The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948)

• Year: 1948
• Released: 24 Jan 1948
• Country: United States
• Adwords: Won 3 Oscars. 16 wins & 8 nominations total
• IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0040897/
• Rotten Tomatoes: https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_treasure_of_the_sierra_madre
• Metacritics: https://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-treasure-of-the-sierra-madre
• Available in: 720p, 1080p,
• Language: English, Spanish
• MPA Rating: Passed
• Genre: Adventure, Drama, Western
• Runtime: 126 min
• Writer: John Huston, B. Traven
• Director: John Huston
• Cast: Humphrey Bogart, Walter Huston, Tim Holt
• Keywords: based on novel or book, friends, money, mexico, 1920s,

	8.2/10
	98/100

The Treasure of the Sierra Madre Storyline

Dobbs and Curtin meet up in Mexico, and go to work for a contractor, Pat McCormick, who takes them away to remote site and tells them they will be paid when the job is finished. When they are finished, they return to town to find McCormick to get their wages. McCormick gives them a few dollars, and says he’ll just go to the bank and pick up the payroll for them. Dobbs and Curtin then meet up with an old prospector, who claims the hills are still full of gold, and if they can get the cash, he’ll go with them. They eventually get the cash from McCormick after a little “persuasion”, and all three set off for the hills as good friends, but will they return that way ?

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The Treasure of the Sierra Madre Movie Reviews

A great tale about the darker side of human nature…

There are already a lot of reviews for this film and it’s in the Top 250 list on IMDb, so I don’t feel quite as much need to talk about his film in great depth–after all, it’s all been pretty much said. This is an exceptional film for many reasons–most notably because it looks into the darker side of human nature–something you don’t often see in films during this era.

The film begins in Mexico. Two Americans (Time Holt and Humphrey Bogart) are stranded there and haven’t a peso between them. Their needs are few–they just want to get enough to buy a meal and find a place to flop. Through this first portion of the film, both men seem like decent enough sorts and the audience tends to empathize with them–even when they are involved in a vicious brawl with Barton MacLane–you feel the guy has it coming when the two give him a beating.

Later, however, their prospects change when they hit on the idea of hooking up with an old coot (Walter Huston) who seems to know a lot about gold mining. The three take off for the Mexican wilderness–and much like the story “Heart of Darkness”, the good and bad within them is slowly revealed–all brought about by greed.

What I particularly liked about this film is what a great professional Humphrey Bogart was. His character was extremely flawed and later in the film he was very easy to hate. Many stars of the day probably wouldn’t have accepted this less role of a less than honorable man. Nor, I think, they would have been so willing to play a guy who wasn’t all that macho.

Apart from Bogart, the acting all around was very good, the script exciting and insightful and the direction just dandy. One of the best films of the era.

Yet another brilliant film from John Huston

I love John Huston’s films, and this is another one of my favourites. For one thing it is very well made, with wonderful cinematography and striking locations, and the story which is like a fable on greed and human despair as well as a fun search for gold in bandit-infested Mexico is very exciting. Max Steiner’s score is superb, the screenplay is crisp and the direction from John Huston is rock solid. The acting is simply great, and that’s an understatement with Humphrey Bogart giving another memorable performance as the drifter Fred C. Dobbs. And he is superbly supported by Tim Holt who plays a young idealist and especially Walter Huston as the gnarled prospector. Overall, just another brilliant film from a terrific director, with a superb opening and unforgettable ending. 10/10 Bethany Cox

Just a great movie all around, but a very dark tale

This film is a sharp-edged study of the effects of greed on otherwise normal men, and one man in particular: Bogart’s Fred C. Dobbs. Dobbs and Bob Curtin (Tim Holt) are down and out and meet up with prospector Howard (Walter Huston). When Dobbs wins a lottery, he uses the proceeds to finance a trip for the three to central Mexico to search for gold.

The three have to deal with the lawlessness of central Mexico at the time – bandits were actually on the loose in that country killing anybody with stuff, and taking that stuff. The Federales were a violent solution to a violent problem – killing the bandits after a summary judgement and the bandits having dug their own graves. So our trio not only have to worry about bandits once they strike gold, they have to worry about the darkness of their own souls.

In the beginning, Bogart’s Fred C. Dobbs is a decent guy who does not take advantage of others. Dobbs only takes his money from the guy that wouldn’t pay and he does share his lottery ticket and is generous with his fellow miners, but as greed begins to take root in him, little by little we see his goodness eaten away. It’s a great credit to the writing and Bogart’s skills that this is done gradually and played out over time. Incidentally, that’s director John Huston “staking him to a meal”. One of the best director cameos ever (although Polanski in Chinatown is equally great)!

Dobbs overestimates himself and the fallibility of human nature. Walter Hustons character freely admits what gold could do to any of them including himself. Dobbs is sure it will never happen to him, but he’s never had anything, so he’s never faced temptation, and when he falls it’s a long way down.

This may be Tim Holt’s finest performance – it was probably his finest opportunity given he had spent years laboring as a B western star on the RKO lot. Walter Huston as the prospector, minus his dentures and plus a bunch of pounds and with holes in his clothes is not the debonair fellow you are used to seeing in film . If Mary Astor’s character in Dodsworth could have thought this was the future appearance of the man she loved, would she have taken her gondola in the other direction? I guess we’ll never know.

Highly recommended as one of the great character studies in which several characters get studied in detail.