The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (film)

• Release Date: 1948
• Director(s): John Huston
• Writer(s): John Huston
• Principal Actors and Roles: Humphrey Bogart (Dobbs); Walter Huston (Howard); Tim Holt (Curtin); Barton Maclane (McCormick)
• Book / Story Film Based On: Treasure of The Sierra Madre by B. Traven

The Treasure of the Sierra Madre is an American adventure film that takes place in post-revolution Mexico in the 1920s, where three Americans set out for the Sierra Madre Mountains in search of gold. The story, adapted for the screen by director John Huston, closely follows its source, a novel, also titled The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, written in 1927 by B. Travers.

Warner Brothers began seeking out the rights to Travers’ novel in the early 1940s, and eventually secured the rights in 1941 after lengthy negotiations with the enigmatic and difficult author. The film was optioned with director John Huston in mind. However, at the time that the rights to the novel were purchased, Huston was in the army, and had to be sent a copy of the novel for consideration. Although work began on a screenplay in 1942, production for The Treasure of the Sierra Madre was postponed until after World War II had ended and Huston was released from his duty.

Author B. Travers continued to remain mysterious and elusive throughout the production of the film, only corresponding with Huston via mail. To make communications easier, Travers agreed to send a translator, Hal Croves, to the film set in Mexico, whom Huston eventually hired on as an advisor. Huston had suspicions that Croves was B. Travers himself, masquerading as a messenger, although the author effusively denied these claims. It was later confirmed that Hal Croves was in fact the author himself.

For the lead role of Fred C. Dobbs, Ronald Reagan was considered, but producers eventually cast Humphrey Bogart instead. Director John Huston’s father, Walter Huston, played the experienced gold prospector, Howard.

Plot

The film begins in Tampico, Mexico in 1925 after the Mexican Revolution. Fred C. Dobbs, an American who has fallen on hard times and desperate for money, has been hired to work in an oil field. There, he meets a fellow American, Bob Curtin, who is in a similar situation. After work, the pair heads to a boarding house, where they meet an old gold prospector named Howard and decide to set out in search of gold with Howard. While en route to the Sierra Madre Mountains, the trio’s train is attacked by a group of bandits, led by Gold Hat. The bandits are fought off, but the men are unable to kill Gold Hat, who gets away. The men buy some supplies for their excavation and then begin their search for gold.

Tired and discouraged, the men are about to give up when Howard finds the gold. As the days go on, tensions between the men begin to rise as greed and distrust set in, with Dobbs, who wishes to keep all of the gold, being the most paranoid and greedy of the three. One day, Curtin journeys to town for more supplies and meets Cody, a Texan, who reveals that he is in search for gold and begins questioning Curtin about the area. Curtin lies to Cody, and once back with Hobbs and Howard, he tells his partners about the Texan. Howard and Hobbs decide that they must kill Cody, but just as they are about to shoot him, Gold Hat and his bandits, pretending to be Mexican Federales, attack the camp. In the struggle, the bandits kill Cody, and a troop of actual Federales appears and scares off the bandits.

Howard leaves Hobbs and Curtin to help a young sick village boy, but leaves his share of the gold with his partners. However, in Howard’s absence, tensions come to a head between Hobbs and Curtin. Eventually, Hobbs’s greed gets the better of him, and during the night he shoots Curtin, takes all of the gold, and leaves Curtin to die. On his own, Hobbs runs into the bandits, who kill him and raid his body. When the bandits discover the bags of gold, they mistakenly think the bags are just filled with sand and let the gold blow away in the wind.

Meanwhile, Curtin manages to crawl to the nearby village where he recuperates and is reunited with Howard. When the bandits arrive attempting to sell the trio’s donkeys, a young villager recognizes the donkeys and alerts the Federales, who arrive and execute the bandits. Curtin and Howard discover the empty bags of gold, and mourn the loss of their treasure. Eventually, the men amicably part ways, as Curtin returns to the United States, and Howard decides to stay in the Mexican village.

Significance

The Treasure of the Sierra Madre was the first Hollywood film to venture outside of the United States for an on-location shoot. The film shot for eight weeks in various parts of Mexico, primarily in Tampico where the story begins. Additional production took place on location in California, as well as some supplementary footage shot on soundstages in Los Angeles. A notable error in the film occurs in the film’s opening in Tampico, Mexico. The film was shot in the 1940s, and shows modern cars and buses on camera, despite the setting of the film being 1925—before these vehicles would have existed.

The Treasure of the Sierra Madre was not initially a financial success upon release, despite its relatively high budget of $3 million. Over time as the film was rereleased, and popular opinion improved, the film eventually grossed over $4 million. Although the film was not a box office smash, it was critically acclaimed immediately, with reviewers praising the film for its depiction of greed and corruption. The Treasure of the Sierra Madre was nominated for a total of four Academy Awards, including best director, best adapted screenplay, best supporting actor (Walter Huston), and best picture. The film won three out of its four nominations, losing the best picture award to Hamlet. The film made history, as both John and Walter Huston won Oscars for their contributions to the film, the first time a father-son team had ever taken home the awards. In 1990, the Library of Congress selected The Treasure of the Sierra Madre for preservation in the United States National Film Registry for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant," and was one of the first one hundred films given this distinction.

Awards and nominations

Won

• Academy Award (1948) Best Director: John Huston
• Academy Award (1948) Best Supporting Actor: Walter Huston
• Academy Award (1948) Best Screenplay (Adapted): John Huston
• Golden Globe (1948) Best Motion Picture (Drama)
• Golden Globe (1948) Best Director: John Huston
• Golden Globe (1948) Best Supporting Actor: Walter Huston

Nominated

• Academy Award (1948) Best Picture

Bibliography

Armour, Philip. The 100 Greatest Western Movies of All Time: Including Five You’ve Never Heard of. Guilford: Globe, 2011. Print.

Brill, Lesley. John Huston’s Filmmaking. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1997. Print.

Huston, John, and Robert Emmet Long. John Huston: Interviews. Jackson: UP Mississippi, 2001. Print.

"The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948)." Turner Classic Movies (TCM). Turner Entertainment Networks, 2015. Web. 31 Aug. 2015. <http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/2852/The-Treasure-of-the-Sierra-Madre/>.

Traven, B. The Treasure of the Sierra Madre. New York: Hill, 1935. Print.