Treasure of the Sierra Madre, The (1948)
Director: John Huston
Honors:
Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay
Best Film- New York Critics Film Circle
After several years of interruption due to World War II,
John Huston returns to Hollywood to bring audiences his follow up to successful
debut picture, The Maltese Falcon,
reuniting with star Humphrey Bogart and featuring his father in an award
winning supporting role in The Treasure
of the Sierra Madre. Somewhat of a
mini passion project between director and star, the film would become an
unforeseen worry for Warner Bros., initially struggling to find an audience
before becoming one uppermost praised movies of the year and an all-time
classic of American cinema.
The Treasure of the
Sierra Madre is a neo-western picture about how greed, paranoia, and
distrust bring troubles to an unlikely trio mining for gold deep in the
wilderness of Mexico. Set in 1920s, our story follows Fred Dobbs (Humphrey
Bogart) and Bob Curtin (Tim Holt), two American drifters down on their luck in
a small Mexican who conceive a plan to gather all they have and partner with a wily,
grizzled prospector named Howard (Walter Huston) to discover gold in the vast
wilderness to turn their fortunes around. The three venture to a vastly
unpopulated region where they discover their hopeful fortune in the desert
soil, battling the hot elements, a confrontation with a curious passerby named
Cody (Bruce Bennett), attacks from unruly bandits, and the growing suspicion for
each other.
Upon completing their mining and on route home with their
gold dust distributed between the three of them, Howard, the eldest and least covetous
of the three, ventures to aid an native American village in need of his medical
wisdom entrusting his portion in with Dobbs and Curtin until they reunite. This
opportunity leads a paranoid Dobbs to attempt to slay Curtin and make off with all
three portions of the gold. Believing Curtin is dead from a gunshot, Dobbs shortly
after he is confronted by the bandits he had previously clashed when they were
mining. With the bandits too being very greedy and opportunistic they brutally
murdered Dobbs taking all of his possessions, but dumping the gold dust,
mistaking it for worthless sand, leaving it to be lost in the wind. After
surviving his attack from Dobbs, Curtin reunites with Howard and the two discover
the demise of their former partner and the loss of all their hard work. After
pondering the events the two part ways, Howard to continue living with the
natives who have embraced him and Curtin set towards the States where he looks
to make amends for the slain Cody by taking care of his family.
This picture is just what movies are made for. The film is a
rather simple tale of three men seeking gold when the worst in them and others bring
down everything they had worked for. This rather low key production is filled
with great acting accompanied with equally worthy writing exquisitely shot,
presenting us a motion picture that is full of drama, moments of humor, and a
story that pulls the audience in with every building scene.
In only his second proper feature film, writer/director John
Huston was well on his way to proving he was one of the finest filmmakers in
the business. Coming off 1941’s The
Maltese Falcon, bursting onto the cinematic scene with a film that sets
standards in film noir, here Huston delivers a drama that boarders on being a
western, a genre that he would be best now for in the coming decades. Based on
the novel by B. Traven, Huston had plans to produce the story into a picture
before WWII with ideas of a cast including George Raft, Edward G. Robinson, and
John Garfield.
Humphrey Bogart caught wind of John Huston’s idea to adapt
the novel he pursued Huston to cast him in the picture, talking up his passion
for the production it would be. With Dobbs clearly being the most troubled
character of the the leading trio, Bogarts delivers his strongest performance
to date in a role that travels down a dark road towards demise. His performance
would inspire many future filmmakers and actors in the future as he portrays a character
consumed with issues buried with his mind.
Tim Holt’s character of Curtin serves as the straight man of
the bunch, making his performance perhaps the least memorable, but by far not
the least important. Holt, lent out to Warner Bros by RKO, was most commonly
known for his work in western, but this performance delivered such greater
depth to his acting that RKO began to rethink their strategy in his future use
of him. Sadly RKO would fall back into their old rhythm with Holt, typecasting him
in western after western.
For the role of Howard John Huston would cast his own
father, Walter, the much traveled veteran actor. Walter takes on more
supporting role despite his long career playing characters that carried
pictures. The casting would pay off handsomely with an award winning
performance that is the greatest roles in western genre history. The character
of Howard is delivered in a wily yet kind way that at times upstages Humphrey
Bogart, a trait Bogart would not mind from Walter Huston in this picture.
In a smaller supporting role is featured Bruce Bennett as
Cody, the man that becomes curious of the trio’s doings, eventually working
deal that would make him a forth partner to help earn money to take care on his
wife and child before falling in a gunfight with the bandits while protecting
the mine. In a previous life Bennett was Olympian turned actor Harold Brix. A
champion shot putter, the handsome and fit Brix moved to Hollywood and for a
period he portrayed Tarzan and was featured in various B-pictures before
changing his name to restructure his career in the movie industry. As Cody,
Bennett is charming, dangerous, and likable all within a short time on screen,
becoming the first victim of the lust of gold in the story.
The picture would receive the uncommon permission from
Warner Bros. to film on location in Mexico/ The studio believed the picture was
a small-ish western and filming in Mexico would be an inexpensive alternative from
shooting on their backlot. Many of the extras in the picture were hired native Mexicans
of the surrounding area they were shooting hired at a relatively low daily wage,
but good pay for the extras. The villainous character of the film “Gold Hat”
who delivers the iconic and often misquoted “… stinking badges” line was
portrayed by Mexican actor Alfonso Bedoya. His portrayal delivered a mix of dangerous
naïveté and vicious cruelty that made the character more menacing than the
common western stereotype of a sombrero wearing bandito on horseback firing a
pistol in the air.
John Huston was meticulous with his production utilizing
several takes to get his shots just right. As the picture began to run over
schedule producers at Warner Bros became worried and confused as to why this simple
western, even with one of its biggest stars in Bogart in the cast, was not
cheap and fast. Even Bogart was disturbed with the length of the shoot,
pestering the director until Huston snapped back, putting his friend in his
place. The result would eventually pay off handsomely.
When the film opened January 1948 audiences appeared
disinterested in the picture, bringing in only meager box office revenue.
However, critics would praise the picture, earning the film four Academy Award
nominations. Despite losing Best Picture to Laurence Olivier’s Hamlet, The Treasure of the Sierra Madre took home three awards, two going
to John Huston for Best Director and Best Screenplay while Walter Huston won
for Best Supporting Actor, marking the only time family members won awards at the
same ceremony.
With time The Treasure
of the Sierra Madre has easily become one of the most enjoyed motion pictures
in American history. Honored on various all-time best movie lists and being
cited for inspiring many filmmakers through the years, the picture has left a
great impact on the cinematic world. An unassuming picture, the film is a
delight with every viewing, leaving us all with a motion picture for the ages.
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