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List Price: $19.95 | | Publisher: Vince Emery Productions
Salesrank: 607013
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| Our Price: $10.00 |
| Used Price: $9.07 |
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| Media: Paperback |
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Editorial Review:
New book reveals discoveries about The Maltese Falcon, Dashiell Hammett, and detective Sam Spade
Hammett expert Richard Layman packs Discovering The Maltese Falcon and Sam Spade with hundreds of unexpected delights, says Los Angeles Times
This richly illustrated new paperback edited by Richard Layman, Discovering The Maltese Falcon and Sam Spade, uncovers from institutional and private archives a wealth of revelations about the book and film versions of The Maltese Falcon, its author Dashiell Hammett, and his influential hero, detective Sam Spade. Crammed with fascinating facts, the new book provides hundreds of never-before-published photos, documents, and original source materials, including production notes for the three movie versions.
The result of a lifetime of research by Hammett expert Layman, Discovering The Maltese Falcon and Sam Spade provides hundreds of surprises about the novel, its author, and its film versions, such as:
- For rights to publish the now-famous novel (which has sold more than 4.5 million copies in English alone), publisher Alfred A. Knopf paid author Hammett an advance of nothing.
- The sculptor who created the legendary statuette of the black bird for the 1941 Humphrey Bogart movie may have been an accomplice of the Black Dahlia murderer and the killer of author James Ellroy’s mother.
- Working notes (printed here for the first time) for The Secret Emperor, Hammett’s first, never-finished novel, show that it included elements he later used in The Maltese Falcon and The Glass Key.
- About the same time that Hammett wrote The Maltese Falcon, he also wrote "The Boundaries of Science and Philosophy," published here for the first time.
- More than two thousand changes were made to the original magazine version of The Maltese Falcon before it was published as a novel.
Contributors to Discovering The Maltese Falcon and Sam Spade include Dashiell Hammett himself, plus Jo Hammett, Richard Layman, Joseph Shaw, Mary Astor, Dorothy Parker, Hal Wallis, John Huston, Joe Gores, William F. Nolan, and more than fifty additional writers. It is illustrated with more than 250 black & white and color photos, illustrations, and facsimiles.
The book is "the stuff that dreams are made of" for fans of The Maltese Falcon, Sam Spade, Dashiell Hammett, detective fiction, film noir, and the history of literature and cinema.
Discovering The Maltese Falcon and Sam Spade: The Evolution of Dashiell Hammett’s Classic Novel, Including John Huston’s Movie with Humphrey Bogart updates and expands a hardcover book published two years ago for libraries. The paperback edition includes everything from the library edition and more at a much lower price.
Discovering The Maltese Falcon and Sam Spade is the second title in The Ace Performer Collection, a new series of books published by Vince Emery Productions by and about Dashiell Hammett, crowned "the ace performer" by his disciple Raymond Chandler. It is released in 2005 as part of events held worldwide this year to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the publication of Dashiell Hammett’s masterpiece The Maltese Falcon, often named as one of the twentieth-century’s best novels. John Huston's film adaptation made Humphrey Bogart a star, and was selected by the American Film Institute as number 23 in its selection of the 100 greatest movies of all time.
Discovering The Maltese Falcon and Sam Spade: The Evolution of Dashiell Hammett's Masterpiece, Including John Huston's Movie with Humphrey Bogart (The Ace Performer Collection series) Reviews:
Maltese Falcon 
2009-04-25 - The book I got was fine. The problem was that it took over 3 weeks for me to get the book even though the book was sent out the next day after I ordered it. I was in contact with the company and they were very helpful...the situation was the way the book was mailed. It could have been my fault because I had it shipped the cheapest way, which was some lower form of mail service than the normal way. Who would have believed it could take that long to get from NY to NC? So the moral of the story here is, if you order something, really looking at the shipping method and believe that it could take a long time if you don't upgrade the shipping method.
Amazing Collection of Materials on the Genesis and Legacy of "The Maltese Falcon". 
