Trust is rarer than gold in 'The Treasure of the Sierra Madre'

Tim Holt (from left), Walter Huston, and Humphrey Bogart hunt for fortune in 1948’s “The Treasure of the Sierra Madre.” (Warner Bros/MovieStillsDB.com)

Every week, Ultimate Movie Year looks back into the past to highlight the best film that came out that weekend.

"The Treasure of the Sierra Madre"
Released Jan. 15, 1948
Directed by John Huston

Hobbs is a desperate man. We know within the first minute of "The Treasure of the Sierra Madre" as we are introduced to the classic Humphrey Bogart character, wandering the streets of a Mexican city begging for spare change. One man smoking a cigarette ignores Hobbs walking by, and then discards his cigarette on the road. Just for a moment, Hobbs looks at that cigarette, wondering if he's desperate enough to smoke it.

The desperation is felt throughout the film, where the only thing more valuable and scare than gold is trust, and both prove elusive to the characters of the John Huston adventure from 1948. Within its story of charity and greed lies brilliant performances, economical storytelling, and frontier cinematography to become an all-time classic for the Warner Bros. studios and one of the best-regarded films of its era, released during a time when types of movies weren't limited to a particular season.

Hobbs is clearly down on his luck at the beginning of "Treasure." He runs into another American, Curtin (Tim Holt), and together they find work with a local contractor. However, the contractor skips out on paying his employees, and the two are forced to spend nights at the local flophouse where they meet an older prospector and miner Howard (Walter Houston). Hobbs' luck begins to turn around when a lottery ticket he bought earlier comes up a winner, and he uses it to finance a prospecting opportunity in Mexico with Curtin and Howard.

As they travel together, both Hobbs and Curtin talk about hoping to earn enough money to make their lives comfortable. Howard, however, has the experience and notes how gold tends to possess the minds of those who seek it. They find a location near a mountain filled with gold, and it already has an impact on the prospectors. As the trio discusses when to divide their earnings, Hobbs is quick to suggest they split their profits right now, and keep it privately hidden as they continue. The trip is transforming Hobbs the most, as he quickly shoots down any alternative plan proposed, always anticipating it's just another way to cheat him. Even if Hobbs is still smarting from being stiffed by the contractor earlier on, his paranoia begins to infect the camp now.

But maybe Hobbs is right to be paranoid. The frontier of Mexico is rife with danger, particularly from a band of roaming Spanish bandits who are continually evading the Federales chasing them. Curtin witnesses some of the bandits being executed when he heads into town for supplies, but he's also spotted by another American named Cody (Bruce Bennett), who follows Curtin back to camp. Cody is trusting that this trio doesn't have the heart to kill him in cold blood rather than just cutting him into future profits, but as we know by now, trust is the rarest community on the frontier.

While "The Treasure of the Sierra Madre" takes place in Mexico (and is also the first Hollywood studio movie to be filmed there on location), the central story encapsulates a negative aspect of American life in how the pursuit of riches tends to dehumanize everyone else. Both Hobbs and Curtin walk into their gold prospects with good intentions; after all, they have nothing at the beginning of the film, and anything is better than nothing. Howard, on the other hand, has seen riches come and go. "I know what gold does to men's souls," he tells the others, who quickly dismiss the concern. Once Howard has the gold in his hands, he too is ready to do anything to protect his share, despite his experience. Whether it's gold, furs, weapons, or anything else, the characters of the film covet, taking a little to get by is never enough. There's always the desire for more, and once the original supplies have dried up, you look to your neighbor who has the more that you covet. The pursuit becomes all-consuming, and there's nothing you won't rationalize to achieve it.

The treasure found by the prospectors becomes a character test for all involved, and those they encounter in their travels. Howard joins the others in making a decision about Cody, which shocks the conscious, because none of the proposed outcomes would affect what Howard has already made. It takes a sick boy from a nearby tribe to jolt Howard back from the edge, a moment of charity and empathy that offers an unexpected reward. Meanwhile, Hobbs descends further in his pursuit and paranoia, growing from a man who wants some to one who wants his, and later, all.

The other character in this drama is Curtin, who becomes the audience surrogate as temptation transforms into anger and violence. At one point during their mining operation, a cave-in traps Hobbs inside the mountain. Curtin looks away for a moment, echoing Hobbs staring at the cigarette on the street at the beginning of the film, and then decides to help free him, even if it ultimately is less beneficial to him because a three-way split of profits would have become two. 

"Treasure" was initially based on a novel written by B. Tavern and adapted to the screen by Huston, who loved the story and waited years to get the go-ahead to make it after World War II affected the original plans. The story is efficiently told and finds inventive ways to continually test the character of these prospectors, while also leaving room for action and humor. Huston cast his father as Howard, and was soon badgered by Bogart as well, as they previously worked together on 1941's "The Maltese Falcon." By this point, Bogart excelled at playing morally compromised characters, maybe better than anybody in Hollywood at that point. That history gave audiences enough investment to wonder which way Hobbs would turn at the end of the film.

Audiences enjoyed seeing "Treasure" upon release, and the movie was honored with several Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture, and won for Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Supporting Actor for Walter Houston. It remains one of the most highly regarded films of all time, maintaining a place in the American Film Institute's top 100 movies list, and has influenced modern entertainment and art in projects like "There Will Be Blood" and "Breaking Bad."

"The Treasure of the Sierra Madre" was released at a different time in Hollywood, and in America, where the United States was returning to normalcy after the war and more united in the idea of shared prosperity than it is today. It is a morality tale filled with adventure that resonated upon release and still offers insight for the modern age.

The Weekend: For the third weekend of the year, studios begin to regain some confidence in releasing new projects in theaters, or at the very least, take a chance on a promising new star or franchise.

Coming off the success of their mainstream hits "Pulp Fiction" and "Desperado," writer Quentin Tarantino and director Robert Rodriguez teamed up with star George Clooney (then just making the jump to films from television's "ER") for the wild crime/vampire mashup "From Dusk Till Dawn," bowing this weekend in 1996. Another television star, James Van Der Beek from "Dawson's Creek," played a would-be high school football hero in 1999's "Varsity Blues," which also featured a young Paul Walker. Actress Katherine Heigl leaped from TV's "Grey's Anatomy" to her first romantic comedy lead role in 2008's "27 Dresses." Kevin James took the lead for 2009's comedy "Paul Blart: Mall Cop," MMA athlete Gina Carano starred in Steven Soderberg's "Haywire," and Chris Pine took over the famed role created by author Tom Clancy in 2014's "Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit."

Several already-established stars also premiered some of their films in an uncrowded January release schedule. Kevin Bacon battled monsters in 1990's cult film "Tremors." A few years later, he would also star with Christian Slater and Gary Oldman in 1995's "Murder in the First." Jack Nicholson led an ensemble cast in the mystery drama "The Pledge," a 2001 film directed by Sean Penn. N.W.A. rap star Ice Cube began transitioning to family film actor with 2005's "Are We There Yet?" Denzel Washington starred in 2010's "The Book of Eli," while Natalie Portman and Ashton Kutcher fooled around with love in 2011's "No Strings Attached."

Director M. Night Shyamalan regained buzz and earned praise for his 2017 thriller, "Split," which was followed up by 2019's "Glass." Finally, a delightfully clumsy but polite bear made his feature film debut, as "Paddington" arrived on American shores in 2015. We're big fans over here.

Next Week: "Before Sunrise"

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