TREASURE OF THE SIERRA MADRE, THE

(January 1948, U.S.)

John Huston's black and white classic THE TREASURE OF THE SIERRA MADRE is officially described as an American western adventure drama. Typically, I don't go for the entire western genre because, in my opinion, the basic stories never change: small town, good guys terrorized by bad guys, lone hero, and final shoot-out that concludes everything. The western element for this film, however, merely lies in its historical era and its background, I think. Every plot point I just mentioned doesn't exist here, but rather an exploration into the period of history that was prospecting for gold, and the dark greed it brought out of the hearts of men.

In the year 1925, Fred C. Dobbs (played by Humphrey Bogart) and Bob Curtin (played by Tim Holt) are two unemployed American drifters trying to survive on the streets of Mexico. After a failed attempt as roughneck labor contractors on an oil rig, they meet up with old prospector Howard (played by John Huston's father Walter Huston) who tells them tales of gold prospecting and the inevitable consequences of striking it rich. The two young men are easily and quickly tempted by the promise of gold and its riches. With what little money they're able to scrape up, they pool their funds together to finance a gold prospecting journey into the remote Sierra Madre mountains.

Almost immediately, the group is not only challenged with outfitting the project, but also fighting off attacks by Mexican bandits. Howard proves to be the most knowledgeable and hardest of the three men, having lived through this entire experience multiple time before. After days of difficult travel and climbing, his keen and experienced eye recognizes the terrain that's laden with gold. The men begin extracting the riches of the land, living and working in harsh and primitive conditions. After time and hard work, they manage to collect a fortune of gold that brings with it the fear, paranoia and suspicion of theft and betrayal from each man, particularly Dobbs, who slowly loses his sanity. The of them agree to divide the gold so as to jealously conceal the whereabouts of their shares.

After Howard is summoned to assist local villagers to save the life of a little boy, they insist that he return to the village to be honored, and refuse to accept no for an answer. Howard entrusts his gold with Dobbs and Curtin, but Dobbs's paranoia continues, and he and Curtin are constantly at each other's throats, to the point where Dobbs holds Curtin at gunpoint and shoots him. Taking all the gold for himself, he doesn't live long, as he's ultimately slain by Mexican bandits. Curtin survives the shooting, but walks away with nothing, ending up right back as he was at the beginning of the film. Howard, on the other hand, is contented to spend the rest of his life as a welcomed medicine man in the village who accepted him.

THE TREASURE OF THE SIERRA MADRE is a story of the influence of greed corrupting men's souls, though it doesn't say too much about the product of gold itself as a film character. The actions of three otherwise good men is driven by not only greed, but of fear of what the other man might do. The film makes a point of expressing their the events that question their human nature, particularly Dobbs. The toughness of a man like Humphrey Bogart shines as a man who's exactly such a good man from the beginning, and who only deteriorates into something much worse as the adventurous prospect of striking it rich takes shape throughout the film. It's also one of John Huston's best works in a string of films he made with Bogart that also included THE MALTESE FALCON (1941), KEY LARGO (1948) and THE AFRICAN QUEEN (1951).

Favorite line or dialogue:

Mexican bandit: "Badges? We ain't got no badges! We don't need no badges! I don't have to show you any stinking badges!"

(that's right, people - that line did NOT originate from Mel Brooks's BLAZING SADDLES).