Directed by John Huston
Written by John Huston based on the novel by B. Traven
1948/USA
Warner Bros.
Repeat viewing/Warner Bros. DVD
#223 of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die
[box] Fred C. Dobbs: This is the country where the nuggets of gold are just crying out for you to take them out of the ground and make ’em shine in coins on the fingers and necks of swell dames.[/box]
John Huston’s tale of gold lust will never grow old.
Fred C. Dobbs (Humphrey Bogart) is a vagabond who has been reduced to soliciting hand-outs on the streets of Tampico, Mexico. He gets three windfalls in one day from the same American (memorably played by John Huston) and his luck appears to be changing. So much so that he takes a chance on purchasing 1/20 of a lottery ticket from a street urchin.
Eventually, Dobbs meets up with fellow-American Curtin (Tim Holt) and they get work as laborers. But their boss disappears with their wages and they end up sleeping in a flop house with old-time prospector Howard (Walter Huston). Howard tells them a cautionary tale about the effects of gold on men. When they finally recoup their money from the boss in a fight, they remember what the old man said and go to find him. Between their wages and the money Dobbs wins on his forgotten lottery ticket, they have the stake to go prospecting. They take Howard along for his expertise, figuring they will eventually have to carry him.
It turns out that Howard is in the best shape of all of them and the two younger men are unprepared for the long journey. Then they find a rich vein of gold and find they are in for months of back-breaking labor to mine it. As the gold piles up, Dobbs get increasingly paranoid about losing it. Early on, he demands that the men divide it equally at the end of each day.
The men are constantly in danger from rival prospectors and bandits. After they start back to civilization with their loot, however, it appears that the greatest danger is from each other. With Barton McLane as the crooked boss and Robert Blake as a street urchin.
This has to rank with the best screenplays ever written. The moral is clear early on but the psychology behind the greed is masterfully done. I love the way Dobbs starts referring to himself in the third person more and more as he slips into madness. This is the role Bogart should have won his Oscar for. It’s incredible he was not even nominated. Walter Huston is fantastic. He is unrecognizable without his teeth and even his distinctive voice is not much in evidence. A true classic. Very highly recommended.
The Treasure of the Sierra Madre won Academy Awards in the categories of Best Supporting Actor (Huston), Best Director, and Best Writing, Screenplay. It was nominated for Best Picture.
Trailer
For my money, this is absolutely the best film of 1948. Not only that, but it could compete with other films made today. There’s not a single frame of this that looks outdated. This is a film that is as good now as it was the day it was first made.
I love it when Bogart plays desperately flawed characters. He’s always at his best in those roles.
Something’s going to have to leap out of nowhere to move this out of the top of my favorites list. You are so right about Bogart.
Yes, Bogart deserved an Oscar for this one. Even if the rest of the movie was garbage it would be worth watching for Bogart. But it is not junk. In fact it is one of the best movies of the decade on every account.
Bogart was robbed. I have not seen Dan Dailey in When My Baby Smiles at Me but it is inconceivable that he was more deserving of a nomination than Bogie.
I recently revisited the film. It’s mythic, transcending time. Everyone is wonderful.
One of those films where every single element came together at the same time to create perfection.