It's a film about a bunch of extremely nasty individuals, all in search of a valuable object. These people will stop at nothing, even murder and betrayal of one another.
Into this mix comes Sam Spade, a flawed and somewhat callous hero.
The story is Spade's efforts to stay afloat in the midst of the cesspool of human filth he's in danger of drowning in.
It's classic because of the lines, because of Bogart's charismatic performance, because of the charming and appalling villainy of Gutman and Brigit, and of Elmer and Joel Cairo.
It's a cliche to say that they don't make films like that any more, but it is true that nobody makes films in this style any more. The Maltese Falcon has more dialogue, and the plot is much more focused than in a modern film. There are no distracting side-plots or amusing irrelevant quirky characters.
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