October 3, 1941: "The Maltese Falcon" Premieres

October 3, 1941: The Maltese Falcon premieres, starring Humphrey Bogart as San Francisco private investigator Sam Spade. It was the 3rd film version of Dashiell Hammett's mystery novel, following the 1931 film of the same title (with Ricardo Cortez as Spade) and the 1936 film Satan Met a Lady (Warren William).

It is also the 1st film directed by John Huston, and the 1st time Bogart worked with Sydney Greenstreet and Peter Lorre, who would co-star with him in other films, especially the next year's Casablanca. Mary Astor plays Brigid O'Shaughnessy, a.k.a. Ruth Wonderly, who manipulates Sam, until he utters the line, "I won't play the sap for you!"

Brigid and Greenstreet's Kasper Gutman are both after the Maltese Falcon, a jewel-encrusted bird that was intended as a tribute from the Knights Templar of Malta to King Charles V of Spain, who was the Holy Roman Emperor from 1519 to 1566. But it was stolen by pirates and covered with black tar. The artifact's fate remains a mystery, as the only one shown in the film turns out to be a fake, not worth dying for, or killing for -- even if Spade tells San Francisco Police Lieutenant Dundy, played by Barton MacLane, that the real thing is "the stuff that dreams are made of."

Hammett died in 1941, Greenstreet in 1954, Bogart in 1957, Lorre in 1964, MacLane in 1969, and Huston and Astor with a month of each other in 1987. The last surviving actor from the film was Elisha Cook Jr., who played Wilmer Cook, who worked for Gutman. He lived until 1995.

As it is arguably the most popular "film noir" of all time, there have been many parodies, including a 1969 episode of the British spy series The Avengers, a 2001 episode of Charmed, and a 2012 episode of Castle, "the Blue Butterfly."

In 1988, Star Trek: The Next Generation showed Captain Jean-Luc Picard, played by Patrick Stewart, being a fan of hard-boiled detective novels of the mid-20th Century, in particular stories about a character created for the show, San Francisco private eye Dixon Hill. A Holodeck simulation goes wrong, and he and 3 other crewmembers are stuck with 1941 technology and no safety protocols, a problem which comes into play when one of them gets shot. Laurence Tierney, who had appeared in some film noirs as a young man, played Cyrus Redblock, a tribute to Sydney Greenstreet. The title of the episode was a combination of 2 of Raymond Chandler's Philip Marlowe novels: "The Big Goodbye."

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October 3, 1941 was a Friday. On this day, Ernest Evans (no middle name) is born in Spring Gully, South Carolina, and grows up in Philadelphia. Because he did a great impression of rock and roll pioneer Fats Domino, and was fat himself, his friends nicknamed him Chubby Checker. Ironically, his real voice is so distinctive, and his biggest hit song so iconic, that his own voice became one of the most imitated in music history.

This was an off-day in the World Series between the Brooklyn Dodgers, Bogart's favorite team, and the New York Yankees. The Yankees would win the Series in 5 games. The NBA hadn't been founded yet. The NHL season didn't start until November 1. And the NFL played no games. But there were 8 college football games played that night:

* Manhattan College beat George Washington University, 23-0 at the Polo Grounds. Manhattan dropped their football team after the 1942 season, due to the manpower drain of World War II. GWU dropped theirs after 1966, since not having an on-campus stadium meant either building one or renting another stadium, neither of which was deemed cost-effective. Neither has ever resumed play.

* The University of Miami beat Elon University, 38-0 at Burdine Stadium in Miami. In 1959, that stadium would be renamed the Orange Bowl. Elon, of Elon, North Carolina, dropped to NCAA Division II in 1975, but rose to Division I FCS (formerly known as Division I-AA) in 1999.

* The University of Detroit beat crosstown Wayne State University, 54-0 at Titan Stadium on the UD campus. UD was founded as an all-male school by the Society of Jesus (the Jesuits) in 1877. They dropped their football program after the 1964 season. Also in 1941, the Sisters of Mercy founded Mercy College of Detroit, for women. In 1990, the schools merged, to become the coeducational University of Detroit Mercy. Wayne State have played in NCAA Division II since 1975.

* Creighton University beat Saint Louis University, 18-8 at Creighton Stadium in Omaha, Nebraska. After the 1942 season, like Manhattan due to World War II, Creighton dropped its football program. SLU dropped theirs in 1949. Neither has ever resumed.

* Texas Tech beat Oklahoma A&M, 16-6 at Taft Stadium in Oklahoma City. A&M became Oklahoma State in 1958.

* Brigham Young University played Colorado State College of Education at Greeley, beating them 26-0 at what was known as "Y Stadium" on the BYU campus, in Provo, Utah. CSC became the University of Northern Colorado in 1970, but everybody outside of Colorado thinks of the Chapel Hill Tar Heels when they hear "UNC."

* Oregon beat Idaho, 21-7 at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon.

* And Gonzaga University beat Albertson College, 14-0 at a stadium known as the Lettuce Bowl (I am not making that up) in Nampa, Idaho. Gonzaga, based in Spokane, Washington, dropped their football program after the 1941 season, due to World War II, and have never resumed it. Albertson renamed itself the College of Idaho in 2007. They suspended their football program in 1977, and resumed play in the NAIA in 2014.