The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948)
97%RT Audience Score: 93%
Awards & Nominations: Won 3 Oscars
16 wins & 8 nominations total
Remade but never duplicated, this darkly humorous morality tale represents John Huston at his finest.
This flick is a total gem! It’s a twisted, yet hilarious story that showcases John Huston’s genius. You won’t find anything like it out there – it’s one of a kind. Huston’s got a way of making you laugh while also making you think about the bigger picture. Trust me, you won’t be disappointed.
Production Company(ies)
Warner Bros.,
Distributor
Warner Bros. Pictures, MGM/UA Home Entertainment Inc.
Release Type
Theatrical
Filming Location(s)
Tampico, Tamaulipas, Mexico
MPAA / Certificate
Passed
Year of Release
1948
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Color:Color
Black and White -
Sound mix:Dolby
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Aspect ratio:1.37 : 1
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Runtime:2h 4m
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Language(s):English, Spanish
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Country of origin:United States
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Release date:Release Date (Theaters): Jan 6, 1948 Original
Release Date (Streaming): Sep 30, 2003
Genre(s)
Adventure/Western
Keyword(s)
starring Humphrey Bogart, Walter Huston, Tim Holt, Bruce Bennett, Barton MacLane, Alfonso Bedoya, directed by John Huston, written by B Traven and John Huston, Adventure, Western, Drama, box office performance, budget, reviewed by Rob Humanick, David Parkinson, Don Druker, Stephen Garrett, Steven D Greydanus, Roger Ebert, Brian Eggert, Matt Neal, MPAA rating, produced by Henry Blanke, Warner Bros Pictures, MGM/UA Home Entertainment Inc., gold, greed, bandits, Mexico, Sierra Madre mountains, prospector, treasure, conflict, morality tale, character study, human nature, Oscar-winning performance, dark humor, John Huston’s finest, remade but never duplicated, Walter Huston’s Oscar-winning performance, unsettling tale, self-discovery, self-betrayal, unlikable characters, light adventure, powerful morality tale, paranoia, pyrite, obsessed, location shooting in Mexico
Worldwide gross: $5,014,000
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $70,894,495
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,189
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 7,731,134
US/Canada gross: $5,014,000
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): $70,894,495
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 915
US/Canada opening weekend: $144,074
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): $2,037,107
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,203
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): $3,000,000
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): $42,417,927
Production budget ranking: 903
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): $22,842,054
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): $5,634,515
ROI to date (est.): 9%
ROI ranking: 1,354
Walter Huston – Howard
Tim Holt – Bob Curtin
Bruce Bennett – James Cody
Barton MacLane – Pat McCormick
Alfonso Bedoya – Gold Hat
Director(s)
John Huston
Writer(s)
B. Traven, John Huston
Producer(s)
Henry Blanke
Film Festivals
Awards & Nominations
Won 3 Oscars
16 wins & 8 nominations total
Academy Awards
Oscar Nominees
All Critics (53) | Top Critics (9) | Fresh (53)
Transcends the medium to become a mandatory viewing experience for anyone that identifies themselves as a human being, period.
April 20, 2011 | Rating: 4/4
Rob Humanick
Slant Magazine
TOP CRITIC
This is so brilliant that the only real effect of the other versions is to make you want to watch the original again.
April 20, 2009 | Rating: 5/5
David Parkinson
Empire Magazine
TOP CRITIC
John Huston has rarely been in better form than in this 1948 study of gold fever and worse obsessions among an unlikely trio of prospectors…
July 2, 2007
Don Druker
Chicago Reader
TOP CRITIC
There’s a quite enjoyable yarn buried under the hollow laughter.
February 9, 2006
Stephen Garrett
Time Out
TOP CRITIC
Riveting, downbeat, and surprising, a gripping adventure and one of Hollywood’s most resonant morality tales… a smart, remorseless story of gold, greed, guns, and guile.
June 14, 2004 | Rating: A+
Steven D. Greydanus
Decent Films
TOP CRITIC
The movie has never really been about gold but about character, and Bogart fearlessly makes Fred C. Dobbs into a pathetic, frightened, selfish man — so sick we would be tempted to pity him, if he were not so undeserving of pity.
January 15, 2004 | Rating: 4/4
Roger Ebert
Chicago Sun-Times
TOP CRITIC
Unlike most studio releases of the era, the film’s depiction of wretched moral depravity is not sweetened by a studio ending, where, say, the ugly impulses of greed are suppressed by a higher moral calling.
February 14, 2022 | Rating: 4/4
Brian Eggert
Deep Focus Review
Wildly unconventional for its time, it makes its A-list star a villain, there’s no romantic subplot, and it’s far grimmer than most movies of the age.
July 30, 2021 | Rating: 5/5
Matt Neal
ABC Radio (Australia)
The film is about the power of human greed. From the moment Dobbs sees that first seam of pyrite, he is obsessed…
April 1, 2021
Sarah Brinks
Battleship Pretension
This attraction, produced by Henry Blanke, is never pretty, but it has guts and substance. And also Bogart.
November 18, 2020
Red Kann
Motion Picture Herald (Exhibitors Herald)
Aside from a dark lesson in moral corruption, the film serves as a monumental achievement in storytelling and balanced entertainment.
August 15, 2020 | Rating: 10/10
Mike Massie
Gone With The Twins
What an incredible film.
August 4, 2020
Chris Plante
Polygon…
Plot
Fred C. Dobbs and Bob Curtin, both down on their luck in Tampico, Mexico in 1925, meet up with a grizzled prospector named Howard and decide to join with him in search of gold in the wilds of central Mexico. Through enormous difficulties, they eventually succeed in finding gold, but bandits, the elements, and most especially greed threaten to turn their success into disaster.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
Walter Huston won an Oscar for his performance in The Treasure of the Sierra Madre.
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