Classic Outdoors Flick: "The Treasure of the Sierra Madre"

Approximately 60 years ago, director John Huston took audiences high into the mountains for "The Treasure of the Sierra Madre," a film that is still one of the best outdoor adventures ever created. The legendary Humphrey Bogart stars as Fred C. Dobbs, an American who is "down on his luck" in Tampico, Mexico, in 1925.

Reduced to begging for pesos and playing the Mexican lottery, Dobbs desperately looks for a way to earn enough money to last him the rest of his life. Teaming up with another hobo named Curtin (Tim Holt) and a wise prospector named Howard (Walter Huston), Dobbs heads into the mountains in search of gold, which commands a price of $20 an ounce.

Released in 1948, "The Treasure of the Sierra Madre" has held up beautifully over the years, remaining a cautionary tale about both greed and mountain climbing. Before they head into the Mexican hills, Dobbs and Curtin share a private joke about Howard's advancing age. Figuring they may have to carry the old man on their backs, the two Americans are shocked when Howard climbs the mountain like a pro, leaving them sweating and panting in the boiling sun.

Besides the ever-present threat of bandits, Howard also cautions his two young companions about the dangers of being up in the mountains. Dobbs nearly has a fatal run-in with a Gila monster, a poisonous lizard that's hiding near the sacks of gold. A rock slide in their makeshift gold mine also buries Dobbs in another scene, proving that he really is a hard-luck kind of guy.

Filmed in the mountains near San José de Purua, "The Treasure of the Sierra Madre" is hardly a glamorous film about climbing. Humphrey Bogart and co-star Tim Holt look as if they could pass out from exhaustion at any moment in their sweat-stained clothing. Climbing also was as pricey a proposition then as it is now, requiring Dobbs, Curtin and Howard to pool all their money for supplies and equipment.

Thanks to John Huston's direction and outstanding performances from Bogart and Huston's father, Walter, "The Treasure of the Sierra Madre" remains an outdoor treasure.

Resources:

http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-3406800902.html