BrianKoller's Full Review: Treasure of the Sierra Madre
"The Treasure of the Sierra Madre" is an outstanding film that demonstrates how greed can corrupt one's soul. Humphrey Bogart delivers one of his most memorable performances playing a scraggly down-and-outer, whose gold prospecting windfall leads only to paranoia and violence.
The story begins with Bogart and fellow bum Tim Holt living a marginal existence in rural Mexico in 1925. After winning a small lottery and meeting old-timer prospector Walter Huston, the three seek their fortune in the Sierra Madre mountains, a dangerous land where water is scarce and bandits are common. After the trio discover and mine a gold bonanza, Bogart becomes mentally unstable. His mind plays paranoid tricks on him, and he turns to violence.
Bogart did not receive an Academy Award
nomination for his role, but certainly he
deserved one. He often played characters that
were either good or evil, but were on the wise
and in control of their circumstances. Bogart's
character here is not as smart as he thinks he
is, and is controlled by external events.
The supporting cast is very entertaining. We soon
encounter the director, John Huston, playing a
man in a white suit who disdainfully gives pesos
to a begging Bogart. Huston won Oscars for both
Best Director and Best Script. Incredibly, these
would be the only Academy Awards of his career,
which included work on such films as "The Maltese
Falcon", "The African Queen" and "The Asphalt
Jungle".
In a cantina, there is a great performance by a
Mexican boy peddling lottery tickets. The kid
turns out to be Robert Blake, age 14 but looking
and sounding much younger.
Walter Huston, John Huston's father, is dynamic
as the clever old-timer, who always knows what to
do in every situation. He won the Best Supporting
Actor Oscar for his role.
Although boring white-bread Bruce Bennett gets
fourth billing, that billing was more deserved by
Alfonso Bedoya, who plays a bandit leader. His
character is treacherous and mercurial, and he
has the film's most memorable line: "I don't have
to show you any stinkin' badges!"
I think that "Treasure of the Sierra Madre" is a
little better than "The Maltese Falcon", and thus
is probably the best film that John Huston
directed. (93/100)
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