The Treasure of the Sierra Madre: Question

[The Good]

Hello there!

This is my first thread. I'm a Humphrey Bogart film fan, and if I say so myself, The Treasure of the Sierra Madre is his best role, it's just my favorite. Casablanca is excellent too, but I would rather place that second place, as I prefer Sierra Madre for some reason. Maybe it's just that I have a thing for the old adventure film genre (Indiana Jones is the best modern example of this too).

I saw this film two times, it's great, but I was wondering if a color version of this gem exists? I see some pictures or posters of it online that are color, like this one, particularly the one to the right:

(Maybe it's just artwork?)

and this:

Has there ever been an attempt to restore the film to color? I love the black and white version as it is, but it would be a whole new experience to see it in color for the first time, and this film is in my personal top ten of all time.

 

[conrad5157]

"(Maybe it's just artwork?)"

That's it. There's no color version of the film unless it was "colorized" but it is interesting to ponder a Technicolor Treasure of the Sierra Madre.

Your post got me to thinkin' though of how many Bogey in color films there were. The only two that come to mind are The African Queen and The Caine Mutiny.

 

[ThesFlishThngs]

My question is this: what were the 'tigers' they kept referring to? Mountain lions?

 

[conrad5157]

Good point. Far as I know no tigers in the Sierras!

 

[The Good]

"(Maybe it's just artwork?)"

That's it. There's no color version of the film unless it was "colorized" but it is interesting to ponder a Technicolor Treasure of the Sierra Madre.

Your post got me to thinkin' though of how many Bogey in color films there were. The only two that come to mind are The African Queen and The Caine Mutiny.

Good question! Correct me if I'm wrong, but for anyone who has read the book by B. Traven, well, wasn't there a part (early on too, before Dobbs met with the other two) where Dobbs, a non-Mestizo Native American, and a Texan walk through the jungle to reach the next oil field? It's been a couple months since I've read it though...

 

[cooncatbob]

Bogie's character's transformation in Sierra was IMO his finest work as an actor.
He starts out as a normal Joe down on his luck, we get to see him change during the search and finding of the Gold.
He becomes a man who's greed and paranoia causes him to turn on his friend and ultimately leads to his death

 

[conrad5157]

Good question! Correct me if I'm wrong, but for anyone who has read the book by B. Traven, well, wasn't there a part (early on too, before Dobbs met with the other two) where Dobbs, a non-Mestizo Native American, and a Texan walk through the jungle to reach the next oil field? It's been a couple months since I've read it though...

Never read the book but I just picked one up on Ebay. Sounds like a fun read.

 

[conrad5157]

Bogie's character's transformation in Sierra was IMO his finest work as an actor.

Agreed. I also think it was his most unlikable character, even though we still like him.

 

[The Good]

Agreed. I also think it was his most unlikable character, even though we still like him.

I completely agree. Naturally, I started off watching the film, liking Bogart's Fred C. Dobbs character, sympathizing with Dobbs as he struggles with making his livings. However, as the film progressed, we can clearly see how Dobbs degenerates from a decent sort, to a grumpy, greedy, and then blood-thirsty individual. This is, unfortunately, what causes his ultimate downfall, he loses the partnership he had with the others, and eventually his own life. All for the sake of gold, greed. Around this time, I had lost much of my sympathy, and helplessly watched the film not knowing what this ruthless character would end up doing. Still, oddly, I pitied him, even though he was already a nasty character by then. This is the mark of great film direction, storytelling, and acting for sure.

 

[ThesFlishThngs]

Yes. He wasn't likable but he certain evokes pity, the poor fellow.

 

[J. M. Stovall]

Wasn't "We're No Angels" in color?

"(Maybe it's just artwork?)"

That's it. There's no color version of the film unless it was "colorized" but it is interesting to ponder a Technicolor Treasure of the Sierra Madre.

Your post got me to thinkin' though of how many Bogey in color films there were. The only two that come to mind are The African Queen and The Caine Mutiny.

 

[dhermann1]

I believe one of the very first films to be colorized was the Maltese Falcon, much to many peoples' disgust. The process has come a long way since then, but I don't think we really need a color version of Sierra Madre. It was a very common thing to colorize posters and lobby cards of black and white movies in those days.
Yes, you could say Dobbs sort of loses his head by the end of the movie. (I know, sick joke.)
One thing that bugged me when I saw it recently was that it's clearly set in about 1925, and in one scene there are several 40's vintage cars going by. Come on, Mr Huston, a little authenticity, please!

