Such a frustrating disappointment

Sadly Over-hyped

Powerful

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

Humphrey Bogart, Walter Huston, and Tim Holt are three guys who are down on their luck and turn to prospecting for gold in a rugged part of Mexico known for its bandits. You can practically feel the heat and sweat through the screen, and Bogart's face is covered in grime for most of the movie. He turns in a brilliant performance, and it's right from the beginning, when he splashes water in a kid's face for harassing him about buying a lottery ticket. Walter Huston, directed by his son John, is fantastic as well, as the experienced old man who can scale hills like a goat, and who knows human nature after having seen men around gold over his lifetime. Bogart and Holt's characters seem so reasonable, but his words at the beginning are an omen. The way John Huston tells the story, though, is far from simple. Bogart's evolution through the film is intense and yet nuanced. It could easily have become a caricature, but didn't.I had a few small criticisms, though they didn't stop me from enjoying the film. It seemed to me that the gunfight scenes fell into old clichés, and the music was too intrusive at times. Also, the scene of the white man reviving the native boy, much to a crowd's appreciation as if he were a savior, seems like an overdone Caucasian fantasy to me. On the other hand, the tight shots on the natives, as well as the frequent use of untranslated Spanish throughout the film, were fantastic. I also loved how it was shot on location in Mexico, as that really translated in the cinematic experience. The dialogue throughout the film is great, and it's of course famous for its line from the leader of the bandits (Alfonso Bedoya), who says "Badges? We ain't got no badges. We don't need no badges! I don't have to show you any stinkin' badges!" I really enjoyed some rather stark events that were rather shocking, but what really made the film for me was its commentary on humanity. We see the inevitability of fighting over wealth play out in several ways. We see greed become so strong that paranoia grows like a cancer in the soul. And we see the enlightened reaction to it all, borne from having become wise with age, and that is, to understand your fellow man and laugh at life's misfortunes.

They say a great film stands the test of time. I totally agree with that statement and this one was just one of those films till the last 20 minutes. Such a dramatic buildup with no payoff in the end. So Dobbs gets his just due and Howard and Curtain lose the gold they worked so hard to obtain. They laugh about it when they realize they lost all their riches?? I guess Howard doesn't care since he's made to be a playboy by the Mexican people. And Curtain just accepts he's alive and he'll just strike it rich somewhere else. Guess people think this movie is great since Bogart's in it. He is one of the greatest actors ever but this film but feels like the screenwriter couldn't come up with a good ending so he just ended it. What a letdown!

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.