From 1941 to 1953, John Huston and Humphrey Bogart worked on six films together that made Huston a highly respected director and Bogart the leading man of his time (Casablanca notwithstanding). While my favorite remains The Maltese Falcon, the other one most often touted as their best is undoubtedly The Treasure of the Sierra Madre.
Those two films actually make for a fine double feature, not only because they are the highlights of this collaboration, but also because it's fun to contrast one against the other. They're similar in design, yet operating on totally different constructs. Bogart hunts a legendary treasure in both and has to fight his way through hell to get to them, but while The Maltese Falcon is stalked by shadows, deep in the noir genre, The Treasure of the Sierra Madre is a high-riding adventure in sunkissed Mexico.
Somewhat stepping aside from the charismatic leading man role to play the weak link of an ensemble, Bogart and his compatriots (played by Tim Holt and Walter Huston) are three gringos in Mexico deliberately chasing paydirt in the Sierra Madre mountains and running into trouble for having discovered a literal goldmine. First in the form of outsiders, from an unexpected arrival of a stranger to the interference of bandits—the perpetrators of the iconic "stinkin' bades" line made even more quotable by Blazing Saddles—then when the shootouts subside, the three men face the tempting reluctance that comes with sharing a treasure.
Far from the image of cool he projects in The Maltese Falcon even under duress, here, Bogart's Dobbs is consumed by paranoia even when—and especially because—he finds himself coming out on top. The film is part adventure-western, but focuses more on the tense group dynamic between gold-starved men who realize the simple mathematics of loot divided among men is more valuable when there are less men. The film is suspenseful for many reasons, but most of all for seeing Bogart heading down an increasingly greedy path.
Blu-ray Bonus Features
The Treasure of Sierra Madre was released on special edition DVDs some years ago as a 2-disc set in 2003. They featured some excellent new extras and generally terrific presentation, so it's not a surprise that Warner Bros decided to simply copy those exact same extras for the Blu-ray version.
If you also have The Maltese Falcon Blu-ray (or has read my review for it), the extras here are near identical to that one. The main extra is "Warner Night at the Movies," a recreation of the movie-going experience of the era. When you select this feature, it plays a series of short subjects before the movie that used to play in theaters before the feature presentation, with an introduction for it by critic Leonard Maltin explaining why these things used to play before movies at the cinema. The pieces included are: an authentic news reel, a Bugs Bunny cartoon (Hot Cross Bunny), a trailer for an upcoming movie of the past (Key Largo) and a comedy short (So You Want to be a Detective).
Another feature this shares with The Maltese Falcon is a radio version from the 1949 Lux Theater Broadcast, also starring Bogart, Holt and Huston in the same respective roles.
If that's not enough, also included but separated from the "Warner Night" feature is another Bugs Bunny cartoon (8 Ball Bunny) and a couple of "behind the story" featurettes, which makes this Blu-ray a packed purchase, though as mentioned previously, stripped of any new material.
"The Treasure of the Sierra Madre" is on sale October 5, 2010 and is not rated. Action, Adventure. Directed by John Huston. Written by John Huston (screenplay), B. Traven (novel). Starring Humphrey Bogart, Tim Holt, Walter Huston.
