Customer Reviews

The Treasure of the Sierra Madre [Blu-ray]

5 star:		(145)
4 star:		(17)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(12)

 

 

"The Treasure of the Sierra Madre" won Oscars for best director (John Huston), best supporting actor (Walter Huston) and best screenplay (John Huston). The film was also nominated for best picture but unfortunately lost out to Laurence Olivier's "Hamlet". This was yet another marvellous performance by Humphrey Bogart in a difficult role and proves once again what an outstanding actor he can be when given the right material.

Fred C. Dobbs (Humphrey Bogart) and Bob Curtin (Tim Holt) are two Americans down on their luck in Tampico, Mexico, who manage to acquire a temporary job working for Pat McCormick (Barton MacLaine) but don't get paid for their efforts as McCormick does a disappearing act with the money. Dobbs and Curtin catch up with him later in a bar and after coming to blows manage to get the money that was owed to them. A young Mexican boy (Robert Blake) approaches Dobbs who reluctantly buys a lottery ticket from him. Dobbs and Curtin spend the night in a flop house where they meet Howard (Walter Huston), a grizzled old timer who tells them stories of the times he went prospecting for gold in the mountains. They are both fascinated by Howard's stories but don't have the necessary funds to purchase the equipment they would need to look for gold. Next day the young Mexican boy comes to find Dobbs to tell him that his ticket has won some money in the lottery. It is not a fortune but enough to invest in some tools and equipment so that Curtin and Dobbs can team up with Howard to search for gold in the Sierra Madre mountains. Greed and distrust inevitably take hold of Dobbs and he gets increasingly suspicious of his two companions and becomes more and more paranoid as the days go by. He is sure that they want to steal his share of the gold which is just not so. A group of bandits led by Gold Hat (Alfonso Bedoya) come across their camp and try to rob them of the gold but with the help of James Cody (Bruce Bennett) they manage to fight them off.

Some favourite lines from the film:

Humphrey Bogart (to John Huston): "Hey, mister, will you stake a fellow American to a meal?".

Alfonso Bedoya (to Bogart): "Badges? We ain't got no badges. We don't need no badges. I don't have to show you any stinking badges".

Bogart (to Tim Holt): "Fred C. Dobbs don't say nothing he don't mean".

Writer/director John Huston played a cameo role at the start of the film as an American tourist ("White Suit") who Bogart approaches for money (three times!). Robert Blake was the small boy who sold Bogart the winning lottery ticket. Blake later went on to appear in many feature films such as "In Cold Blood", "Electra Glide in Blue", "Tell Them Willie Boy is Here", and also starred in the TV seies "Baretta".

This was a superlative performance by Humphrey Bogart - one of his best - and completely different to his smooth portrayal of Rick in "Casablanca". His character of Fred C. Dobbs was shifty and devious verging on paranoia and madness. The film has now rightly become a classic and is much admired by "movie buffs".

"The Treasure of the Sierra Madre", is now always placed in that sacred pantheon of Bogie classics along with "Casablanca", "The Maltese Falcon, and "The African Queen", when his work is discussed, however that was not the case upon the film's release in 1948 when it was a commercial failure and was not well liked at all by Humphrey Bogart's legion of fans. Rejected because of the largely unsympathetic character he portrays, happily with time that situation has been rectified and it is now considered one of his greatest performances worthy of classic status.

