Many of you would say that Casablanca is Boggie’s best. But if you ask me John Huston’s Treasure Of The Sierra Madre was the best fucking performance ever given by an actor. Just the way he begins to lose it, the way greed takes over his soul and fear of returning to a life of destitution which he knows very well and hates. I was watching it again last night and I found myself completely mesmerized by it.
I took it apart for a little excercise of my own:
Three act structure: “Treasure Of The Sierra Madre”
- John Huston
Act I:
Humphrey Bogart in destitution/beggar. (Lottery ticket st-up)
Works oil rig. 8 minutes in
swindled. bar fight
flop house: (prospecting) 12 minutes in - “I know what gold does to men’s souls"
Bar fight/ flop house: Put it there partner” 21 min. (PP I) (l. ticket payoff)
Note: The characters amass over 600 dollars in order to seek new vocation as prospectors. Oil rig workers/Lottery ticket/Old Timer.
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Fade out
"I’ll blow you to kingdom come"
Act II: (1)
Train robbed by bandits.
Buying donkeys/supplies. 24 min in
Herding into the mountains
Want some beans? 30 min
Gold discovery: “Mine it and get it back there” 32 min
Dividing gold: 34 min. (character change)
golden dreams: 40-43 min.
restless sleep, paranoid. (character change)43-45
hidden loot: (character change) 45-50
into the village 50 -54
night camp: “no vacancies, understand?”: 54-59
New partner?: 59: 1:03
Bandits/saved by Federales: 1:03 - 1:13 – Midpoint of ACT II
ACT II ------------------------------------------------------------(2)
Dead stranger: 1:13 - 1:16
Leaving for good: 1:17 - 1:18
1/4 of gold - dead boy: 1:18 - 1:22
Revival: 1:22 - 1:25
Road to town/ “see you in Durango”: 1:25 - 1:28
Camping: 1:28 - 1:34 (MAJOR character change) "I know you for what you are"
Sleepless/ Sound Asleep: 1:34 - 1:40
crawling/gone: 1:40 - 1:44
The good life/ Hunt for Dobsy: 1:44 - 1:47
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ACT III:
Death by bandits (PP II): 1:47 - 1:54
Selling burros: 1:54 - 1:57
bandit execution: 1:57 - 1:58
On the trail/gold in the wind: 1:58 - 2:05
"The gold has gone back to where we found it"
THE END - 02:03 - (123-125 pgs)
The structure of this is fucking perfect, a genuine masterpiece. And yes I came up with the creative little titles.