Humphrey Bogart starred in four classic Westerns during his illustrious career, but the last one – a 1948 John Huston masterpiece – is still the best of all. Bogart is one of the most iconic movie stars in Hollywood history, known for his magnetic screen presence and inimitable charisma as a leading man. Very few actors can boast such an extensive resume as Bogart. He has starred in Casablancaconsidered by some publications as the best film of all time, and also appeared in such gems as The Caine was her destiny, The African QueenAnd Having and not having.

With his roles as a private detective, Sam Spade was in The Maltese Falcon and Philip Marlowe in The big sleepBogart created the archetype of the film noir antihero. Every noir protagonist from Chinatown‘s JJ Gittes to Blade RunnerRick Deckard stuck to Bogart’s original. But film noir isn’t the only genre Bogart dabbled in. He also starred in war films, gangster movies, romantic comedies, and even westerns. While he didn’t make nearly as many westerns as, say, John Wayne or Henry Fonda, he did star in one of the genre’s best entries.

Treasure of the Sierra Madre is Humphrey Bogart’s best Western – What the 1948 film is about

The Treasure of the Sierra Madre is about three men in search of their fortune

In 1948, Bogart teamed up with screenwriter and director John Huston to adapt B. Traven’s novel The Treasure of the Sierra Madre for the big screen. Bogart plays a pair of drifters named Dobbs and Curtin alongside Tim Holt.who are looking for a way to make money quickly. Walter Huston, the director’s father, plays an old gold digger who tells them about a huge gold deposit in Mexico. They stock up on some supplies, take the train to Mexico, and amass a fortune in alluvial gold. Unfortunately, their problems are just beginning.

Although they agree to split the gold between three, Dobbs immediately becomes suspicious of the other two. He fears that they might disappear with his share of the gold and becomes increasingly paranoid. Ironically, Dobbs’ increasing paranoia makes him the one the other two should worry about. His paranoia makes him increasingly unpredictable and his reckless decisions cause their fortunes to dwindle, meaning there is less and less gold to fight for as time goes on. It’s a brilliantly constructed script that keeps tightening the noose.

Why “The Treasure of the Sierra Madre” is considered one of the best Western films of all time

The Treasure of the Sierra Madre is the ultimate cinematic study of greed and paranoia

When it was first published The Treasure of the Sierra Madre was a success with critics and at the box office. The film won three Oscars, including Best Director and Best Screenplay for John Huston and Best Supporting Actor for Walter Huston, making it the first time that father and son won an Oscar for the same film. It also won Best Picture trophies at the BAFTAs and Golden Globes. Today it is a true classic and is often referred to as Huston’s masterpiece. 1990 the Library of Congress selected The Treasure of the Sierra Madre for preservation in the National Film Registry of the United States.

What does The Treasure of the Sierra Madre so great is its timeless exploration of the human penchant for greed and the corrupting power of that greed. Greed becomes Dobbs’s downfall; he’s so worried about his cronies taking his share that he schemes to take theirs. When a Texan named Cody tries to join their group, they decide to kill him rather than share their gold. This isn’t your average western; It is a study of the human condition. It’s heading toward one of the greatest endings in film history: a cruel twist of ironic fate.

Stanley Kubrick, Spike Lee, Sam Raimi and Paul Thomas Anderson have all quoted The Treasure of the Sierra Madre as one of their favorite films. The latter was inspired by the film when he was writing his own film about greed and the corruptibility of man in Blood will flow. The scene in which Dobbs and Co. discuss whether to kill Cody was mentioned in breaking Bad Season 5, Episode 6, “Buyout.”

How “The Treasure of the Sierra Madre” compares to Humphrey Bogart’s other three Westerns

The other three were panned by critics and forgotten by audiences

The Treasure of the Sierra Madre was the last of Bogart’s four Westerns; before that he played in A holy terror in 1931, The Oklahoma Kid in 1939, and Virginia City in 1940. During The Treasure of the Sierra Madre has a perfect rating of 100% on Rotten TomatoesBogart’s earlier westerns were panned by critics. Virginia City reached 56%, The Oklahoma Kid reached 48% and A holy terror does not have enough ratings for an official ratingbut it received even worse reviews than the other two. Obviously the consensus is that The Treasure of the Sierra Madre is Bogart’s best western.

A holy terror was a run-of-the-mill B-movie that did nothing to stand out from the crowd. The Oklahoma KidThe casting of Bogart and James Cagney was criticized for including cowboys with gangster accents; the film works as an unintentional comedy, but not as a straightforward western drama. Although Bogart’s future Casablanca Director Michael Curtiz, Virginia City is also a disappointment, favoring mindless spectacle over genuine tension and thrills. The Treasure of the Sierra Madre is Bogart’s greatest contribution to the Western genre, by far.

Why Humphrey Bogart never made another Western after “The Treasure of the Sierra Madre”

Bogart told friends he was “too small to be a cowboy”

After a phenomenal success like The Treasure of the Sierra Madreit seems that Hollywood studios would like to put Bogart in another Western, but the actor never returned to the genre. This is because he was not comfortable in Western roles. Bogart told his friends that he was “too small to be a cowboy” (above INSP). Whenever he took on a Western role, the producers made him wear platform shoes and shoulder pads, which made him feel “like a fool,‘, so he decided to focus on other genres that didn’t require him to change his size.

It is safe to say that the abandonment of future Western projects will not have any negative impact on Humphrey BogartCareer. He continued to act regularly in films until his premature death in 1957. He received three nominations for the Oscar for Best Actor – first for Casablanca 1942, then for The African Queen 1951, then for The Caine was her destiny in 1954 – and he won his second nomination for The African QueenIn 1960, he posthumously received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. He got along well even without the Western genre.

Source: INSP