The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948)'s comments

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voltesque

Fantastic depiction of desire, greed, and insecurity. To define the film with a quote, it'd probably be:

quote:
"What shall it profit a man if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?"

11 years 1 month ago

tigh66

Great film about greed and what is does to a man. Bogart gives a great performance here in an unlikable role, while Walter Huston steals the show

13 years 10 months ago

moviebuff_11

Superb film. Bogart is fantastic in it. Should really be his most recognized performance. Huston has an amazing talent for writing and directing and this certainly highlights that

11 years 11 months ago

My first Bogart film was Casablanca and it was years before I had the opportunity to watch other films with him in the starring role. Key Largo and To Have and Have Not were fine, but I longed for a film that resonated with me as well as Casablanca. Finally I watched this one. It's rather incredible how simple the plot is and yet it is executed with perfect efficiency and full effect. Bogart's character is rough and gritty in all the right places and makes for excellent viewing. You look into his eyes and see pure greed, a man reduced to a single base emotion. 5/5 stars

8 years 6 months ago

rtrench

I totally understand why PT Anderson watched this film constantly during the filming of There Will Be Blood. Greed and ambition can bring out the worst in man.

12 years 10 months ago

adrieorchids

My goodness, magnificent! To watch Bogart go from one character to the complete opposite is astounding! It really shows how greed can kill a man. Huston did an outstanding job stealing the show.

12 years 12 months ago

Flicker

Certainly interesting to see Bogart in a different role than the one he usually plays. It also would not surprise me in the slightest if the Howard character is from where every old prospector stereotype first originated.

Unfortunately, subtlety and not being racist are two qualities this film does not have. The film's big message can be spotted an hour and a half away and is executed with little tact or grace. In addition, the scenes with the "Indians" are absolutely absurd, and are riddled with plot holes of white superiority.

The most entertaining part of this film, other than geeking out over finally seeing the famous "Badges" quote performed, was laughing at how in no way could a script have given a character a more over the top case of paranoia than they did Dobbs.

11 years 1 month ago

Boei

Great setting, great buildup in the story. The characters fit nicely; Huston is great as the prospector archetype (he was one of the first that sprouted the cliche probably). Bogart plays beautifully and the buildup in his character is perfect.

Awesome movie.

9 months 2 weeks ago

Siskoid

The Treasure of the Sierra Madre may dress itself up as a western adventure, but it's really a study in greed that's practically Shakespearean in its intensity. Humphrey Bogart has never had money, so the idea of striking it rich is no big deal to him at first, but once the gold dust starts pouring in, he gets more and more paranoid that he'll lose the first riches he's ever known. His dragon sickness is contrasted with his partners better dosed attitudes. But of course, it also works as an epic action western - it IS John Huston, after all - but not a predictable one. I did find that the theme of avarice and how one might succumb to it is at times overplayed. There's no real doubt the characters are headed down that dark road just from the thematic content (even if you can't guess the incidents). That said, still great. Walter Huston and Bogart are particularly strong. That's the thing with Bogie. He's so iconic as a hard private dick, you don't expect him to be able to act any other way. He shouldn't surprise me at this point, but totally does.

5 years 3 months ago

canaan

this is the first film that I have seen with Bogart as the villain and was drawn to watch it as I was in the mood for a western. Obviously there is some discussion about whether it's a western or not, however
even though it wasn't what I set out to watch, I really enjoyed it. The character of Dobbs was interesting, and I especially liked Howard as the old and wise goat. It was fairly obvious to me whilst watching it
what the general theme of the ending was going to be, but the story and message was well rounded out that it drew me in, rather than turned me off. I find the prevelance of the more gritty realism of Dobbs actions over older Hollywood's more traditional values to be much more satisfying which also helped me enjoy this one.

My only complaint being that I wish that the character of Cody had stuck around longer, so that the ending actions of Howard and Curtain were more fully justified.

5 years 10 months ago