If you read the novel before the seeing the original 1931 The Maltese Falcon, you'll see that the film almost follows it verbatim albeit, the beginning has visual and verbal shorthand to establish the Spade character, as an Intelligent, womanizing, smart aleck, detective.
Hammett's Sam Spade as written on the page, and as depicted in the 1931 screen version has more in common with Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer (in his female relationships) than Raymond Chandlers Marlowe - "Down these mean streets a man must go who is not himself mean, who is neither tarnished nor afraid... He must be the best man in his world, and a good enough man for any world.” (from Raymond Chandler's, “The Simple Act of Murder.")
Think of the original Spade as more of a wise cracking Jim Rockford (James Garner) type of detective combined with a Dean Martin "chick magnet" personality.
Hammett, if I remember right, is quoted as saying that the genesis of Spade was a amalgamation of what all the Ops he knew working for Pinkerton thought they were, for maybe five minutes on their best days, lol.
"Spade has no original. He is a dream man in the sense that he is what most of the private detectives I worked with would like to have been and in their cockier moments thought they approached." (Dashiell Hammett)
Below the Dashiell Hammett - Sam Spade character, as originally created, an Intelligent, womanizing, smart aleck, detective.
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