The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948)

Director:

John Huston

Writers:

John Huston (screenplay)
B. Traven (novel)

Release Date:

24 January 1948 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Drama | Western | Action

Tagline:

The more he yearns for a woman's arms . . . the fiercer he lusts for the treasure that cursed them all!

Plot:

Fred C. Dobbs and Bob Curtin, both down on their luck in Tampico, Mexico in 1925, meet up with a grizzled...

Plot Keywords:

Gold | Mexico | Prospector | Bandit | Friend

Awards:

Won 3 Oscars. Another 9 wins & 4 nominations

Cast

Humphrey Bogart	...	Dobbs
Walter Huston	...	Howard
Tim Holt	...	Curtin
Bruce Bennett	...	Cody
Barton MacLane	...	McCormick (as Barton Mac Lane)
Alfonso Bedoya	...	Gold Hat
Arturo Soto Rangel	...	Presidente (as A. Soto Rangel)
Manuel Dondé	...	El Jefe (as Manuel Donde)
José Torvay	...	Pablo (as Jose Torvay)
Margarito Luna	...	Pancho
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Robert Blake	...	Mexican Boy Selling Lottery Tickets (uncredited)
Guillermo Calles	...	Mexican Storeowner (uncredited)
Roberto Cañedo	...	Mexican Lieutenant (uncredited)
Spencer Chan	...	Proprietor (uncredited)
Jacqueline Dalya	...	Flashy Girl (uncredited)
Ralph Dunn	...	Flophouse Bum (uncredited)
Ernesto Escoto	...	Mexican Bandit (uncredited)
Pat Flaherty	...	Customer in Bar Who Warns Curtin and Dobbs about Pat McCormick (uncredited)
Martin Garralaga	...	Railroad Conductor (uncredited)
Jack Holt	...	Flophouse Bum (uncredited)
John Huston	...	American in Tampico in White Suit (uncredited)
Francisco Islas	...	Indian (uncredited)
Mario Mancilla	...	Child (uncredited)
Julian Rivero	...	Barber (uncredited)
Valdespino	...	Indian (uncredited)
Ildefonso Vega	...	Indian (uncredited)
Harry J. Vejar	...	Bartender (uncredited)
Ignacio Villabajo	...	Mexican Bandit (uncredited)
Clifton Young	...	Flophouse Bum (uncredited)

Directed by
John Huston

Writing credits
John Huston		(screenplay)
B. Traven		(novel)

Produced by
Henry Blanke	....	producer
Jack L. Warner	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Max Steiner		(music by)

Cinematography by
Ted D. McCord		(director of photography) (as Ted McCord)

Film Editing by
Owen Marks

Art Direction by
John Hughes

Set Decoration by
Fred M. MacLean

Makeup Department
Perc Westmore	....	makeup artist
Betty Delmont	....	hair stylist (uncredited)
Frank McCoy	....	makeup artist (uncredited)
Monty Westmore	....	makeup artist (uncredited)

Production Management
Don Alvarado	....	production manager (uncredited)
Don Page	....	unit manager (uncredited)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Richard Maybery	....	assistant director (uncredited)
John Prettyman	....	assistant director (uncredited)

Art Department
Bob Bono	....	props (uncredited)
Frank Durlauf	....	assistant art director (uncredited)
Ed Romero	....	painter (uncredited)
George Sweeney	....	props (uncredited)

Sound Department
Robert B. Lee	....	sound
Rafael Ruiz Esparza	....	sound (uncredited)
Edward Ullman	....	sound recordist (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Hans F. Koenekamp	....	special effects (as H.F. Koenekamp)
William C. McGann	....	special effects director (as William McGann)
Eddie Craven	....	special effects (uncredited)

Stunts
Harvey Parry	....	stunts (uncredited)
David Sharpe	....	stunt double: Tim Holt (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Dave Brodie	....	assistant camera (uncredited)
William Classen	....	grip (uncredited)
Ellsworth Fredericks	....	camera operator (uncredited)
Burdette Hoke	....	best boy (uncredited)
Mac Julian	....	still photographer (uncredited)
Clair Sealey	....	gaffer (uncredited)
Jorge Stahl Jr.	....	photographer (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Robert O'Dell	....	wardrobe (uncredited)
Ted Schultz	....	wardrobe (uncredited)

Editorial Department
Fred E. Farrell	....	assistant editor (uncredited)

Music Department
Murray Cutter	....	orchestral arrangements
Leo F. Forbstein	....	musical director
Max Steiner	....	conductor (uncredited)

Other crew
Antonio Arriaga	....	technical advisor
Ernesto A. Romero	....	technical advisor
Fred Applegate	....	script supervisor (uncredited)
Jaime Contreras	....	production assistant (uncredited)
Luis Sánchez	....	production chief (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Warner Bros. Pictures (presents) (A Warner Bros.-First National Picture)

Distributors

• Warner Bros. Pictures (1948) (USA) (theatrical)
• Warner Bros. (1949) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• M.P.E.A. (1949) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• Neue Visionen Filmverleih (1949) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (1998) (USA) (VHS)
• Chapel Distribution (1997) (Australia) (theatrical) (35mm print)
• Elite Films
• Key Video (????) (USA) (VHS)
• Living Colour Entertainment (2008) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (2003) (USA) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (2006) (USA) (DVD)
• Warner Home Vídeo (????) (Brazil) (VHS)

