The Maltese Falcon: a genre-defining classic It introduced into the novel form the key elements of 20th-century detective fiction: the flawed outsider hero, the dangerous woman, the confusing plot, and lie upon lie peeled away to reveal the truth. Raymond Chandler, James Ellroy, Elmore Leonard and even William Burroughs have all acknowledged the debt they owe to The Maltese Falcon. READ: James Dean's legend lives on - but what about the films? The Maltese Falcon was his first big success, resulting in seven printings in the first year and a new circle of literary friends including Ernest Hemingway, Dorothy Parker and the playwright Lillian Hellman, with whom Hammett had a long, torrid affair. Hammett was as flawed a man as Sam Spade. Gambling, heavy drinking, prostitutes and gifts for lovers ate into the considerable sums he made from his books and film rights. In 1946 he was jailed for four months for his involvement with a group of communists who jumped bail on a conspiracy trial, and the same year he was hit with a demand by the IRS for a back payment of taxes. Bankrupted, blacklisted and alcoholic, Hammett wrote no more from then until his death in 1961. Despite his slender output, Hammett had a profound effect not only on crime fiction but also on film and television. John Huston's 1941 film of The Maltese Falcon provided the formula for film noir, with Humphrey Bogart as the ultimate disillusioned detective and Mary Astor as the classic femme fatale. It's a formula that has cropped up again and again, in The Big Sleep (1946), Chinatown (1974), and Blood Simple (1984). As for the original Maltese Falcon, it was once though to have been long gone, after Bogart dropped it in the middle of a scene, but this week sold for £2.5m at auction. READ: The 30 best films on Netflix