"The Treasure of the Sierra Madre", tells the uncompromising, warts and all story of three men thrown into a situation where their basic characters and instincts are put to the supreme test. The story in actual fact is a seering study of greed and opportunity and what it does, or can do to essentially ordinary decent individuals. The film has aged very well because its commentary could be very easily transferred to any setting in todays world where temptation and greed can distort lives. Based on a novel by B. Traven and adapted for the screen by multi talented John Huston who also directed, "The Treasure of the Sierra Madre", gave both Humphrey Bogart and Walter Huston (John's father) some of the best roles they ever had. Bogart plays Fred Dobbs who we first see in Mexico living from hand to mouth and literally down to his last dollar when fate intervens and he finds himself teaming up with fellow bad lucker Bob Curtin (Tim Holt in another powerful performance) and old timer Gold Prospector Howard (Walter Huston in his Oscar winning role). The reason for the collaboration is the lure of Gold desposits in the Sierra Mountains which seem to be ripe for the pickings if only one can get to them. While Dobbs and Curtin can provide the muscle needed to extract and carry the gold, Howard provides the know-how and the experience to avoid the other pratfalls that they may encounter along the road to making their fortune. What develops is a gritty, rugged three character study of the lengths that individuals will go in the pursuit of wealth. In their case it leads from basic greed, through mistrust of each other, to violence and even murder. Certainly the story is not a pretty one but it is riverting in its startling depiction of the morale decline so easily possible in even the most decent of men. Humphrey Bogart is the very soul of this story and his is a stunning performance in a complex and unappealing role which alot of actors would not have succeeded in making multi dimensional as Bogart does here. We witness the moral decline of his character into paranoia, and wretched desperation and eventually to attempted murder. The irony here is that eventually he is the victim of the piece when he finds himself the statistic of maurading Mexican banditos who murder him literally for the shoes on his feet. Walter Huston totally deserved his Oscar for playing the old timer who has seen it all and often finds himself acting as referee between the two younger men who through lack of experience and impatience often find themselves in hot water.

All is not totally dark along the way however as we are shown an exciting story of the men being duped out of salary by a corrupt town boss (Barton MacLane in at terrific performance), the group's trek to the Sierras fighting off bands of Mexican Banditos, greedy fellow gold seekers, and encountering the natives who "ask" for Howard's help and literally kidnapp him back to their settlement to assist in saving the life of a young boy. A winner of three Academy Awards for Best Supporting Actor, Best Screenplay and Best Director and nominated for Best Picture, "The Treasure of the Sierra Madre", is a stunning showcase in acting performances, writing and in settings. Indeed the beautiful on location photography both in the Mexican towns and especially in the Sierra Mountains where the film was almost entirely shot really makes the film, displaying in vivid pictures the hardship and isolation that the men encounter in their pursuit of wealth. The blood thirsty banditos, the rugged mountainous terrain, the heat, and the back breaking labour of extracting the gold are all depicted here in a harsh light that gets across the non glamour feel of the piece. The final stunning scene in the film which I wont reveal here for those that haven't seem this classic yet, but which is an unexpected resolution to the story, succeeds in playing up the uncertain life that belongs to people such as the three men here who are gamblers in a world where life can deal out fortune and good luck and then take it away just as quickly.

Stunning is the only word to describe "The Treasure of the Sierra Madre". It is now respected as one of the great American classics and deserves to be revived more than it is. Rarely does a film combine action and excitement with well written character studies but this film succeeds superbly. Despite it's long running time you will find yourself riverted to the screen for its entire running time. I find it always gets me thinking about how quickly human nature can change and be distorted by outside influences that are normally foreign to our way of being. Enjoy dramatics at their very best in John Huston's "The Treasure of the Sierra Madre".

This, one of the funniest lines in cinema, certainly one of the most famous, is actually (as afficionados know) a misquote. What Alfonso Bedoya, who plays "Gold Hat," actually says, when he and his bandito friends are asked for their badges, is "Badges? We ain't got no badges. We don't need no badges. I don't have to show you any stinkin' badges!" I wonder if anybody at the time had any idea how funny this would hit audiences.

John Huston wrote the screenplay (adapting B. Traven's novel) and directed his father, Walter Huston along with Humphrey Bogart, Tim Holt, and Bruce Bennett in this classic from my favorite age of cinema (the late forties/early fifties). Walter Huston won an academy award as Best Supporting Actor in 1948 and John Huston garnered Oscars for his direction and his screenplay. Bogart won nothing, but I have to say he did a great job.

