Sunday, February 22, 2009
GOLD DUST
Today's NYTimes Best 1176 Film was John Huston's
Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948)
with Humphrey Bogart, Walter Huston and Tim Holt.
Bogart is a villain here. You can find the seeds of Captain Queeg in this role. Bogart could play the range from romantic leads to total crazy shits and still succeed. He was an actor as well as a star.
The big feature here is Walter Huston directed by his son. He steals every scene. If you haven't seen him in other films, do. Don't miss his version of "September Song" either.
Tim Holt was a matinee B-western cowboy. I count that he made eight films in 1941, all oaters. I used to see him on early teevee. He made a great transition to A films, then faded out.
These three get into a small gold rush and the foreshadowings all come to pass.
They are thwarted by Alfonso Bedoya who played the stereotypical Mexican in several films. I think that I saw them all. See the clip below.
I have seen this many times. I remember the gist of it but not the specifics. Each time I see more deeply into the detail and fine hand of Huston's direction.
I would gladly see it again in a few years. I will be giving this classic a 5 out of Netflix5.
Labels: best films
