The Treasure of the Sierra Madre

Released: January 24, 1948

Studio: Warner Bros.

Genre: western/film noir/adventure

Box Office (numbers in millions):

Domestic: 5.01 Worldwide: --

Adjusted for Inflation:

Domestic: 51.30 Worldwide: --

Directing: John Huston

Screenwriting: John Huston

Starring: Humphrey Bogart, Walter Huston, Tim Holt, Alfonso Bedoya

Review:

This “taut psychological drama” ^A98 was director and screenwriter John Huston’s “finest hour.” ^ML This “excellent adaptation of B. Traven’s tale” ^LM “of lustful greed, treachery, paranoia and suspicion” ^FS “and human nature at its worst” ^LM is “the ultimate exercise in greed-based paranoia.” ^ST The movie, “both an adventure and Western,” ^A07 is “a classic which many critics feel is one of the best films ever made.” ^VD

In a bid against typecasting, Huston cast the usually “heroic” ^RS Humphrey Bogart as Fred Dobbs (Bogart) is “a down-on-his-luck thief” ^ST and “a greedy, deranged, selfish bastard who distrusts everyone.” ^FS He and another drifter, “an innocent, honest young Curtin (Holt),” ^FS take a construction job where they meet Howard (Huston), “a wise and experienced, fast-talking, grizzly, toothless” ^FS “old-time gold prospector.” ^VD Walter Huston, the director’s father, delivers “a stellar performance” ^A98 in “one of his best parts on film.” ^A07

They “take their earnings and head into the hills” ^VD “of Tampico, Mexico, for that elusive pot of gold.” ^A07 They’re doing well until they cross paths with Gold Hat (Bedoya) and his Mexican bandits. Soon “a new ‘partner’ and greed cause the plan to unravel.” ^VD “Dobbs suspects the others are conspiring against him, with his subsequent actions eventually leading to his demise.” ^ST The movie “ends with an ironic climactic scene when the wind blows the gold dust away.” ^FS

This was one of the first films shot almost entirely outside of the United States in Mexico. ^MSN John Huston delivers a cameo as an American tourist toward the beginning of the film and a young Robert Blake appears selling lottery tickets. The movie “later provided the framework for a classic episode of The Simpsons.” ^ST