Peter Lorre played Joel Cairo in the 1941 film The Maltese Falcon. Cairo is one of the three principal criminals pursuing the jeweled falcon, alongside Kasper Gutman and Wilmer Cook.
Lorre’s Cairo is a polished, nervous, and highly theatrical figure who hires private detective Sam Spade to find the statuette. His shifting loyalties and tense meetings with Spade help give the film its labyrinthine plot and darkly comic tone.
The film was John Huston’s directorial debut and the second screen adaptation of Dashiell Hammett’s 1930 novel. Humphrey Bogart played Sam Spade, while Sydney Greenstreet played Gutman and Elisha Cook Jr. played Wilmer Cook—three names that can easily cause confusion when remembering the supporting cast.
Released in 1941, The Maltese Falcon is widely regarded as a landmark of film noir. It was selected for the National Film Registry in 1989, recognized as culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.