Review of The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948) by Reid V — 28 Feb 2011

When Dobbs (Humphrey Bogart) rolls into a small Mexican town by the name of Tampico, he is down and out, in need of a meal, and more importantly a source of income. After working a long job for an American who promises to pay Dobbs and his new friend Curtin (Tim Holt) an honest wage, the man reneges on his promise. Dobbs and Curtin find this man and assault him in an attempt to get what's coming to them, what they feel they have earned fair and square. Director John Huston uses these opening moments brilliantly to set up the men's sense of justice in order to show just how much it would be perverted later in the film.

Huston's exceptional 1948 film, is not the adventure picture that the title suggests, but a harrowing and brutally realistic parable regarding human greed.

Even before Dobbs becomes enchanted by gold, Huston gives the audience subtle hints about man's penchant for short term material gain. As Dobbs roams around the town looking for a meal, he asks the same man for a handout 3 times in one day. When the stranger (played by the director) confronts him about this, Dobbs genuinely seems surprised and apologizes by saying that he just only looked at the man's hands and the money he gave him. While his blind greed isn't in the forefront of his conscious yet, it is certainly shaping his actions.

When Dobbs & Curtin's fates collides with veteran prospector Howard (Walter Huston), they venture into the mountains to find their fortune.

In one particularly amazing scene which Huston uses to illuminate the powerful hold that this gold is starting have on these men, all three men awake in the middle of the night at different times and end up all following each other for fear of being robbed. Avarice turns completely rational actions into subversive. This is also seen when a seemingly well intentioned man approaches the prospectors with nothing in mind but a warm fire and good company. Before he can get a word out he is vilified and perceived as only a threat.

Huston's camera isn't flashy because he has faith in the power of this story. He manages to get such good performances out of these actors that it made me forget about my previous distaste for Bogart. Huston's characters remain characters when in a story such as this, they could have easily become caricatures. There is still a sense of humanity in Dobbs all through his descent into madness. He isn't over the top and you find yourself at times sympathizing with this man who is obviously becoming unhinged before your eyes.

Huston also pulls off some well executed shots. After Dobbs has made enemies with a fellow prospector and a horrific act takes place, he attempts to fall asleep in front of the campfire. The shot is framed so it appears as though the flames were leaping up and engulfing Dobbs and the audience gets a brief glimpse into the personal hell that he is going through.

While I could sit here and discuss every scene of this film, I don't want to give too much away. Huston has crafted an exquisite film and one of the best studies of human greed & the malleability of man's moral compass that I have ever seen.