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The Maltese Falcon Trivia Questions

How much do you really know about The Maltese Falcon? Below are 8 true or false statements. Click each one to reveal the answer and explanation.

1.

The falcon statue in the film is actually made of solid gold and weighs over 20 pounds.

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Easy
✗ FALSE

The prop was made of lead, painted black, and weighed about 45 pounds. The story's 'black bird' is supposedly covered in enamel over gold, but the prop itself is cheap metal.

2.

The Maltese Falcon was the first American film to be released with an R rating.

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Easy
✗ FALSE

The MPAA rating system didn't exist until 1968. The Falcon was released in 1941 under the Hays Code, which banned nudity, profanity, and explicit violence—though it pushed boundaries.

3.

Mary Astor's character Brigid O'Shaughnessy is the only character who never lies on screen.

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Medium
✗ FALSE

Brigid lies constantly—about her name, her motives, and her past. Almost every character deceives others, but Brigid is the most duplicitous, spinning tales until the final reveal.

4.

Humphrey Bogart's character Sam Spade never actually drinks alcohol in the film.

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Medium
✓ TRUE

Despite Bogart's hard-drinking persona, Spade orders coffee, not liquor. His only 'drink' is water. The Production Code limited on-screen drinking, so he stays sober throughout.

5.

The Maltese Falcon was the first film to win an Oscar for Best Picture.

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Medium
✗ FALSE

It was nominated for three Oscars but won none. 'Wings' won the first Best Picture in 1929. The Falcon is famous for launching film noir, not for winning top awards.

6.

The film's famous final line, 'the stuff that dreams are made of,' is a direct quote from Shakespeare.

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Hard
✓ TRUE

Spade paraphrases Prospero's line from 'The Tempest': 'We are such stuff as dreams are made on.' Huston added it to the script, and it became one of cinema's most quoted endings.

7.

Director John Huston wrote the screenplay in just three weeks while on a hunting trip.

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Hard
✓ TRUE

Huston adapted Dashiell Hammett's novel quickly in 1940, typing it up in a cabin in the woods. The fast draft preserved the snappy dialogue and tight plot.

8.

George Raft turned down the role of Sam Spade because he didn't want to be a loser.

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Hard
✓ TRUE

Raft, a major star, declined because he refused to play a character who 'loses' the girl and the treasure. This opened the door for Bogart, making him a legend.

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