It's easy to think of Humphrey Bogart as always playing Humphrey Bogart as he has done in so many movies, particularly in mysteries and especially as a private eye. But here we see a different Bogart, one who is not entirely sympathetic; indeed as the down and out Fred C. Dobbs he is a bit of a scoundrel and more than a little paranoid. In watching this one realizes that Bogart had a much greater range than he is sometimes given credit for. I also recall him alongside Katharine Hepburn in The African Queen (1951) also directed by John Huston, and in The Caine Mutiny (1954). In the former he did win an Oscar, and in the latter, as Captain Queeg, he gave perhaps his most unforgettable performance.

This is a tale of greed and the fever that arises when one hunts for gold. Walter Huston plays a crusty old miner named Howard who tries one more time to strike it rich. Dobbs and Bob Curtin (Tim Holt) are seduced by the wily old miner's romantic tales and the three of them go off into the Sierra Madre mountains near Tampico, Mexico to prospect. Naturally they hit pay dirt, but in-between the growing madness of Dobbs and the Mexican bandits, theirs is an uneasy existence. What happens to the gold and to the three men is fascinating to watch, and we sense a timeless human psychology at work. Bob Curtin expresses part of it this way: "You know, the worst ain't so bad when it finally happens. Not half as bad as you figure it'll be before it's happened."

This movie is as good as its reputation, which is considerable, but it's not perfect. Some of it plays a little too simplistically, as when Howard saves the Mexican boy amid the worshipful natives, and some of it is a little silly, as when the bandits mistake gold for sand--not likely! But the almost epic quality of the tale and the felicitous direction as well as many interesting and humorous touches, make this one of the best ever made, and something no true film buff should miss. By the way, the little Mexican boy who sells Dobbs the lottery ticket is a bronzed up Robert Blake.

I would like to thank everyone for the wonderful reviews. Tim Holt was my father and "Treasure" was always my favorite movie. It's nice to know that his work is still being appreciated. By the way, the man in the "flop house" scene who is talking with Walter Huston is my grandfather, Jack Holt. He just happened to be visiting the set that day and John Huston thought it would be fun to include him in the film!

I have been lucky enough to have had the opportunity to watch this DVD and all I can say is, don't hesitate! Order it immediately!

The transfer is beautiful and is almost completely free from film damage or other blemishes. The blacks are deep and consistent throughout the picture. A beautiful DVD transfer.

Sound is presented in the film's original monaural track which has been cleaned up due to its age. There is no hiss or background screech or other noise to detract from your viewing of the movie.

As for extras, Warner's presents the movie in its "Night at the Movies" format which simulates the experience of watching the film circa 1947 theatre style. That means you get to enjoy period newsreels, comedy shorts, cartoons, etc. before you watch the feature. Very enjoyable!

Disc 2 of this set features a 2 hour documentary on director John Huston's career, hosted by Robert Mitchum. The doc features interviews, photos, private film footage and more and is a great tribute to this talented director. Excellent!

Next is a 50 minute documentary on the making of the film. There are interviews with the cast and crew as well as film historians that make a great supplement to the film itself. Great!

There is also a classic Bugs Bunny cartoon, a "Treasure Trove" (tons of production photos, storyboards, publicity materials, etc.), and finally, a 1949 radio version of Treasure of the Sierra Madre performed by Bogart & Walter Huston.

Warner again presents a truly great special edition of one of their classic library films. Don't be without it!

What is interesting about my giving this movie a 5 star rating, is that it really is not one of my "favourite" movies, but there are so many things to love about the film that I couldn't give it any less.

Walter Huston as a crotchety but likeable old man, that wants to get rich, but wants a little help. Tim Holt as a gloriously understated "everyman", that you can't HELP but hope that HE ends up doing alright at the end. HUMPHREY BOGART as a man who, because of his greed, gradually descends into insanity. Barton MacLane as the rotton scoundrel who tries to cheat Bogie and Holt out of their money that he owes them. Robert Blake as the cute little kid that sells the tickets. John Huston, as the man who Bogie puts "the bite" on, more than once. Bruce Bennett as a man who is fortune hunting, but for a good reason, to support his wife. Alfonso Bedoya as a cold-blooded bandito. A well written story about a very understandable thing...greed. We all have it to a certain point, but it is how we handle it that helps define us. See what I mean? There are many things to like about this movie.

