This Movie Can Only Be Described With One Word.

Instant Favorite.

If you're interested in the topic at hand, you should just watch it and judge yourself because the reviews have gone very biased by people that didn't even watch it and just hate (or love) the creator. I liked it, it was well written, narrated, and directed and it was about a topic that interests me.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

Huston's obsessive character study is a slow burn in every sense. We move slowly through the story itself, and even its impact on the audience is steady. In the moment, the comedy is timed beautifully, the script pops, and the performances are distinct. As time goes on, the paranoia seeps in, and we sadly recognize ourselves in the frantic mania of Bogart. A western without heroes and villains, and a drama without caricature.

No need to repeat plot or consensus points. As a boy, I saw the movie on first release. What's really stayed with me over time is Gold Hat's sudden reflection in the mud puddle a prostrate Dobbs is sucking from. The suddeness startled me in a way that's lasted 70-years. On geezer viewing, I note the apparition is also a moment of great irony— it's water that sustains the thief while escaping with his loot; at the same time, his doom is cast upon the water from the sky above. In Dobbs' case, it's the life-saving fluid that both sustains and forebodes. But then it's his lust for gold that's left the penniless man alone and isolated. In a sense, the stolen gold dust in the saddlebags is striking back in the form of a golden hat. Then too that same dust was stolen from its mountain home. But now it will be borne through the air back to its womb in the Sierra Madre. Between the symbolism and Howard's concern for a torn mountain, there may be a subtle environmental message from this, one of the best adventure films of all time.

Humphrey Bogart and John Huston collaborated on five films together, among them, The Treasure of the Sierra Madre. The 1948 film also starring Walter Huston and Tim Holt has remained a classic for both the noted actor and director. This is one of my favorite Bogart-had- to-play-this roles. I'm just not convinced that the film would have translated as well had it not been for Bogart playing the down-on- his-luck, then paranoid, amateur prospector. The story of two impoverished men overcome by greed when they finally have a chance to strike it rich in Mexico was also a perfect tale for Huston to tell and audiences have been gifted with the perfect collaboration since its release nearly 70 years ago.Fred Dobbs (Humphrey Bogart) is an American desperately searching for work in Mexico. Unable to find a job, hes taken to panhandling until he meets Bob Curtin (Tim Holt), a fellow American also looking for work. The two consider themselves fortunate when asked to do a job that pays $8 a day when the job is finished. Soon after the job's completion, the two are never paid and realize they were scammed out of the money they've earned. They venture into town to find the man who scammed them, after a certain brand of persuasion, they are given their dues. Dobbs and Curtin then meet a gold prospector and decide to pool their financial resources and efforts in searching for gold. What begins as a valiant team effort searching for financial independence, quickly turns to severe paranoia and greed once they realize they may have riches in their midst.No matter how hard I may try, I can never get through a review of a Humphrey Bogart movie without gushing over the actor. Yes, Bogart has played this type of role (the hardened tough guy) in other films, but the reason he was sought after for the role so many times is because he was fantastic at playing it. Bogart had a way of encapsulating the tormented tough guy and the vulnerable, isolated parts of the same person like no one I have ever seen before. John Huston is truly the master of the adventure film, continuously finding a way to keep audiences engaged. The best thing about Huston's adventure films is that they keep one engaged without constant action. The action scenes are wonderful, no doubt, but Huston was also masterful in establishing tension between characters and illustrating it well enough for the audiences to be enough a part of it that they are on the edge of their seats the whole time. The part of Cody, the intruder who tries to partner up with Dobbs and Curtin, seems tailor-made for Burt Lancaster. Lancaster was quite busy in '48, starring in four films that year, but I just would have loved to see him in that role. Huston told a masterful tale of how money and capital influence everyone, even if you're sure money could never change you. Dobbs and Curtin were so hard up for money, they were sure they would be happy with enough to get by if they were fortunate enough to find any gold at all, until they did.The Humphrey Bogart Eyes moment in The Treasure of the Sierra Madre came when Bogart's Dobbs first sees the gold he and his team found. After struggling for so long, all Dobbs can think of is that he has asked passersby for money for the last time. Dobbs is sure that he will never have to struggle again, as long as he can get home with his share. Almost simultaneously, Dobbs also becomes incredibly paranoid that his team is going to outwit him and crush the dreams he has for his fortune. The paranoia and euphoria captured on Dobbs' face as the gold is weighed is the perfect Humphrey Bogart Eyes moment of The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, as only Bogie could capture it.

I had the great pleasure of being shown this film in my Screen writing course at my University and from the moment it ended, it has stayed with me. The Treasure of the Sierra Madre is a very hard film for me to categorize. It is a film that exists outside of the boundaries and genres; thus creating it's own style in the process. It appears that many films since have borrowed several elements from the story (Raiders of the Lost Ark, There Will Be Blood, etc.) but I can think of none that are exactly like it.The story is kept neat and simple; three men head off on a journey into the Mexican mountains to find gold. Yes, gold is what they came for but what they found was much more complex. Each character in the film discovers something about themselves as the film progresses. It's more than just a simple screen story; it's an amazing study of character and drama.Now, for all of my praise the film does suffer from a few inadequacies. I did not particularly care for the second act nor did I find the antagonists very threatening. They played more for comic relief than anything else. However, these are very trivial errors when you compare them to the film's more amazing qualities.Humphrey Bogart gives a very menacing and powerful performance in this film, though he is not initially frightening. The audience is instead forced to sit and watch as his character slowly descends into madness and is completely corrupted by greed. The role appeals to our morbidly curious side; we crave to look away from the destruction that unfolds from within his character's psyche and yet we cannot pull our gaze away from it. It is Bogart's best acting. Yes even better than Rick from Casablanca and I do not feel bold in the slightest for saying so.The lead star is only matched by his supporting cast. Walter Huston, speaking about one hundred words a minute in his incredibly endearing, academy award winning role. Tim Holt is also highly capable as the young, impressionable sidekick to Bogart. He stays morally and ethically sound; remaining firmly on the side of goodness and integrity. You can well imagine what kind of brutal conflict this creates between him and Bogart; some of their shared scenes are among my favourites in the film. This review would be a failure if I never mentioned Max Steiner's amazing score. Sierra Madre contains some of the best accompanying music I've ever heard from a film of it's age. The main theme in particular is exhilarating, powerful and adventurous. I do have the very distinct feeling that John Williams was influenced by this score.I could probably sit here and write page after page of why this film is so significant, but the best way to know why is to just experience it for yourself. Once again, this film is more than just a simple story. One by one, it progressively peals back layers of itself to reveal the true story underneath. The human psyche, moral codes and relational conflict are all explored to a great extreme and I enjoyed every moment of it. The third act in particular is absolutely exceptional. This film is a mirror to humanity; displaying all of it's worst and all of it's best. Watch The Treasure of the Sierra Madre and you will know yourself better than you ever thought you did.