LogFAQs > #957624257

KBM: Goddamn am I glad this list finally got me to go watch The Treasure of the Sierra Madre. This has to be one of the best movies of the 1940s. A shockingly timeless portrait (especially considering the very specific time period in which it's set) of a man's descent into the madness of greed, it is a travesty that Bogart wasn't nominated for an Oscar for his performance in this. And what's more: this movie is genuinely really funny, in a pitch-black kind of way. One of those rare films of the Hays Code era that doesn't lose any of its potency due to the Codes stringent restrictions, this is a movie I could recommend to anyone, and one that I'm sure I'll be watching again several times in the future. I loved, loved, loved this. Screw John Ford, give me a John Huston movie over him any day.

Inviso: Throughout my watching of this movie, I kept thinking that it reminded me of a Twilight Zone episode (The Rip Van Winkel Caper, to be precise). It just had that interesting, psychological aspect to differentiate it from a standard old west story. Humphrey Bogarts chararacter is a complete bastard throughout, easily a craven coward despite his masculine persona. But really, the whole set-up is great. Dobbs (Bogart) and Curtin (some other guy) hear tale of prospecting and getting rich quick, so they put in the money to do exactly that. But its not long before paranoia and greed start to well within them both, seemingly egged on by their partys third member, Howard. Now, if Howard was scamming them both, the whole time, that wouldve been great. But sadly, he just stirs the pot and turns out to be good in the end. Still, it works. Its fascinating to see the descent of Dobbs over the course of the film, until karmic retribution costs him everything. His more virtuous partners get screwed in that their labors are for naught, but they still get happy endings. As a result, the movie just tells a very strong story from start to finish.

Johnbobb: Saw this for the first time in a film studies class in college (as I did with a small handful from this list), and it was one of my favorites from that class, mostly because it was the first western I think I can remember actually enjoying. Humphrey Bogart is top notch here, and he plays the poor man losing his mind to greed on the mountain that it's hard to believe this is the same suave sweet-talker from Casablanca. This is what I tend to think of in terms of a true classic Western deserving of the title.

Poke: Three players in the game of trust. It is a triumph of films revolving around the concept of game theory. My only gripe is the pacing/editing towards the end with Bogart basically dying off-screen. But the middle of the film is just so spectacular.

Karo: So some gringo bums in mexico team up with a crazy old prospector to find all that gold in them hills and so the three of them head off into the wilderness masquerading as big game hunters tracking mexico's famous lions and tigers.
What begins as a simple partnership quickly turns into cowboy game of thrones as everyone begins to suspect everyone else of running off with their share of the gold, all while paranoia and goofy dancing intensify.
The intense scenes around the midsection of the story are the strongest part of the movie, as they contemplate of the murder of a lone cowboy so they wont have to share the loot drops with him.
But that is as high of a peak as the film gets, as it immediately degrades into dated racial depictions and everyone doing incredibly stupid things simply for the sake of getting the story where the writers wanted it to be.
For such an old movie the characterization is unusually good, but I would have liked it to have not go so overboard with all the winking and nudging that our would-be prospectors would eventually turn on each other. Similarly I would have liked it to not have been so absurdly obvious who the betrayer would be. I would have liked for the most tense scene in the movie not to be randomly defused by an attack from some culturally insensitive 'banditos'.
Though it remains interesting throughout, it still is a little half-baked due to its age and it pulls a lot of punches in places where it definitely needed a little more to leave a real impact.

CoolCly: I dont care for the two main guys

This was an interesting story about the effect of greed on a man. Dobbs was rather pathetic from the beginning, but he didnt believe himself to be a bad guy. But he truly falls to pathetic depths throughout the film

Howards scene where he had the opportunity to leave Dobbs to die in the mine and have one less split of the gold but chose to save Dobbs anyways was nice, and cemented his choice to resist that kind of temptation.

But he old timer that knows all there is to know about prospecting was the star of the show. Hes just dripping with both wisdom and practical knowledge about everything, and he has the vitality and determination to back it up. Its almost silly how the two guys mock him and think hes crazy when hes prepared them for the hardships ahead as much as he could

The scene of the old timer and the other guy talking about how theyd like to make a life for themselves running a store or growing peaches contrasted with the main character just talking about the material wealth uses he would do the moment hes back in civilization was really the whole theme of the movie.

A bit sad Howard and the old timer ended up empty handed, but they never really needed the gold to live a fulfilling life anyways.

My review of this movie is rather positive, but honestly, I didnt actually enjoy watching it, and I dont think I could recommend this movie to anybody unless they were doing just to experience what older movies and/or westerns could be like. Theres definitely substance behind this though for those who choose to go looking for it

4.5/10
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Bear Bro
The Empire of Silence