Bogie most CERTAINLY deserved to WIN an Academy Award for his performance in this film. Dobbs' descent into madness (as portrayed by Bogie) was so GRADUAL, that you barely even noticed it until he started talking to himself, but you were sure of it when he pointed his finger in Tim Holt's face and yelled "I know you for what you are!"

I think all THREE of the major stars of this movie, Humphrey Bogart, Tim Holt, and Walter Huston (he DID get one) should have gotten Oscars. Bogie was great, Huston won the award, but without Holt to tie the whole thing together, it would not have been as poignant, I think.

WATCH IT! You may not LOVE it, but you will definitely love many things about it.

Oh yes, let's not forget "Badges?! We don't need no badges! We don't have to show you no stinkin' badges!!!!", the famous line spoken by Bedoya.

Here you have a trully great package: a top director (John Huston) and a top star (Bogart) with an great screenplay, music (by Max Steiner), great photography (by Ted McCord) and a top cast. The story revolves around a group of stray losers (stranded in a mexican town) who decide to join forces and go after the (gold) riches of the wild, lawless mexican lands. They are greedy Dobbs (Bogart), honest Curtin (Tim Holt) and wise old Howard (Walter Huston). But the gold fortune they gain from the mountain soon transforms their views and relationships as Dobbs quickly falls into paranoia.

This is a trully classic film which deserved a trully great DVD edition... and this is it!! A two-disc edition with everything you can dream of... A great documentary (The Story of TTOTSM) with Martin Scorsese (lots of and others), another documentary about John Huston, two great Bugs Bunny films (one is a funny spoof of this film), A Lux Radio Theater broadcast, a vast gallery of photos and publicity material, a dozen Bogart trailers, one short film, a newsreel... everything you need to reproduce a classic night at the movies back in 1948!!!!!!

Obviously, the film in this edition has flawless sound and image... and along with this incredible tray of extras, this is surely the DVD edition to buy.

It seems that Warner Home Video is commited to release deffinitive editions of some of its classics (Thanks, WHV!!). I bought this DVD in a box that contains also Yankee Doodle Dandy and The Adventures of Robin Hood (two other two-disc editions who got this first rate treatment).

A great buy for an affordable price! Check for the 3 film box containing The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, Yankee Dodle Dandy and The Adventures of Robin Hood.

John Huston appears briefly (and repeatedly) as the american in a white suit who gives Bogart a coin - surely, the greatest director-cameo I've ever seen in an american classic film.

...and that's a crying shame, because "The Treasure of the Sierra Madre" is everything a movie should be and one of the greatest films ever to come out of Hollywood. This morality tale about three down-and-out Americans prospecting for gold in the Mexican mountains is a timeless story of friendship, greed and betrayal, wonderfully directed by John Huston and acted by Humphrey Bogart (in his best role ever), Tim Holt, and Huston's father, Walter Huston, who won a well-deserved Oscar for his portrayal as the old prospector (as did Huston Jr. for best director). Bogart's descent into madness is an acting tour de force; it's too bad he and Huston didn't win a joint Oscar. But there are so many Oscar-worthy performances in this film (I especially liked Alfonso Bedoya in the role of the bad guy Gold Hat) that they couldn't begin to hand out awards to everyone who deserved one. There is not one thing I would change in this movie. The ending is priceless. Seeing all the gold blown back into the hills where it came from has the viewer collapsing with laughter along with Holt and Huston, even while we appreciate, along with them, their hard-won lesson. This movie surely deserves a prominent place in any list of the ten best films of all time.

It is safe to assume you have already seen this film and are most likely here to find out if this Blu Ray transfer is worth the upgrade from your DVD copy. If you have not seen this film you have missed out on a classic piece of American film-making by one of the top directors and superlative star performances from Humphrey Bogart, Tim Holt and the Hustons, both John and Walter (the latter who steals the show) As such, this review will deal only with the technical aspects of the disc, both visual and audio.

