The Treasure of the Sierra Madre. 1947 Warner Bros. Pictures/Turner Entertainment.
Starring: Humphrey Bogart, Walter Huston, Tim Holt, Bruce Bennett
Director: John Huston
Available at Amazon.
This film is the source of the "stinkin' badges" line that you've probably heard used in a bazillion other movies, TV shows, or stand-up comedy routines (More info here). Aforementioned line is #36 on the American Film Institute's "100 Years...100 Movie Quotes" list.
Fred C. Dobbs (Bogart) is down and out in Tampico, Mexico, and finding himself asking other citizens if they can help an American with a meal. He uses the last of the money he has to buy a lottery ticket, which brings him an unexpected windfall later on. He and Bob Curtain (Holt) find themselves meeting and being entertained by Howard (W. Huston), who has stories about prospecting for gold. Fred and Bob collect their pay from their shifty boss rather violently, and pool it with Fred's lottery winnings to buy equipment for a prospecting expedition with Howard. Dobbs pledges that anything they find will be split three ways, which Howard doesn't believe for a minute.
The three of them do strike gold, and Fred starts growing distrustful of his partners, eventually wanting all of the treasure for himself. Some bandits, who the trio had encountered earlier, appear dressed as Federales, and they are driven off by the genuine authorities after a gun battle. After Howard leaves temporarily to help some local villagers, Dobbs and Curtain have a showdown, which Dobbs wins, leaving his friend shot and bleeding. Fred meets his end in the desert thanks to some surviving bandits, who unknowingly scatter the gold to the winds, losing it forever. Curtain is found and taken to Howard's village, where he recovers, but they soon learn that the gold is gone.
Recommended movie.
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