The time line begins in 1954 and jumps to 1962. Sam listens to the news on the radio which mentions John F. Kennedy's September 12, 1962, Moon Speech.
Spade's car in the opening minutes is a black 1955 Peugot 203. Though the cheaper, smaller offering of saloon cars by Peugot that year, it's prized as a classic car for its lines and stance.
Marguerite Devereaux is singing Françoise Hardy's song "Tous les garçons et les filles," which was released in June 1962, placing these events in the summer/autumn months of that year.
PROLOGUE: "Some say that Sam Spade was the greatest private investigator whoever lived. Some say that Sam Spade was the greatest private investigator whoever lived. In San Francisco. It all depended on which bar you are sitting at when you ask the question. But that was a long time ago. Before he disappeared. Now there are those who say he lives somewhere in the South of France. While others say, ==France?== ==Spade?== ==Not a chance!=="
In 1853, Bayard Taylor wrote his poem Bedouin Song, which includes the line, "Till the sun grows cold".