FAQ for
The Maltese Falcon (1941)

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When Hammett wrote the novel The Maltese Falcon, he described Wilmer as a "catamite" (a young man in a sexual relationship with an older man). The publisher objected, so Hammett changed it to "gunsel," an obscure bit of street slang with the same meaning. Because so few people were familiar with the term, it snuck past the Breen Office and into the finished film.

Most people who watch the movie assume "gunsel" is just another word for "gun man," and many subsequent novels and films noir have misused the term as such.