2007-01-07 - "Discovering the Maltese Falcon and Sam Spade" is an amazing collection of materials related to Dashiell Hammett, his greatest novel "The Maltese Falcon", the film adaptations of the book, and other spin-offs assembled by Hammett biographer Richard Layman. Layman states in his introduction, "The purpose of this volume is to provide researchers basic materials useful in studying 'The Maltese Falcon'." Not everything ever written about "The Maltese Falcon" is here, but the contents of this book are remarkably varied. The collection is probably too dense for casual fans of "The Maltese Falcon", but it's indispensable for Hammett scholars and aficionados. The only fault I find is that reproductions of newspaper and other type-written materials are sometimes poor and would have benefited from enhancement.
The book is organized into five parts. The first part, "Detective Days", provides biographical information on Dashiell Hammett, a history of the Pinkerton National Detective Agency, an interview with a colleague of Hammett's at Pinkerton, excerpts from books on criminal investigation that Hammett studied, and some non-fiction pieces that Hammett wrote about his detective days. The second section, "The Pulps and the Making of the Novel", includes a history of "Black Mask" magazine, the historical basis for the Maltese Falcon statuette, comments by "Black Mask" editor Joseph T. Shaw, some reviews of Hammett's mystery fiction, and many excerpts from Hammett's stories that later inspired characters and events in "The Maltese Falcon".
"Magazine and Book Publication" begins with a copy of Hammett's book contract with Knopf and correspondence with publisher Harry Block. There are covers of "Black Mask" issues that serialized "The Maltese Falcon", examples of text that was revised between magazine publication and book publication, early book jackets, many favorable reviews of the book, Dorothy Parker's tepid review of "The Glass Key", articles about Cecil Henderson's plagiarism, and sales data for the novel. The forth section, "Critical Views of 'The Maltese Falcon'", is seven pieces of relatively recent literary criticism that explore American individualism, Sam Spade's vernacular, the novel as introverted romance, as allegory of international politics between the wars, and the pursuit of tangible wealth, among other themes.
The last section, "Movies, Stage, and Radio: Hammett's Novel in Popular Culture", follows Hammett's life after the publication of the novel, followed by discussions of the script, budget, and reviews for the first film adaptation at Warner Brothers in 1931. More letters from Warner Brothers, title suggestions, correspondence with the Breen Office, and reviews of the second movie adaptation, "Satan Met a Lady", in 1936. For John Huston's 1941 adaptation, there is a letter from Joseph Breen citing Production Code violations in the script, a budget, letters about filming, Mary Astor's recollections of the film, 3 movie reviews, and 4 critical analyses. There is a bit about an abortive stage play and the legal challenges over "The Adventures of Sam Spade" radio show. There is a list of selected publications of "The Maltese Falcon" in the back of the book as well as an index.
No Question Left Unanswered
2006-06-08 - I love the story of THE MALTESE FALCON, not only as it is told in Hammett's novel but also as it is portrayed in John Huston's movie. I can never read enough about Dashiell Hammett, Joseph Shaw, Humphrey Bogart, Peter Lorre, Gladys George, Sydney Greenstreet, Elisha Cook Jr., Mary Astor, Barton MacLane, Robert and William Pinkerton, John Huston, Lillian Hellman, the Knights of Malta, BLACK MASK, San Francisco after World War I and Raymond Chandler.
This book has enough anecdotes and background material to satisfy even the most ardent enthusiast. My own favorite piece is an account by Mary Astor of her experiences while filming for her role as Brigid O'Shaughnessy in the 1941 version of THE MALTESE FALCON.
A Rare Treat For The Fan Of Sam Spade
2006-06-06 - DISCOVERING THE MALTESE FALCON AND SAM SPADE is the complete book for the fan of Sam Spade in both film and fiction. Fortunately, a very detailed index is provided which allows the reader to choose from among an array of tantalizing topics.The latter includes an account of Dashiell Hammett's days as a Pinkerton detective as well as his work for BLACK MASK. The author also gives us much information about THE MALTESE FALCON in the movies and on stage and radio.The book represents an admirable effort by Layman and it will be enjoyed by anyone captivated by the lure of this enduring tale.
Dashiell Hammett
2005-10-27 - Dashiel Hammett is one of my favorite authors, I have all of his stories, including a couple of biographies. I'm also a fan of Noir stories and movies. This is a great book to add to my collection.
