The Maltese Falcon

Brigid: 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." Brigid: 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: [smiling] Now you are dangerous.

The Maltese Falcon (1941 film), CC BY-SA 4.0

Spade: You, uh - you aren't exactly the sort of a person you pretend to be, are ya? Brigid: I'm not sure I know exactly what you mean. Spade: The schoolgirl manner, you know, blushing, stammering, and all that. Brigid: 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. Brigid: I won't be innocent. Spade: Good.

The Maltese Falcon (1941 film), CC BY-SA 4.0

Brigid: 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? Brigid: 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.

The Maltese Falcon (1941 film), CC BY-SA 4.0

Spade: [smiling] You are a liar. Brigid: I am. I've always been a liar. Spade: Don't brag about it. Was there any truth at all in that yarn? Brigid: 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.

The Maltese Falcon (1941 film), CC BY-SA 4.0

Spade: Let's go someplace where we can talk. Cairo: 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? Cairo: You always have a very smooth explanation... Spade: What do you want me to do - learn to stutter?

The Maltese Falcon (1941 film), CC BY-SA 4.0

Gutman: 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. 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. 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? Gutman: [chuckling] 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. Gutman: It depends on? Maybe it depends on Joel Cairo

The Maltese Falcon (1941 film), CC BY-SA 4.0