Also Known As:

Treasure of Sierra Madre (USA) (poster title)
Le trésor de la Sierra Madre (Belgium: French title) (Canada: French title) (France) [fr]
Der Schatz der Sierra Madre (Austria) (West Germany) [de]
Altin hazineleri (Turkey: Turkish title) [tr]
De schat van de Sierra Madre (Belgium: Flemish title) [un]
El tesoro de la Sierra Madre (Spain) [es]
Ha-Otzar M'Sierra Madre (Israel: Hebrew title) [iw]
Il tesoro della Sierra Madre (Italy) [it]
O Tesouro da Serra Madre (Portugal) [pt]
O Tesouro de Sierra Madre (Brazil) [pt]
O thissavros tis Sierra Madre (Greece) [el]
Sierra Madren aarre (Finland) [fi]
Sierra Madres skatt (Sweden) [sv]
Skarb Sierra Madre (Poland) [pl]
Tre mand søger guld (Denmark) [da]

Runtime:

126 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Spanish

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

Canada:G (Nova Scotia/Quebec) | Canada:PG (Manitoba/Ontario) | South Korea:12 | West Germany:12 (nf) | Canada:PG (video rating) | Norway:16 | West Germany:6 | Australia:PG | Finland:K-16 | Netherlands:AL | Sweden:15 (1977) | UK:PG | USA:Approved (certificate #12347)

Filming Locations:

Acapulco, Guerrero, Mexico

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

The bum seated near Walter Huston in the first scene in the Oso Negro flophouse is Jack Holt, father of Tim Holt. Holt is not the man in the barroom scene who speaks to Humphrey Bogart and Tim Holt in the saloon, as stated by Eric Lax in his DVD commentary. That actor is Pat Flaherty.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: Glaringly obvious use of doubles in the barfight scene to replace Humphrey Bogart, Tim Holt and Barton MacLane.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Dobbs: Say buddy, will you stake a fellow Am...

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Valley of Gwangi (1969)

Soundtrack:

Believe Me If All Those Endearing Young Charms

Unbeatable.

I wish I knew who B. Traven was. He wrote the novel this film is based on, and it's a good read. There are stories that he was a German. Maybe he was. The dialogue has little German touches in it. Traven surely lived in modest circumstances in Mexico, the details of run-down hotels being far too accurate to have been made up in a comfortable armchair.

But it's not really important. Huston and his cast and crew have turned the novel into a movie that is as good as anything likely to show up on the screen. It is in fact an astounding achievement. I can't even begin to list the moments that stamp themselves indelibely into one's memory, but I will mention one, just en passant, so to speak. After killing his partner and friend, Bogart lies down next to a fire and tries to go to sleep. He talks to himself about "conscience" and how it only bother you if you allow it to, and the fake fire blazes up higher and higher between the actor and the camera until he seems to be consumed by the flame.

Alfonso Bedoya. He made a few other movies but nothing resembling this one.

What lines he is given! "Aww, come on. Throw that old iron over here." "There's a good business for Jew." And the unforgettable "batches," which doesn't need repeating.

It is surely one of Huston's best films. A lesser director could have ruined the novel's plot. But Huston adds his own touches. Cody is killed, shot through the neck, and the old man reads a letter from his wife, retrieved from Cody's pocket. But -- he doesn't know how to read big words!

So Curtin takes the letter and reads it. It's not just a directorial flash in the pan, because the scene resonates at the end of the movie when Curtin rides off to meet Cody's wife in the blossom-blooming orchard. What I mean is that the letter-reading scene is there for a larger purpose than simply adding to our appreciation of the characters at that particular moment.

The fight with Pat in the cantina. Absolutely nothing happens the way it had always happened in previous movies. Huston stages it in a way that an artist would think of. In all movies before this one fights involved (1) a general melee in which no one wins or loses, or (2) one clip on the jaw and the guy is unconscious. Here, MacCormack, the heavy, done very nicely by Barton Maclaine, bashes one guy over the head with a bottle of booze and socks the other one. But somebody grabs his legs as he tries to walk out the door. More blows. Bodies slump to the floor and they have a hell of a time getting back up on their feet. More blows. Pat is finally beaten to the floor and he's not unconscious. "Okay. Enough, fellas. I'm beat. I can't see." Bogart and Tim Holt take only the money that is owing to them, and Curtin (Holt) comes up with, "Let's beat it before the law arrives." Before the law arrives. That's straight out of Traven's novel and is one of the reasons people believe he wasn't that familiar with the English language. Not that it doesn't fit -- because it does.

I could go on listing one scene after another that is simply outstanding but there isn't space enough to do it. I watched this repeatedly with my ten year old kid, Josh, who finally memorized almost every word of the script. I showed it in classes in psychology at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina as an almost flawless depiction of an ego defense mechanism called "projection." The Marines loved it. I loved it. My kid loved it. John Simon loved it. Rush Limbaugh loved it. Martha Stewart loved it. Napolean Bonaparte loved it. Moses loved it. Lenin loved it. St. Peter, when not attending the pearly gates, watches it on cable TV. (No commercials.) Everybody loves it -- and for good reasons.