]Always off-kilter, he hallucinates about his vision of an allegorical rain that will cleanse the dirty, mean streets:May 10th.] The mysterious legend of the fabled, treasured statuette (a fictional account) scrolls up the screen (above the falcon) to set the stage: :In 1539, the Knights Templar of Malta, paid tribute o Charles V of Spain, by sending him a Golden Falcon encrusted from beak to claw with rarest jewels- - - - - but pirates seized he galley carrying this priceless token and the fate of the Maltese Falcon remains a mystery to this day.[Note: Another similar plotline is found in Hitchcock""sNotorious (1946).There were also many similarities to the Best Picture-winning film from a few years earlier,Casablanca (1942)- an exotic and remote setting, a casino, a dysfunctional or problematic love triangle (between a female, a European and an American), intriguing characters, memorable dialogue, and a backdrop or subplot regarding Nazis, etc.She collects funds from the oppressed women to raise bounty money o spread the word (or to hire gunmen) to shoot the offending perpetrators of the crime: "Just because we let them smelly fools ride us like horses don""t mean we gotta let ""em brand us like horses...No, I ain""t been to California.I don""t intend to go either.Martha takes Ethan""s coat, folds it, and puts it in her bedroom""s hope chest, while Ethan watches.At Ethan""s side, Aaron - aware of their semi-secret love - peacefully offers a handshake and welcome.