IS the Blu Ray release of "The Treasure of the Sierra Madre" worth the upgrade to Blu Ray?

IN seven words: You Bet Your Sweet Bippy it is!

Here are the reasons why I recommend this Blu Ray disc 110% ! First of all, Blu Ray was made for classic Black & White films! Nothing in your home video library can beat a properly restored and prepared Black and White classic presented in 1080p. When the transfers are done correctly the results are sublime. This is such a transfer.

I thought the best B & W 1080p film in my library was "Casablanca" and until I saw THIS transfer that was truly the case. Then a fellow Amazon reviewer and classic film lover made the suggestion to me that this might be even better. How right he was! "Treasure" is simply STUNNING on Blu Ray. Contrast is spot on. Print damage? Too insignificant to mention. Edge enhancement or DNR? Surely you jest! Let me just say that everything that could be done correctly WAS and anything that could have screwed up this transfer was NOT! Basically, the picture quality is superb! It just doesn't get any better than this and gives all classic film lovers with HD systems cause to rejoice and be glad they lived long enough to see this level of video evolution. If you have seen this film many times on TCM or any other home video format, prepare to be pleasantly shocked and amazed. Yes, it really IS that good!

How about the audio? The original MONO track has been cleaned up and polished and presented here on DTS HD Master Audio 1.0 ..... Any attempt to create an artificial stereo or surround track would be blasphemy and I am really happy Warner Brother's gave us the audio the way it was recorded and presented in the theater. Honestly, the audio quality is right up there with the picture quality on this release. The two together proceed to give you a one two punch that can't be beat and an overall presentational that would surely gain John Huston's approval, had he lived to see it.

The included supplement package (although in SD) is varied and wide ranging. A great disc commentary by Bogart's biographer, a super good 2 hour documentary on director/actor John Huston, a very good 50 minute documentary on the making of this film, Bogie and Walter Huston reprising their roles for a classic 1 hour Lux radio presentation, trailers for both this movie plus Key Largo's trailer thrown in for grins. And one of those "Night at the Movies" set of shorts similar to what Warner's gave us with "The Maltese Falcon" BD , when selected approximates what you might have seen back in 1948 at your local theater. Basically, they have thrown in everything INCLUDING the kitchen sink and much of it , if not all , is really worth watching.,

I realize that these classic B & W films are a niche market at best , but if you find yourself tuning in to TCM more than broadcast networks and would rather watch Casablanca than Avatar, then this disc is for you! It is honestly worth twice the asking price and has a very special and honored place in my video collection. HIGHLY recommended, I would give it 10 Stars if I could!

You can safely toss your VHS and DVD copies of this film and never look back!

DVD's ?? DVD's??? We don't need no stinkin' DVD's !!

1948 was an Oscar duel between the British import "Hamlet" by Laurence Olivier (with six nominations) and the American production of "The Treasure of Sierra Madre" by John Huston (with four Oscar bids). Both dramatic pictures were B/W and were heavy favorites to dominate the awards (and did so with seven wins between them).

John Huston deservedly won best director and best screenplay (with the joke that William Shakespeare wasn't eligible for "Hamlet" that year). The film is a dark one that explores the themes of greed and madness with superb all-around performances, especially by Walter Huston and Humphrey Bogart. By directing his father, a veteran character actor of stage and screen, to the best suporting actor prize, John Huston made Oscar history -- it mark the first time that a father and son won Oscars in the same year for the same film.

Inexplicably, Mr. Bogart was not even nominated for best actor in what arguably was his finest performance of his long career -- this oversight would contribute to his win three years later in another John Huston production of "The African Queen." He is mesmerizing as the American who literally and ever so slowly goes insane over his pot of gold.

At the end of the 1948 Oscar awards, "Hamlet" and "The Treasure Of Sierra Madre" were tied with three Oscars each -- "Hamlet" would break the tie by winning best picture and giving Mr Olivier his second Oscar win of the evening (to go with his best actor win). Similiar in themes, both films are worth seeing and the viewer can decide which they prefer more.