Sam Spade

“Actors such as Cagney, Robinson and Bogart seem to gather within themselves the qualities of the genres they appear in, so that the violence, suffering and angst of the films is restated in their faces, physical presence, movement and speech. By the curious alchemy of the cinema, each successive appearance in a given genre further solidifies the actor's screen persona until they no longer play a role but assimilate it to the collecive entity made up of their own body, personality and past screen roles. For instance, the beat-up face. tired eyes and rasping voice by which we identify Humphrey Bogart are, in part, selections we have made from his roles as Sam Spade, Philip Marlowe and others.”
― Colin McArthur, Underworld USA

“Hell is repetition”
― Stephen King, Storm of the Century

“I certainly wish you would have invented a more reasonable story. I felt distinctly like an idiot repeating it."
Joel Cairo to Sam Spade”
― Dashiell Hammett, The Maltese Falcon

“Our conversations in private have not been such that I am anxious to continue them.”
― Dashiell Hammett, The Maltese Falcon