The Maltese Falcon was first made a movie in 1931 and starred Ricardo Cortez as Sam Spade. It was made before the Motion Picture Production Code went into effect and hence is far more risque than the famous 1941 version with Humphrey Bogart.
Cortez was Jewish and from New York. His real name was Jacob Krantz. He used “Cortez” to take advantage of the Latin lover craze created by Rudolph Valentino. He eventually quit acting and went to work as a stockbroker.
