You want the falcon. I've got it. The fall guy's part of the price I'm asking. As for Miss O'Shaughnessy, if you think she can be rigged for the part, I'm perfectly willing to discuss it with you.
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?
Well, sir, there are other means of persuasion besides killing and threatening to kill.
Spade Yes, that's, that's true. But - they're none of 'em any good unless the threat of death is behind them - do you see what I mean? If you start something, I'll make it a matter of your having to kill me or call it off.
That's an attitude, sir, that calls for the most delicate judgment on both sides. 'Cause as you know, sir, in the heat of action, men are likely to forget where their best interests lie and that their emotions carry them away.
Spade Then the trick from my angle is to make my play strong enough to tie you up, but not make you mad enough to bump me off against your better judgment.
By gad, sir, you are a character.
Spade All right, you've had your little joke, now tell us about it.
No, Sam! No! That's the one I got from Kemidov, I swear it!
You. It's you who bungled it. You and your stupid attempt to buy it! Kemidov found out how valuable it was. No wonder we had such an easy time stealing it! You, you imbecile! You bloated idiot! You stupid fathead, you! [sobbing]
Don't, Sam. Don't say it even in fun. Ha, ha, ha. Oh, I was frightened for a minute. I really thought...You do such wild and unpredictable things.
Spade Don't be silly. You're taking the fall.
You've been playing with me. Just pretending you care to trap me like this. You didn't care at all. You don't love me!
Spade I won't play the sap for you!
Oh you know it's not like that. You can't say that.
Spade Do you ever fight square with me for half an hour at a stretch since I've known you?
You know down deep in your heart and in spite of anything I've done I love you.
Spade I don't care who loves who!! I won't play the sap for you. I won't walk in Thursby's - and I don't know how many other's - footsteps. You killed Miles and you're going over for it.
How can you do this to me, Sam? Surely, Mr. Archer wasn't so much to you as... [crying]
You know whether you love me or not.
Spade Maybe I do. Well, I'll have some rotten nights after I've sent you over, but that will pass. If all I've said doesn't mean anything to you, then forget it and we'll make it just this: I won't because all of me wants to, regardless of consequences, and because you counted on that with me the same as you counted on that with all the others.
Polhaus It's heavy. What is it?
Spade The, uh, stuff that dreams are made of.
Note: bolded line is ranked #14 in the American Film Institute's list of the top 100 movie quotations in American cinema.
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