Episode 43: The Treasure of the Sierra Madre
Justin:
Human nature, and the perilous depths that greed can drive a man to, is at the core of John Huston’s TREASURE OF THE SIERRA MADRE. Thanks to memorable performances and a simple enough story, the movie still works today, thrilling new viewers like myself nearly 75 years after its initial release. But it’s the depravity of Humphrey Bogart’s Fred C. Dobbs and the way that the potential for wealth and riches turns him into a crazed killer that makes the film one of the all-time greats, an all-too-honest depiction of just how horrid humans can be.
Watching this for the first time a year and a half into a global pandemic, one that has seen a simple thing like a cloth face covering turn neighbors against one another, I couldn't help but feel that the movie is just as relevant today as it was in the post-World War II era. In this case, watching Dobbs argue with his partners at every turn and give no wiggle room whatsoever for nuance made me feel like I was actually watching the kind of crazy that unfolds nowadays at local city council meetings around the country. Multiple arguments had Dobbs arguing both sides of the coin, leaving his opponent no recourse but to shrug. It’s impossible to argue with that level of nonsense and though Howard and Curtin both try at times, they soon learn he’s too far gone for intelligent debate. This kind of mentality was sadly quite familiar and it’s that everlasting nature that makes it the classic it is. Huston holds a mirror up to us all with this movie and the depressing feeling I get is that while most folks won’t admit it, there’s a whole helluva lot of Dobbses out there, on a one-way trip to ruin. Ideally, the rest of us can make like Howard and Curtin and avoid terminal disaster and end up still breathing on the other side of the mountain.
