The Treasure of the Sierra Madre. 1948. Directed by John Huston.

(5/28/00)

It is strange seeing this again. This is one of the films that I grew up with, that I watched over and over on television. I haven't seen it in many years and I found it difficult to reconnect with it.
It is a film about gold and what gold does to those who pursue and obtain it. Walter Huston talks about how gold affects prospectors and how they never get enough. He seems to be a figure of wisdom. But what is interesting is that the film which unfolds does not bear out his words.

Three men go out seeking gold. They find it. Two of them remain basically sane, decent people. It is only one who goes crazy. So the film does not bear out Walter Huston's words. Yes, gold can affect people as he describes--but that shouldn't be taken as a foregone conclusion. And, in fact, Huston is specifically proved wrong because when they have about $35,000 apiece they agree to call it quits.

Humphrey Bogart's performance as Fred C. Dobbs is considered by many his greatest performance. It is a portrayal of a man going mad. The problem I had with it was that as he does his "mad scene" you are one hundred per cent aware that you are watching acting. And that, of course, takes you out of the picture. Still, I don't know how else he should have played it. And it is quite possible that I might have been overly sensitive to it because I have seen this film many times when I was younger.

I said that the other two men remain basically decent and sensible people. They do, but the love of gold does exact a price. Curtin consents to the murder of Cody. Cody met Curtin at a trading post and got a pretty good idea of what was going on. He followed him back to the camp and told the three men that he wanted to join them as a partner. They couldn't just send him away because he would report their illegal activity and claim a share of their gold. Dobbs wants to kill him and Howard (Walter Huston) is willing to take him on as a prtner. Curtin has the deciding vote and the vote is for murder.

This is very sad to see, although Curtin had done everything from the beginning to discourage his questions and the three told him he wasn't wanted. Cody really brought this on himself, but still the love of gold almost put blood on their hands. (The Mexican bandits got him first.)
Curtin finds and reads a letterfrom Cody to his young wife in which he promises that this will be his last trip in search of gold. This seems like a cliche to me, although it certainly seems appropriate.

The great moment in The Treasure of the Sierra Madre comes when Curtin and Howard discover that the Mexicans, not knowing what it was, let the gold blow away. Howard takes it as a great joke on the part of some power and bursts into hearty, almost convulsive laughter. His laughter is indescribable and can only be experienced to its full effect in a theater.

His laughter is the laughter ofacceptance and I think there is a meaning there. I was disappointed when the gold was found to have blown away and I think that is a common reaction. Huston's acceptance of the situation is like a rebuke, because most of the audience cannot share that acceptance.

There is a sense of the earth in this film. When they are ready to leave Howard insists on binding up the wounds of the mountain and thanking it. And when the gold blows away there is that howling wind which seems almost to have a personality. Nature is a powerful force in the sense that it was in the silent Swedish pictures.

Walter Huston's performance occasionally seems too much. I'm thinking of when they were looking for gold on the mountain. I've already mentioned what I thought of Bogart, but his final encounter with the Mexicans was quite fine.

The whole sequence in which Dobbs and Curtin are recruited to work for a man who tries to swindle them out oftheir pay is a very nice introduction to the theme of gold (or money) and its effects on human character.