A brutal and uncompromising portrayal of greed's effects on the human spirit and an exhilarating quest of the Mexican El Dorado, the Treasure of the Sierra Madre. You'll be thrilled by John Huston's masterpiece, a genuine monument that would catch by surprise, even the most skeptical viewers when it comes to 'old' movies.
The "Sierra Madre" was the first major studios films set outside Hollywood, in Mexico, when even the most acclaimed masterpieces didn't raise such a level of authenticity in their exotic setting, like in "Casablanca" when Captain Renault refers to the titular town as the middle of the desert. The geography in Huston's film is crucial as it provides the obligatory escapism for any adventure film, with a unique flavor. In "Sierra Madre" we get the same authentic feeling that probably inspired Clouzot's "Wages of Fear", with the proverbial financial struggle of the white men in South America. There's almost the same criticism of capitalism that prevailed in B. Travel's novel, as these men have been purely and totally exploited by the capitalistic majors that literally raped Mexico from its precious resources.
Huston's movie is less politically loaded, but it portrayed capitalism in a negative light through the downfall and total disintegration of its main character, Humphrey Bogart as Fred C. Dobbs. Bogie, after having been a gangster, a private eye, a cynical, detached, and sometimes romantic lead, probably gives one of his best performances as a big s.o.b. And how he didn't get a nomination is unbelievable. His evolution from a decent man who wants a job and some money to the cold-blooded paranoid lunatic who tries to keep the gold for himself is not only fascinating but also mirrors the evolution of the film from a light-hearted mood, made of some comedic running gags like the encounters with Huston as the rich man in a white suit, to a heart-pounding thriller.
And on that very level, the differences between the characters set the perfect circumstances for tension, despite the many signs of camaraderie displayed in the beginning. Curtin, Tim Holt in a remarkable performance, is younger and exudes a certain idealistic naiveté that counterbalances Dobbs' growing cynicism. Howard, the old-time prospector, an unforgettable Walter Huston, knows everything about prospecting, with enough experience to foresee the psychological changes on people when gold is at stakes. Of course, the movie is also remembered for the famous 'Gold Hat', Alfonso Bedoya with his unforgettable "stinking badges" line but more than an exotic villain, Bedoya foreshadows with a sort of charming charisma the evolution of Dobbs as a similar bastard.
Indeed, one never knows how gold would transform us, and one must have the guts to work alone without falling into madness. During their journey guided by Howard, Dobbs and Curtin discover the true meaning of the word 'value' as measurable through the efforts you spend, days and nights, to find the treasure. Walter Huston deservedly won the Oscar for best supporting character, but he's as central as Vito Corleone in "The Godfather". Whatever Howard says, we know it's the truth, when he's reluctant, we understand it's a bad premonition. And when Howard esteems that the best would be to split the share when it becomes money, Dobbs, already showing signs of suspicion, recommends that each one takes care of his own share. Howard is experimented enough to resign, with all the wisdom of a man who doesn't want trouble.
Dobbs' gradual descent into paranoid madness is highlighted in the episode when a gila monster gets stuck under the rock that covered his share while he suspects Curtin to have come for another reason. The paranoia grows and contaminates the whole team when another American named Cody, joins them and proposes his help. He's obviously smarter than them and doesn't deny that murdering him is an option they would consider. The way the team handled his proposal says a lot about the conservative instinct that could govern so called 'civilized' hearts, and again, doesn't speak in favor of the monopolistic systems regulated by capitalism. The alienation that grows within the team erodes all the camaraderie built during these months of labor, to a point even the word 'partner' loses its humanistic meaning.
Bogart perfectly embodied the metamorphosis of a man alienated by his own greed, where the value of his share of gold, exceeded, every kind of principle that made him a decent man. As it's almost impossible to break free from a gila's bite, Dobbs became that gila with paranoia as a venomous poison, too mistrustful to go, to let go or to be reasoned. When Curtin says he protected Howard's money as he would have done for Dobbs, Dobbs uses the same reasoning in a reverse way, pushing cynicism to its paroxysm : betraying before being betrayed. And in an ironic anticlimactic twist, Dobbs is killed by bandits, 15 minutes before the end of the film as to highlight the pointlessness of this entire struggle. After all, what's the point of earning money if you lose principles?
Failure is a recurrent theme in Huston's films with this double dimension of cynical denunciation, generally driven by an impeccable script, and this entertaining dimension that pleases the crowds as much as the more sophisticated audience, both who, matured enough by World War II, accepted a story about greed and deception, but maybe not Bogie so far from his usual character, playing such an unsavory bastard. I don't know, if like some said, this is why the film's flopped. One thing for sure, after 60 years, it remains as one of the most enduring classics ever, that beautifully earned a father and a son three deserved Oscars.
And any other consideration is as pointless as crying over the loss of the Treasure of the Sierra Madre, and the only reaction it deserves is the unique loud and hysterical, jig-driven, maniacal laugh of Walter Huston
