was not making Model T's. That ascetic vehicle, a triumph of functionalism, had

succeeded by avoiding any traces of the irrational decoration that Ford portrayed as

wasteful, inefficient, and 'feminine.' [But] the movies succeeded commercially to the

extent that they enchanted" (Ray 2). While it is correct, then, to assume that studio

filmmaking engaged in the creation of standardized products, it also embraced "irrational

decoration"-as evidenced by the incidental shots of near-identical horses in a film that is

obsessed with keeping things on track for the pursuit of a mythical bird.

 For over four hundred years, we are told in the film's prologue, that bird, "a Golden

Falcon encrusted from beak to claw with rarest jewels," has been at the center of an

intriguing mystery. Since it was first seized by pirates in 1539, before it could be

presented to Charles V of Spain by the Knight Templars of Malta, the priceless bird has

passed through countless hands, turning up mysteriously in various parts of the globe at

different times. It remains, the prologue concludes, "a mystery to this day." It is this

mystery that Spade inadvertently becomes involved in the moment Brigid

O'Shaughnessy walks into his office; it is this case that leads to Miles Archer's murder.

But Spade seems far less interested in finding the falcon than in solving the murder. Even

though Gutman assures him of the authenticity of the statuette-"These are facts,

historical facts," he tries to assure Spade, "not schoolbook history, not Mr. Wells's

history, but history nevertheless"-Spade remains skeptical. For him, a Golden Falcon is

the stuff that myths are made of. After all, a pragmatic private eye cannot believe it

exists, much less expect it to simply fall into his hands. But Spade does stumble upon the

"dingus"-or rather, it stumbles upon him. Just as he is telling his secretary Effie that the

tale of the priceless bird is "ridiculous," an old man staggers into the office holding a