The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948)

In this article, we will be looking at 2019’s book “1001 Movies to See Before You Die” and going through each film in a random order that I have chosen. We will be looking at what constitutes this film to be on the list and whether I think this film deserves to be here at all. I want to make perfectly clear that I won’t be revealing details from this book such as analyses by film reporters who have written about the film in question, so if you want the book itself you’ll have to buy it. But I will be covering the book’s suggestions on which films should be your top priority. I wouldn’t doubt for a second that everyone reading this article has probably watched many of these movies anyway. But we are just here to have a bit of fun. We’re going to not just look at whether it should be on this list but we’re also going to look at why the film has such a legacy at all. Remember, this is the 2019 version of the book and so, films like “Joker” will not be featured in this book and any film that came out in 2020 (and if we get there, in 2021). So strap in and if you have your own suggestions then don’t hesitate to email me using the address in my bio. Let’s get on with it then.

The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948) dir. by John Huston

Released on the 6th of January, 1948 this film was altered to meet the Hayes’ Code which had gone defunct in silent cinema by 1934 but still applied to some talkies considering profanity and language use. Lines including phrases like ‘god-damn’ were omitted from the original film but there are sources of it being added back in later when the Hayes’ Code had finally gone fully defunct.

Called a film about corruption and greed and less about gold, this film was rated by Roger Ebert when he stated that “…the movie has never really been about gold but about character.”

On Rotten Tomatoes, “The Treasure of the Sierra Madre” has a rating of 100% with the critics’ consensus being that the film was: “…remade but never duplicated, this darkly humorous morality tale represents John Huston at his finest.”

It went on to win the Best Director Academy Award and the Best Adapted Screenplay in 1949 for John Huston and Best Supporting Actor for Walter Huston. It also won the Golden Globes for Best Picture, Best Director and Best Supporting Actor. In the nineties, this film was selected for the United States National Film Registry within the Library of Congress for being culturally, historically or aesthetically significant and was amongst the first one hundred films to be selected to be interred there.

Stanley Kubrick often lauded the film with praise, saying it was his fourth favourite film of all time and the director of the “Evil Dead”, Sam Raimi, has called it his favourite film of all time. Paul Thomas Anderson watched it whilst writing his script for “There Will Be Blood”. The creator of “Breaking Bad”, Vince Gilligan has stated that this is one of his personal favourite films of all time with has been an influence in his creation of Walter White.

Even songs have been based on this film with the great song by “The Stone Roses” called “Fools Gold” being based on the morals of the movie. The writer of the song, Ian Brown spoke about the movie and its influence on the songwriting of this particular piece. He stated: "Three geezers who are skint and they put their money together to get equipment to go looking for gold. ... Then they all betray each other... That's what the song is about.”

The American Film Institute rated it as the thirtieth greatest movie of all time and honestly, I adore this movie. Personally, it is on my top twenty because it is an amazing representation of morals, ethics, friendship and what can tear people apart. I love, adore and am continuously amazed by Humphrey Bogart’s performance. To this day, I think that his performance in this film is amongst his very best and most psychological.