This is it. This is the role that started a genre and launched Humphrey Bogart, already well into his acting career, right into super-stardom. It's the first time Warner Bros. paired Sidney Greenstreet, Peter Lorre and Bogart together, all of whom would return in the seminal Casablanca. And without the role of Sam Spade, it all might never have happened. Here's the thing: Sam Spade is not really the best guy. He sleeps with his partner's wife, then shows little remorse for his death. Still, he was all about keeping up appearances. The character's creator Dashiell Hammett said of Spade that a Private Detective does not "want to be an erudite solver of riddles in the Sherlock Holmes manner; he wants to be a hard and shifty fellow, able to take care of himself in any situation, able to get the best of anybody he comes in contact with, whether criminal, innocent by-stander or client." This is truly why Spade rounds out the list. That description doesn't simply speak for him but for all the last nine characters as well, despite the semantics of their actual job title. Couple that with Spade being identified with such an iconic, hard-boiled noir actor as Bogart, and what is left is nothing short of definitive. Like this list? Who have we missed? Let us know in the comments section below.
While studying English and Philosophy at Rutgers University, Andrew worked as a constant contributor to the The Rutgers Review. After graduating in 2010, he began working as a free-lance writer and editor, providing his input to numerous areas including reviews for the New York Film Series, The Express-Times, and private script and story consulting. He is currently the Director of Film Studies at The Morris County Arts Workshop in New Jersey and publishes essays on the subject of film and television at his blog, The Zoetrope.
