Continuity: Kasper Gutman says, "Come come, Mr. Spade. You can't expect us to believe at this late date that you're the least bit afraid of the police" with his left hand on his chin. In the next shot his left hand is at his side.

Visible crew/equipment: When detective Dundy visits Spade in the middle of the night and asks, "What kind of gun do you carry?" an equipment shadow can be seen moving above Spade's head on the lamp.

Revealing: In the final scene where Miss O'Shaughnessy is in the elevator with the detective, the door closes and the elevator starts to 'descend', indicated by dark glass going down, supposedly because the lighted elevator is passing beyond the view of the exterior door. But if you look, you can still see the silhouette of Miss O'Shaughnessy behind the glass, not moving. It is just a piece of wood or something being lowered behind the glass to simulate the elevator going down.

Continuity: As Sam Spade slaps Joel Cairo, Joe's bow-tie changes from polka dots to stripes.

Continuity: In his hotel room as they speak about the black bird, Kasper Gutman pours Spade a drink. A second glass appears on the table just before they sit down.

Continuity: As Kasper Gutman talks to Spade about the Maltese Falcon, we see the bottle of liquor on the table go from half full to three quarters full in two shots without anyone going near it.

Continuity: Miles Archer walks in and throws his hat on his desk as Sam Spade speaks to Brigid O'Shaughnessy in the first scene of the movie. The hat is leaning against a letter holder on Miles' desk, later it's in the letter holder and no one went near it.

Factual error: In the opening credits, it says that the Knights Templar of Malta paid tribute to the King of Spain with the Falcon in 1539. The Knights that were in Malta were the Knights Hospitallers of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem. They mixed with the order of the Knights Templar, which went out of existence in 1314 and has also been founded in Jerusalem. They had nothing to do with Malta.

Continuity: As Spade speaks to Brigid O'Shaughnessy in the first scene of the movie there's a file cabinet in between Miles' and Spade's desk. Throughout the scene the books on top of the file cabinet change positions without anyone going near them.