Character Analysis
Aces Wild
If there's a bird that's strange, and you're a girl who looks good, who you gonna call? No ghosts to bust here, so you'd better call Private Detective Sam Spade.
In The Maltese Falcon, we only see him on the case of the Maltese Falcon so we don't know if this is business as usual for him or business unusual. Whatever he normally does, it likely involves broads, dames, babes, and other '40s slang for dangerous women.
Katy Perry is one broad whom Spade would be attracted to, because she doesn't mind men who run hot and cold—and that's Spade to a T.
He's a good detective—he pays attention and deciphers clues quickly—but he lets his temper get the better of him. Although, as we see in a scene where he yells at Gutman, his hot temper seems to be an act. He's angry in the hotel room, but composed outside of it.
Spade can read people and he knows what they want. Gutman seems to admire Spade's hot temper, because he likes a man who can get rough, but he also cautions him from getting too hot, especially with Brigid:
GUTMAN: As you know, in the heat of action men are likely to forget where their best interests lie and let their emotions carry them away.
Ace in the Hole
Spade can handle Gutman, but Brigid is a more confusing matter for our detective. He admires the woman, even though she's obviously a shady character. As she spins her web of lies, he doesn't get angry, he tells her, "You're good, you're very good." He admires how deceptive she is…maybe because she has the same capability for deception that he does.
Even with the temptation of the Maltese Falcon and the riches it promises, Spade appears to want Brigid more than the Falcon. But he treats her like a prize, too. Their relationship is based on a bargaining for power, and Spade only likes her when he has the upper-hand. When Brigid is all out of bargaining chips, Spade snaps at her:
SPADE: What have you ever given me besides money? 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?
Brigid responds seductively, "What else is there I can buy you with?" And they smooch for the first time, followed by him creepily massaging her cheek, similar to the way Gutman touches the Falcon at the end of the movie.
Spade is a classic noir detective because of his ambiguous morals. He works for crooks and for the police. But one thing is for certain—he's working for himself above anyone else. When he discovers that Brigid lied to him and that she killed his partner, he turns her in and seems to have no qualms about doing it. When Brigid hisses at him, "You don't love me!" we're unsure if that's true. Maybe he did love her, temporarily. But if he did, he's able to turn his emotions on and off like a switch.
Sam Spade's Timeline