In Dashiell Hammett’s THE MALTESE FALCON (published in 1930 in BLACK MASK magazine, in book form the following year) there are a number of oblique references.
In Sam Spade’s first encounter with Wilmer, the gunman employed by Caspar Gutman (the fat man), Spade says to the gunsel “Baumes rush?” This should have been printed as “Baume’s rush?”…it’s a ref to the then-attorney general of New York, a guy named Baume, who managed to have a lot of cheap hoods kicked out of the city on various charges in an effort to do a little spring cleaning. This later mutated to “bum’s rush.”
Neat, huh? Now, help me with one.
After the first night Spade and Brigid O’Shaughnessy spend together, Brigid comes “Out of the bathroom whistling EN CUBA.” In a later scene, when the principal characters are waiting for the Falcon to be delivered, Spade also “whistled two lines of EN CUBA.”
My buddy Joe Gores, the private eye writer and Hammett expert, asked for my help in identifying this song.
It’s indefinite enough that I can’t do it with search engines…does anyone out there know it? Or is anyone better at computer searches than I am (THAT’S not hard).
Mel, I just hope he’s more help than Mongo Santamaria was when I called HIM. That guy’s about as useless as tits on a bull.
Dex, help me solve the Riddle of the Song (although Flora’s probably right…the Casa Loma Orchestra was probably playing it on the radio the day Hammett was writing the chapter), and Gores and I will perform it at your home as a Singing Telegram.
Cole Porter (Irving Berlin? Am I already disqualified for not being sure?) wrote a song about going back to Cuba. I have a recent recording by K.T. Oslin. It’s a clever, funny, catchy song but I think the actual title is “I’ll See You in C-U-B-A”.
“And comb London’s teeming millions for him? Had we but world enough and time.”
Dorothy L. Sayers Murder Must Advertise
Re-reading the OP I think I’m disqualified. The Cuba song I was thinking of talked about going to Cuba because it wasn’t “dry”. If The Maltese Falcon was written in 1930 then the timing’s no good. When did Prohibition actually begin? (“Hand’s up! We’re taking this thread EN CUBA!”)
“And comb London’s teeming millions for him? Had we but world enough and time.”
Dorothy L. Sayers Murder Must Advertise
Uke- if you get desperate, you might try calling S. Spade, listed in Yahoo people search, and living at the old Spade address. The fellow is a Falcon fan (okay, he’s obsessed) and might have the info - or will get it. You can email me if you need more info - RedQueen0916@cs.com
Photons have mass!? I didn't even know they were Catholic...
Super old thread I know but I’m reading The Maltese Falcon right now and was wondering the same thing. Here is a link saying that the song is a fabrication. There are a lot of songs talking about Cuba at the time but “En Cuba” isn’t real.
Here’s a copy of the movie script. Directions state that Spade whistles “En Cuba” The Maltese Falcon by jerry camps - Issuu
(I just had a look at the film. He doesn’t whistle.)
Here’s information about a stage version. It says that the music director Edmund Valesco “found the rare recordings of En Cuba” for the show.