A few words about...™ The Treasure of the Sierra Madre -- in Blu-ray

For some reason that escapes me I never did buy the DVD, so this BRD is an automatic purchase.

I am really looking forward to The Maltese Falcon, simply because I have not seen it before

Currently watching this and it looks stunning, so much better than the dvd. 

An excellent purchase.  Thanks for the "Highly Recommended".

Doug

This weekend I was partying with some friends, kicking back

and watching television.  Treasure of the Sierra Madre was on

one of the classic movie channels.  We all started watching the

first hour, but soon found ourselves longing to get some sleep.

So, yesterday upon arriving back home, I popped in the DVD

from the Humphrey Bogart Collection and watched the last 

40 minutes of the film.  I was shocked to see how bad the

print looked in one particular scene that took place at

night when Dobbs and Curtin have their fight and both part

ways for the last time (trying to be spoiler free here).  The

scene was littered with scratches and abrasions.  Looked

really bad and one wondered why for the DVD release that

was not cleaned up.

Would I have loved to have bought this on Blu-ray and

watched that scene with more detail and without all the

scratches?  Absolutely. However, in keeping with the promise

I made myself at the start of this format, I am only upgrading

essential films. Normally this would be one, but with the release

of so many others during the next 4 weeks, this one had to be

scratched off my list.  I plan to eventually buy it next year.

I will say it has been such a long time since I had seen

this film, and I am reminded how outstanding (but tragic) it is.

Absolutely one of the all-time best Bogart films ever made.

Was even fooled by the inclusion of Walter Huston who we

all thought was John Huston, the director.  

Anyone who has never seen this film needs to.  One of

the best films ever made and it has a classic line within

it that has been parodied over and over again, most memorably

in Blazing Saddles.

John Huston IS in the film, uncredited. He plays the guy wearing the white suit in Tampico whom Bogart bugs multiple times for money: "Hey buddy, can ya stake a fellow American to a meal?"

I always get a big laugh out of Huston's parting shot to Bogie as he puts one more peso in his hand:

"But from now on, you'll have to make your way through life without my assistance."

What a great in-joke!

Now see, that's what all of us thought.

...but then we saw Walter Huston in the credits

so we then thought, "okay, that is his twin brother."

Just went to IMDB.  Surprised to find Walter Huston

is the old man.

What relation to John is he if any at all? 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ronald Epstein 

 

 

 

 

Now see, that's what all of us thought.

 

...but then we saw Walter Huston in the credits

so we then thought, "okay, that is his twin brother."

 

Just went to IMDB.  Surprised to find Walter Huston

is the old man.

 

What relation to John is he if any at all? 

Ron,

Walter is John's father.  Matter of fact, John directed his father and daughter to AA winning performances as actors.
 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ronald Epstein 

 

 

 

 

Now see, that's what all of us thought.

 

...but then we saw Walter Huston in the credits

so we then thought, "okay, that is his twin brother."

 

Just went to IMDB.  Surprised to find Walter Huston

is the old man.

 

What relation to John is he if any at all? 

John is the son of Walter Huston. FYI, Angelica Huston is John's daughter. John directed both his father and his daughter to Oscar wins in separate films.

BTW, I watched this film last night. It did look wonderful. There is still one plot device that cracks me up every time I watch this film...

Scott,

Thank you.  That clears everything up.

Quite a legacy of actors and actress in that family.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ronald Epstein 

Scott,

 

Thank you.  That clears everything up.

 

Quite a legacy of actors and actress in that family.

 

Damn, I must be a piece of chopped liver then.

Crawdaddy
 

When Walter starts laughing towards the end of the film about the gold dust that always cracks me up, what a laugh.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Robert Crawford 

Damn, I must be a piece of chopped liver then.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Crawdaddy
 

Robert, for some strange reason neither your post nor Robert Harris' were appearing when I entered my reply. Looking at the time stamps now, though, you each replied an hour before me. That is very weird.

Man what I'd give for them to find that shot they censored,

(SPOILER ALERT)

You can still see a trace of it in the existing cut.  In the shot that follows, if you look closely you can see the water still rippling...

Hahahaha.  Hardly, Crawdaddy,

I just didn't go back in the thread far enough.

Heck, I didn't even see RAH's reply until just now either.

Thanks to all of you who answered my inquiry.

Quote:

Originally Posted by bigshot 

I have to admit, I like the way Maltese Falcon looks better than Treasure. The contrast was too high in Treasure. Pitch blacks and not a lot of grays. It seemed to vary from scene to scene. Falcon looked just like film. I prefer that look.

 I don't agree because the movies were filmed differently due to the contrast of plot locations between the two films, when one took place solely on a sound stage with mainly indoor scenes in San Franciso while the other was filmed outdoors for a good portion of it in extreme heat and whatever portions filmed on the sound stage still had to appear to be in a hot Mexico environment.

Crawdaddy

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ronald Epstein 

Scott,

 

Thank you.  That clears everything up.

 

Quite a legacy of actors and actress in that family.

 

Don't forget John's son Danny.  Just in the past few years, he's put in good performances in Children Of Men, The Proposition, Edge Of Darkness, Robin Hood, The Constant Gardener, 21 Grams, Birth, & The Aviator among other films.
 

Regarding Walter, I'm surprised no one has mentioned his appearance in Maltese Falcon. He's the one who staggers into Spade's office clutching the newspaper-wrapped Falcon, then kicks the proverbial bucket.

For his role in Madre, son John had to talk him into removing his false teeth. Apparently the part was written for an even older man.

Falcon is a priceless gem, but Madre is in my top ten of big ones.