How we cite our quotes: All quotations are from The Maltese Falcon.
Quote #1
BRIGID: I'm trying to find my sister. I have reason to believe she's here in San Francisco with a man by the name of Thursby. Floyd Thursby.
If you were to play a Maltese Falcon drinking game (with soda, of course) and take a drink every time Brigid lied, you'd have a sugar rush in the first five minutes and two cavities by the midpoint of the movie.
Quote #2
SPADE: What is your name, Wonderly or LeBlanc?
Being a private detective, Spade is used to sniffing out lies, even in his clients. He seems to have been suspicious of Brigid from the start, and he isn't surprised to learn that she has provided him with an alias…or two.
Quote #3
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.
Brigid's fallback strategy after being caught in a lie is to go into full-on "woe is me" mode. This, too, is a lie, but for some reason Spade seems to fall for it. He must have a soft spot for a damsel in distress. Would Spade fall for the same act if it were a man putting it on?
Quote #4
BRIGID: Mr. Spade, you don't think I had anything to do with the death of Mr. Archer?
SPADE: Did you?
BRIGID: No.
SPADE: That's good.
This is another weird instance where Spade believes Brigid. She's like a contestant on a reality show who lies all the time…yet still finds people to trust her. Why does Spade choose this moment to believe her? Later on, he will figure out that Brigid shot Archer herself.
Quote #5
SPADE: You aren't exactly the sort of a person you pretend to be, are you?
BRIGID: Why, I—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: Yeah 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.
Ah, here is Brigid telling the truth for once. She finally drops one persona and adopts a different, more truthful one. We're still not sure if this is the real Brigid, though, because she might not even know who she really is at this point.
Quote #6
BRIGID: I'm so tired…so tired of lying and making up lies. Not knowing what is a lie and what is the truth.
We're surprised Brigid can keep all her stories straight. We have to give her credit for one thing—she doesn't ever make the amateur mistake of getting "caught" in a lie in a comical way. She's able to stay ahead of everyone else for most of the movie.
Quote #7
CAIRO: I adhered to the course you indicated earlier in your rooms but I certainly wish you would have invented a more reasonable story. I felt distinctly like an idiot repeating it.
SPADE: Don't worry about the story's goofiness. A sensible one would have had us all in the cooler.
Perhaps Spade senses a "me vs. the world" mentality in Brigid and understands that she lies as a result of that. Spade behaves the same way. For him, it's acceptable to lie to the police because he believes they are unfairly out to get him. He needs any advantage he can get, even one built on falsehoods.
Quote #8
EFFIE: I'll have to say she's a surprise witness, or someone you're keeping undercover until the last minute.
"Good liar" must be in Effie's job description. Do you think it said that in the newspaper ad for a detective's secretary? "Nice phone manner. Able to type quickly and accurately. And lie at the drop of a hat."
Quote #9
SPADE: Everybody has something to conceal.
Spade shows us that lying doesn't necessarily make someone a "bad guy." Everyone has lied about something at some point. So the line between good and bad isn't crossed with a lie.
Quote #10
SPADE: You never played square with me for half an hour at a stretch since I've known you!
For a large part of the movie, it seems that Spade admires Brigid for her ability to lie. But once the lie begins to affect him, he's not so fond of it anymore. He sees that she is willing to lie in a way that might hurt him, and he's not willing to risk that by continuing a relationship with her.