Unlucky - she starred in two films which were totally eclipsed by their remakes. As well as appearing in the 1931 Maltese Falcon, she had the lead role of Dorothy in the original (1910) version of The Wizard Of Oz (it's only ten minutes long, but still...).
shareShe was much hotter than Mary Astor. Easy to see how Spade could fall for her.
shareI agree. Mary Astor had a weak mouth and zero SA. I could never figure why Sam would fall for her. Bebe was much more beautiful.
Push the button, Max!
If you have the 2-DVD collection, which has both versions of "The Maltese Falcon", Mary Astor was 5th on the list for the part of Miss Wonderly in the 1941 version. I'm not sure if there's an order to this list (1st on the list is 1st choice, 2nd on the list is 2nd choice, etc.), but the list for that part is: Olivia DeHaviland, Loretta Young, Rita Hayworth, Geraldine Fitzgerald, then Astor. Others considered for the part were Paulette Goddard, Brenda Marshall, Janet Gaynor, Joan Bennett, Betty Field, Ingrid Bergman, Frances Dee, Ruth Hussey, Lorraine Day, Annabella, Illona Massey, and Dorothy Lamour.
But hey, Lee J. Cobb was considered for Joel Cairo and Kasper Gutman in the 1941 version.