Released: 1948

Dir.: John Huston

              I first saw The Treasure of the Sierra Madre while I was studying film production in the late 1980s. It wasn’t part of the course, it just happened to be on TV, so I recorded it and watched it when I had some free time. It struck me during that first viewing how distinct the first act of the film is, and with further study how beautifully it establishes the characters and foreshadows events to come.

              Fred C. Dobbs (Humphrey Bogart) is a down on his luck American in the Mexican town of Tampico, with hardly a centavo to his name. Dobbs bums money off fellow Americans without looking them in the eye, and begrudgingly buys shares in losing lottery tickets from a pushy street urchin. When he has a peso, or two Dobbs may even treat himself to a shave and haircut. But ultimately life consists of living centavo to centavo, peso to peso, and it’s wearing a little thin.

              Dobbs meets Bob Curtin, a fellow American in a similar predicament. They agree that Tampico is a land of no opportunities. Dobbs goes back to begging for money when he comes across Pat McCormick (Barton MacLane) who offers Dobbs a job rigging a camp upriver, in the jungle. At 8 bucks a day, how can Dobbs refuse.

              At the ferry, Dobbs again meets up with Curtin, who has also accepted McCormick’s offer, and over the next few weeks of hard work Dobbs and Curtin become friends. They wonder when McCormick is going to pay them and McCormick promises their pay immediately upon their return to Tampico, plus a bonus for each of them. Dobbs and Curtin take McCormick at his word.

              Back in Tampico there is no pay waiting for Dobbs and Curtin. McCormick feeds them a load of malarky and takes a powder, leaving Dobbs and Curtin waiting in a cantina with barely enough money for a bed for the night. They learn that this is a scam McCormick routinely pulls, and they vow to get even with him.

  Renting a couple of beds, the men encounter Howard (Walter Huston), and old-time prospector telling stories about the lure of gold and what it does to men, bringing out their worst instincts. Dobbs swears that would never happen to him.

Soon, Dobbs and Curtin catch up with McCormick, who’s still shoveling the malarky. The pair want their money, and they want it now. McCormick swings a bottle and Dobbs and Curtin proceed to beat the tar out of McCormick. They get McCormick’s wallet, take the money that is owed to them and throw the rest of the cash back into McCormick’s bloodied face.

Wallowing in their victory, Dobbs hasn’t forgotten the old man’s stories of the riches to be found in the mountains, just waiting to be plucked from the ground. They decide prospecting is the way to go and they track down Howard for his advice.

Howard decides to go with Dobbs and Curtin, but they are short funds for their supplies and provisions by about $100. The pushy street urchin (Robert Blake) returns at a fortunate moment, and it turns out Dobbs’ losing lottery ticket is a winner. They can now fund their expedition, and the trio set off by train for Durango and the mountains beyond…

So, there roughly is Act 1 of The Treasure of Sierra Madre, and it could almost be a film unto itself. Or at the very least an episode of a limited series on Netflix. Regardless, it sets up the movie beautifully.

The Fred C. Dobbs we are introduced to is a decent guy. He’s hardened by his life experiences, but he knows right from wrong, and would like to stay on the right side of the law. He’s not afraid of doing hard work and is by no means a lazy man, he’d just like to do an honest day’s work and get paid for it. Dobbs is just in the wrong place, and like anyone in his predicament, would perhaps like to be back home.

Most importantly, Dobbs comes across as a man of integrity. He is apologetic for putting the bite on the same fellow American (John Huston) three times in a row. After being chewed out by the fellow American, who gives him a few extra pesos to stop bugging him, Dobbs is humbled and takes the chastising with his chin up. When he and Curtin beat the stuffing out of McCormick, they consciously take what’s owned them and not a cent more, despite McCormick’s cash roll being quite substantial. Taking all of McCormick’s money is not an option. Finally, when Dobbs wins the lottery, he doesn’t even hesitate to put up his winnings to finance their expedition. He wants Curtin and Howard to profit from his good fortune, they’ll become so rich the money that Curtain and Howard would owe him wouldn’t make a difference.

What is less obvious, but evident, is Dobbs and Curtin’s naivete. They fall for McCormick’s scheme, they think they’ll be the ones carrying Howard up the mountain because of his age, and although they know prospecting is hard work, Dobbs and Curtin have it in their heads that they’ll just be able to pluck the gold out of the ground. Most importantly, Dobbs doesn’t think he’ll fall into the trap that Howard warns him of, greed and distrust of his partners.

Of course, this is exactly what happens, even if we don’t want to believe it. Curtin for the most part keeps his head straight and wants to keep the partnership honest. But Dobbs slides down that dark hole of paranoia, and distrust, which ultimately seals his fate.

Dobbs pays the ultimate price. His demise is shocking, and although it occurs out of shot, it is violent, gruesome, and I know I felt sorry for him. He was flawed even before leaving Tampico, but not a bad man, and ends up pathetic, paranoid, alone and dead. Had he survived, I think Dobbs could have been redeemed, but his paranoia drove him to go it alone. With that, there was no coming back.

Act One sets up everything you need to know about Dobbs, and Humphrey Bogart’s performance is my favourite of his. He seamlessly goes from decent, yet down on his luck man, to an individual descending into madness, capable of murder, and we feel sorry for him at the end. Film acting at its finest.

The Treasure of the Sierra Madre is one of the greatest American films. The film feels longer than its 126-minute running time, but in a good way, because all you need to do is think back to Tampico and you see just how far these characters have gone.

The Treasure of Sierra Madre is available on DVD and Blu-ray, and airs from time to time on TCM.