The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948)
John Huston directs this classic drama about two out of work drifters who enlist the help of an old prospector in a bid to find gold in the Mexican hills.
Although i'm used to seeing Humphrey Bogart as an anti-hero throughout his Hollywood heyday i still struggle with his role here which is mainly downright nasty due to basically going crazy, distrustful and extremely paranoid to the point of murder thanks to the gold haul. It's a fine performance and in the years since become highly influential but it's not one of my personal favourites.
Meanwhile Tim Holt and especially Walter Huston, director John's father, are excellent as Bogart's fellow prospectors who stay relatively sane despite the corrupting power of greed.
The opening third of the film is terrific, set in the Mexican town of Tampico where Bogart scrabbles around desperate to find the money to live, you can also see how it affects him later on whilst in the mountains thanks to being ripped off by a corrupt businessman after two weeks of employment.
It's interesting as with Casablanca's incorrect "Play it again, Sam" that this is another Bogart movie with an oft misquoted line. In this case "Badges? We ain't got no badges. We don't need no badges! I don't have to show you any stinkin' badges!" has become"We don't need no stinking badges" along with many other mutated versions of the dialogue in film and tv since.
The premium Collection Blu-ray is of excellent quality and as well as the regular Warners Night at the Movies feature and a commentary there's a fifty minute documentary on the film, it's themes and it's effect on popular culture over the years and a two hour eight minute documentary on the film's director John Huston. All in all a brilliant package and well worth tracking down if you can still get hold of it.
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