Treasure of the Sierra Madre, The (DVD)

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"The Treasure of the Sierra Madre" is also unique in that it is the only motion picture ever to have won Academy Awards by both a father and son on the same night. Walter Huston won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor, while his son John won for Best Director and Best Screenplay. It's an accomplishment unlikely to be duplicated anytime soon.

Finally, a few trivia notes, thanks to John Eastman and his book "Retakes" (Ballantine Books, New York, 1989): Look for cameo appearances by a very young Robert Blake as a Mexican kid who sells Bogart a lottery ticket; Ann Sheridan as a woman of the streets who passes Bogart on the sidewalk; Jack Holt, Tim Holt's actor father, as a down-and-outer; and John Huston himself as an American that Bogey hits up for money early on in the picture. Bogart directed Huston in the cameo, by the way, taking malicious pleasure in making him do his scenes over and over. Note also that the film's producer, Henry Blake, had wanted John Garfield for Tim Holt's role of Curtin, but Garfield was unavailable; and that Ronald Reagan had petitioned for the part that went to Bruce Bennett. As Gold Hat, Alfonso Bedoya was a choice made on impulse, the Mexican actor having had little experience in films, yet making a memorable appearance. It's said his fellow actors playing bandits (at least one of whom claimed to be a real bandit) took an instant dislike to him, terrorizing him throughout the production and at one point even beating him up. Fun stuff, this moviemaking.

The world was seeing a lot of film noir--dark, cynical movies--after the Second World War, but people weren't ready for anything quite so depressing as watching their heroic Bogart in a role so downbeat. Nevertheless, "The Treasure of the Sierra Madre" easily made its leap to stardom in the half century after its release, and it's now considered a film classic, placing thirtieth on the American Film Institute's list of Top 100 Films of all time. It's a deserving winner.

Video:
The packaging announces that the all-new black-and-white DVD transfer is made from "restored picture and audio elements," but the transfer does not appear to have been restored frame-by-frame. I suspect WB found the very best print they could lay their hands on and reconstructed it as best they could. There is a point about ninety-five minutes in that looks scratchy and worn, but things clear up quickly. The rest of the transfer is exceptionally free of lines, flecks, or age marks of any kind, although the image itself is not entirely perfect in terms of definition. The black-and-white contrasts are a bit faded, and while close-ups are excellent, backgrounds tend to be a tad blurry. Should you worry about it? No.

Audio:
The Dolby Digital, single-channel, monaural soundtrack is very quiet and very smooth, except in the loudest passages, where it gets somewhat edgy. There is little to talk about here, but there is little to complain about, either. The audio is one-dimensional, limited in bass and treble response, but dynamic when needed. Voices are lucid and intelligible, and music is well rendered, given the circumstances.

Extras:
I really appreciate these Warner Bros. Special Editions for their comprehensive documentaries, rather than the dozens and dozens of tiny bits and pieces you need a road map to navigate through on sets from other studios. This two-disc set has its fair share of individual clicks, too, but they are easy to find and rewarding to watch.

Disc one contains the movie, of course, with its Dolby Digital monaural soundtrack, English as its only spoken language, and English, French, and Spanish subtitles. In addition, there's an audio commentary with Eric Lax, coauthor of the book "Bogart"; a Bogart trailer gallery that includes trailers for twelve of his most-famous movies, including "Treasure of the Sierra Madre"; a Warner Night at the Movies, introduced by Leonard Maltin, that includes a theatrical trailer for "Key Largo," a vintage newsreel, a comedy short, "So You Want To Be a Detective," and a Merrie Melodies cartoon, "Hot Cross Bunny." Disc one concludes with a cast and crew list, an awards list, and thirty-seven scene selections.

Disc two contains, among other things, two excellent documentaries. The first is "John Huston: the Man, the Movies, the Maverick," a 1988 tour of the moviemaker's career, the feature lasting over two hours and divided into thirty-one chapters. The second documentary is "Discovering Treasure: The Story of the Treasure of the Sierra Madre," a fifty-minute look at the making of the motion picture, narrated by John Milius and illuminated by comments from director Martin Scorsese, film historian Rudy Behlmer, and various other notable authorities on the subject. Disc two also includes a classic cartoon, "8 Ball Bunny"; more on the cast and crew; a photo gallery; storyboards; publicity materials; and a 1949 Lux Radio Theater broadcast of "The Treasure of the Sierra Madre" with Bogart and Walter Huston recreating their famous roles.

Parting Thoughts:
Bogart would play more disreputable scoundrels and outright villains in films like "The African Queen," "Beat the Devil," and "The Caine Mutiny" before his untimely death from throat cancer in 1957. He was an actor unafraid of taking chances, and along with the two Hustons he took the chance of a lifetime on "The Treasure of the Sierra Madre." He made one treasure of a movie.