Ever notice that every blockbuster movie has the same fundamental pieces? A hero, a journey, some conflicts to muck it all up, a reward, and the hero returning home and everybody applauding his or her swag? Yeah, scholar Joseph Campbell noticed first—in 1949. He wrote The Hero With a Thousand Faces, in which he outlined the 17 stages of a mythological hero's journey.

About half a century later, Christopher Vogler condensed those stages down to 12 in an attempt to show Hollywood how every story ever written should—and, uh, does—follow Campbell's pattern. We're working with those 12 stages, so take a look. (P.S. Want more? We have an entire Online Course devoted to the hero's journey.)

Ordinary World

Things are simple for Sam Spade. He's a detective. He has a partner. He takes on clients. Life is black and white for Spade, like this movie.

Call to Adventure

When Brigid enters the office and asks Spade to find her missing sister, Spade's black-and-white world is colored in with shades of grey. Is she good? Is she bad? Even Spade himself seems to be on both sides.

Refusal of the Call

For a hot second, Spade doesn't want anything to do with Brigid, because he knows she lied to him. But the emphasis here is on the "hot." He has the hots for her, so once he wrings the truth from her, he agrees to help out.

Meeting the Mentor

Brigid is so gosh-darn vague that Spade isn't quite sure what she wants until he meets Kasper Gutman. Gutman talks about something called the Maltese Falcon. It's the title of the movie, so it must be important. After their initial meeting, Spade finally has a solid goal in mind.

Crossing the Threshold

Spade returns to Gutman and offers to give him the Falcon in exchange for proceeds from the sale of this mysterious artifact. Spade was walking the line between good and bad up until this point, but here we have definitive proof that he has no moral issues working with the bad guys if there's something in it for him.

Tests, Allies, Enemies

Because this is a film noir, there's no way to tell who is Spade's ally and who is his enemy. The roles switch rapidly during the course of the movie. At some points, Spade is working with Brigid, Cairo, and Gutman, but at other points he's working against them. Sometimes they're working with each other, and sometimes they're bickering and arguing. It's a great big tangled knot, which makes it more fun for viewers to try to decipher the mystery.

Approach to the Inmost Cave

The inmost cave comes to Spade in The Maltese Falcon when Captain Jacobi drops the Maltese Falcon on the floor of Spade's office. Where's the Staples button, because that was easy. But the hard part now is for Spade to decide what to do with this big bird.

Ordeal

Brigid phones Spade and screams. The line goes dead. He must race to save her, but she isn't there. If anything happens to Brigid, Spade will have to re-evaluate his entire purpose for pursuing the Falcon, so the stakes are high. Good thing she's simply standing in the doorway when he returns to his apartment.

Reward (Seizing the Sword)

Spade presents Gutman with the Falcon…and it turns out to be fake. Oops. They scuttle off to find the real bird, which means that Spade's big reward here is finally getting the gangsters out of his hair.

The Road Back

After the gangsters leave, The Maltese Falcon ends where it began—with Spade and Brigid together.

Resurrection

Spade confronts Brigid. If you remember when they first met, she called herself Ruth Wonderly (a fake name if we've ever heard one). Spade knows that Brigid killed his partner and lied about it. She'll always put herself first, so Spade turns Brigid in to the police. Spade will return to his normal life as a private detective, but Brigid's next stop is the slammer.

Return With the Elixir

Spade is left without a partner and without a girl, but he does have a big, fake Falcon. He tells the police that the Falcon is "the stuff that dreams are made of." All the drama surrounding the Falcon was the most dangerous and stressful stuff Spade had to face, so it's all smooth sailing from here on out.