Joel Cairo

E394658

Joel Cairo is a sly, effeminate, and duplicitous criminal figure in Dashiell Hammett’s novel "The Maltese Falcon," known for his involvement in the hunt for the jewel-encrusted statuette.

All labels observed (1)

Label Occurrences
Joel Cairo canonical 2

How this entity was disambiguated

Statements (41)

Predicate Object
instanceOf antagonist
criminal
fictional character
literary character
supporting character
adaptationMedium film
alignment morally ambiguous
appearsIn The Maltese Falcon
appearsInAdaptation The Maltese Falcon
surface form: The Maltese Falcon (1941 film)
appearsInWorkBy Dashiell Hammett
associatedWithCharacter Brigid O’Shaughnessy
surface form: Brigid O'Shaughnessy

Casper Gutman
surface form: Kasper Gutman

Sam Spade
associatedWithObject Maltese Falcon statuette
characterTrait duplicitous
sly
conflictType man versus man
createdBy Dashiell Hammett
culturalImpact early coded depiction of queer masculinity in American crime fiction
fictionalUniverse The Maltese Falcon
surface form: The Maltese Falcon universe
firstAppearance The Maltese Falcon
surface form: The Maltese Falcon (novel)
genderExpression effeminate
genre crime fiction
hardboiled detective fiction
goal to obtain the jewel-encrusted statuette known as the Maltese Falcon
languageOfWork English
literaryFunction to complicate the protagonist's investigation
literaryPeriod 20th-century American literature
medium novel
motivation desire for wealth
greed
narrativeRole rival seeker of the Maltese Falcon
narrativeTheme betrayal
deception
nationalityInText Levantine
notableFor deceptive behavior
effeminate mannerisms
occupation criminal
portrayedBy Peter Lorre
settingOfActivity San Francisco
workPublicationYear 1930

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (2)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Sam Spade associatedWith Joel Cairo
Casper Gutman associatedWith Joel Cairo