Seven Sins Marathon Movie 2: The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948)


In the movie Wall Street, the character of Gordon Gekko famously says the line “Greed is good.”  Some people may agree.  I disagree.  Greed is not good.  But it does make for some good entertainment.  Greed can allow a viewer to watch a character fall deeper and deeper into mental despair.  To see that happen in reality can be a bad thing, however, when used well onscreen, greed can be one of the best tools in shaping a good movie.

The Treasure of the Sierra Madre is a 1948 film based on a 1927 book.  It stars Humphrey Bogart as a member of a three man gold prospecting group.  The longer the group spends in the Sierra Madre looking for their treasure, the farther apart these characters grow as greed begins to consume them.  There are a few other plot points here and there to help liven up the movie a little bit.  I think you can get a good handle on it with what I’ve described.

The acting really took this movie for me.  With a plot that centers about prospecting and the deterioration of the three men’s states of mind, the acting would need to be good in order to support it.  Bogart puts in a fantastic performance, as do the other cast members whose names I don’t remember.  If not for the cast, the movie would have fallen flat and been nothing special.  With the cast that the movie has, it is lifted above the average level of movies into something special.  It is able to take those performances and shape an enjoyable movie about prospecting.

There are a few scenes of action spread throughout the movie.  The Treasure of the Sierra Madre isn’t solely a psychological movie.  It has some other components to it.  The action is decent throughout.  There are a couple of shootouts, some fisticuffs.  It’s just enough to keep the casual viewer interested in the movie.  I much prefer the psychological aspects but the action is fun and the dialogue between the protagonists and antagonists in the action scenes is pretty good.

This is one of those times where I will wholeheartedly recommend that you see a movie.  The Treasure of the Sierra Madre is well worth the watch.  It’s not only an entertaining movie, but it has depth to it.  It keeps you interested and it doesn’t treat you like an unintelligent rock.  You deserve a movie like this and it has existed for about 65 years.  Seek it out, soak it in.  Just watch it.

As you can tell, I liked it.  I’ve probably repeated that twenty times now, at least.  It shows how much I actually liked it.  It’s an early contender for the best movie of the marathon.  Can anything take it down?  Can the next movie, Office Space, stand a chance?  You’ll have to wait and see. 

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