The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948)
Average Rating: 9/10
Reviews Counted: 42
Fresh: 42 | Rotten: 0
Remade but never duplicated, this darkly humorous morality tale represents John Huston at his finest.
Average Rating: 8.3/10
Critic Reviews: 6
Fresh: 6 | Rotten: 0
Remade but never duplicated, this darkly humorous morality tale represents John Huston at his finest.
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Average Rating: 4.1/5
User Ratings: 23,504
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Movie Info
John Huston's 1948 treasure-hunt classic begins as drifter Fred C. Dobbs (Humphrey Bogart), down and out in Tampico, Mexico, impulsively spends his last bit of dough on a lottery ticket. Later on, Dobbs and fellow indigent Curtin (Tim Holt) seek shelter in a cheap flophouse and meet Howard (Walter Huston), a toothless, garrulous old coot who regales them with stories about prospecting for gold. Forcibly collecting their pay from their shifty boss, Dobbs and Curtin combine this money with Dobbs's
Jan 7, 1948 Wide
Sep 30, 2003
WARNER BROTHERS PICTURES
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Cast
-
Humphrey Bogart
Fred C. Dobbs -
Walter Huston
Howard -
Tim Holt
Curtin -
Bruce Bennett
Cody -
Barton MacLane
McCormick -
Alfonso Bedoya
Gold Hat -
Arturo Soto Rangel
Presidente -
Manuel Donde
El Jefe -
Jacqueline Dalya
Flashy Girl -
Roberto Canedo
Mexican Lieutenant -
Spencer Chan
Proprietor -
Ralph Dunn
Flophouse Bum -
Pat Flaherty
Customer -
Martin Garralaga
Railroad Conductor -
Jack Holt
Flophouse Man -
Margarito Luna
Pancho -
Julian Rivero
Barber -
Ann Sheridan
Senorita Lopez -
José Torvay
Pablo -
Harry J. Vejar
Bartender -
Clifton Young
Flophouse Bum -
Robert Blake
Mexican Boy -
John Huston
White Suit
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All Critics (42) | Top Critics (6) | Fresh (46) | Rotten (0) | DVD (22)
Treasure of Sierra Madre is one of the best things Hollywood has done since it learned to talk; and the movie can take a place, without blushing, among the best ever made.
Top CriticJohn Huston has rarely been in better form than in this 1948 study of gold fever and worse obsessions among an unlikely trio of prospectors...
There's a quite enjoyable yarn buried under the hollow laughter.
The movie has never really been about gold but about character, and Bogart fearlessly makes Fred C. Dobbs into a pathetic, frightened, selfish man -- so sick we would be tempted to pity him, if he were not so undeserving of pity.
Greed, a despicable passion out of which other base ferments may spawn, is seldom treated in the movies with the frank and ironic contempt that is vividly manifested toward it in Treasure of Sierra Madre.
The characters here are probed and thoroughly penetrated, not through psychoanalysis but through a crucible of human conflict, action, gesture and expressive facial tones.
This is one of the most visually alive and beautiful movies I have ever seen; there is a wonderful flow of fresh air, light, vigor, and liberty through every shot.
A finely-crafted western-style character drama where greed and paranoia drive desperate men over the edge.
Transcends the medium to become a mandatory viewing experience for anyone that identifies themselves as a human being, period.
Humphrey Bogart gives one of his best performances in John Huston's chronicle of greed and crime, for which Walter Huston (John's son) won the Supporting Oscar; years later Jonn's daughter won the Oscar.
an all-time masterpiece of characterization, structure, pacing and storytelling in general
Fact: You haven't truly lived until you've seen Walter Huston do the jackrabbit dance.
Humphrey Bogart's maniacal Fred Dobbs is one of moviedom's great characterizations, a conglomeration of cunning, greed and paranoia.
Huston must have thrown everything he had into this impossibly rich film, packed with grit, passion, adventure and heartbreak.
A powerful morality tale whose humour is as black as the heart of its central character, but as humane as the men who survive their brush with greed.
This is so brilliant that the only real effect of the other versions is to make you want to watch the original again.
A pure classic.
True treasure of cinema, terrific on all counts.
An undeniable classic, but far from perfect.
Audience Reviews for The Treasure of the Sierra Madre
Super Reviewer
Based off a 1927 novel, "Treasure" is the story of three financially strapped "gringos" who meet by chance in a Mexican city and discuss how to overcome their financial distress. They then set out to discover gold in the remote Sierra Madre mountains. Not only do the "gringos" have to survive the threat of "bandidos" and of the "federales", they also have to deal with the consequences of Fred C. Dobbs (an against-type yet incredible Humphrey Bogart) losing his mind as he starts to covet the gold all to himself. This leads to paranoia and self-destruction as the three "gringos" begin to turn on each other - leading to an impressive exploration of moral decay.
"Treasure" is well-paced and incredibly scripted (it's the source of infamous "Badges? We ain't got no badges. We don't need no badges! I don't have to show you any stinkin' badges!"), John Huston lets you plunge into the paranoia at the pace the characters are lending to extra tension - and with them having to not only battle external forces but also internal ones the film has a dimensionality that goes beyond any conventional film.
A true masterpiece.
Super Reviewer
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- Gold Hat: Badges? We ain't got no badges! We don't need no badges! I don't have to show you any stinking badges!
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- Howard: Water's precious. Sometimes may be more precious than gold.
-
- Curtin: Remember what you said back in Tampico about having to carry that old man out on our backs?
- Fred C. Dobbs: That is when I took him for an ordinary human being, not part goat.
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- Howard: Ah, as long as there's no find, the noble brotherhood will last but when the piles of gold begin to grow. . .that's when the trouble starts.
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- Howard: If I were you boys, I wouldn't talk or even think about women. Taint good for your health.
-
- Howard: I know what gold does to men's souls.
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Foreign Titles
- Der Schatz der Sierra Madre (DE)
- The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948) (UK)
