Treasure of the Sierra Madre Review- By Michael Carlisle

Title: Treasure of the Sierra Madre
Year: 1948
Director: John Huston
Country: U.S
Language: English

John Huston is one of the greatest American directors in the history of cinema, alongside such greats as Stanley Kubrick (2001: A Space Odyssey) and Steven Spielberg (Schindler's List). His well known directing abilities have won him countless awards. Endless praise is given by fans and critics alike to his The African Queen and The Asphalt Jungle. He has had an enduring appeal that has stood the test of time. I first saw Treasure of the Sierra Madre in professor Michael Boyce's film class, and I can say for certain that it definitely has made an impact on me.

Treasure of the Sierra Madre is essentially about two down on their luck men named Fred C. Dobbs (Humphrey Bogart)  and Bob Curtin (Tim Holt). They meet up with a grizzled prospector named Howard (Walter Huston) and decide to join with him in search of gold in the wilds of central Mexico. Through enormous difficulties, they eventually succeed in finding gold, but bandits, the elements, and most especially greed threaten to turn their success into disaster.

By the time Treasure of the Sierra Madre was being filmed, Humphrey Bogart was a household name. Men wanted to be him and women wanted to be with him, 1942's Casablanca essentially secured him as a "face" of Cinema that had an incredible amount of pull and star power. Director John Huston dared to do something almost blaphemous with Bogart; turn him into a villain. It was incredibly shocking, but it worked! Bogart's portrayal of the suspicious and mad Dobbs was so good that it should have won him an Oscar at the Academy Awards/

Treasure of the Sierra Madre is essentially a tale about the nature of greed and what the lust of money can do to a man's very soul. Even Bogey, the typical good guy, has his soul corrupted by this unquenchable thirst. The pace of this film is quite well executed, the madness does not come suddenly but slowly, which makes the emotions in the film feel realistic. Huston directs this film with great technical sophistication, it would be hard to imagine any other director using this film's source material as good as he does.

In conclusion, there should be no wonder to why this is one of the most treasured American films in the history of Cinema. It is nearly flawless on a technical level, and superior to most on just the story alone. There will be many tales of Greed in the future of Cinema, but I doubt many will be as intelligent as this. It keeps you entrapped in suspense, even after you've seen the film a dozen or so times. Praise it! 5/5