 

[The Good]

I believe one of the very first films to be colorized was the Maltese Falcon, much to many peoples' disgust. The process has come a long way since then, but I don't think we really need a color version of Sierra Madre. It was a very common thing to colorize posters and lobby cards of black and white movies in those days.
Yes, you could say Dobbs sort of loses his head by the end of the movie. (I know, sick joke.)
One thing that bugged me when I saw it recently was that it's clearly set in about 1925, and in one scene there are several 40's vintage cars going by. Come on, Mr Huston, a little authenticity, please!

Well, I must admit then, before I actually read the book by B. Traven, I was under the assumption that The Treasure of the Sierra Madre did take place in the 1940s... Then I borrowed the book at a library, and found the actual date as you've explained, 1925.

 

[dhermann1]

There's a scene at the beginning where he's looking at either a newspaper or something posted on a wall, that has the 1925 date on it.

 

[The Good]

There's a scene at the beginning where he's looking at either a newspaper or something posted on a wall, that has the 1925 date on it.

Oh well, I guess I didn't catch that detail... but yes, the 1940s cars are definitely anachronisms.

 

[TM]

B. Traven was a curious guy, some of his writing is great, some kind of boring. But if you are in the mood to read something really depressing and haunting, try his "The Death Ship".

Tony

 

[Sam Craig]

colorization is bad

With very few exceptions, the films that have been colorize could have been made in color if that had been the film makers' choice.

Bogart was in several color films, including Sabrina, as well as the others mentioned. Casablanca could certainly have been in color if that was what the film's creators wanted.

Consider To Kill A Mockingbird ... it was shot in black and white for a reason.

It's too bad that option was lost.

Movies should be more than just extra large TVs.

 

[dhermann1]

Color

I think it's a little more complicated than that. The original Technicolor process required three huge cameras running at the same time. That's how GWTW was filmed. This was extremely expensive. Only a few years later a one camera process was developed, but it remained very expensive for quite a few years. Laurence Olivier originally said his 1948 Hamlet was filmed in black and white for "artistic" reasons, but later confessed it was strictly for lack of money. His 1944 "Henry V" shows what he could have done with color.
There are plenty of other similar examples, especially from the early 40's, of films that would have been done in color if the money had been there.
Now, the next issue is, if color had been available to earlier film makers, would they have chosen the same shots? Probably not. But you never know.
I think the main objection to colorization came from how bad the early attempts looked. The colorized "Maltese Falcon" looks ghastly. The colorized "Babes in Toyland" (aka "March of the Wooden Soldiers") from 1934, doesn't look bad at all to me.
So it's a complicated issue.
But, to get back to the original subject, I do think "Sierra Madre" is better in black and white.

 

[Doctor Strange]

Bogart was in several color films, including Sabrina, as well as the others mentioned. Casablanca could certainly have been in color if that was what the film's creators wanted.

Wha? Sabrina is in b/w.

And re Casablanca, there's no way they would have made it in color. It was a troubled production on a low budget. As dhermann1 said, nearly all films at that time were b/w. Only special mega-productions - GWTW, The Wizard of Oz, The Adventures of Robin Hood, Drums Along the Mohawk - were shot in expensive/difficult Technicolor. Color didn't really come in a big way until it was used (along with widescreen and stereo sound) as a lure to make movies seem "better" than TV in the 1950s.

Offhad, I'm can't think of another color Bogart film besides The African Queen and The Caine Mutiny.

 

[Wally_Hood]

I think it's a little more complicated than that. The original Technicolor process required three huge cameras running at the same time. That's how GWTW was filmed. This was extremely expensive. Only a few years later a one camera process was developed, but it remained very expensive for quite a few years. Laurence Olivier originally said his 1948 Hamlet was filmed in black and white for "artistic" reasons, but later confessed it was strictly for lack of money. His 1944 "Henry V" shows what he could have done with color.
There are plenty of other similar examples, especially from the early 40's, of films that would have been done in color if the money had been there.
Now, the next issue is, if color had been available to earlier film makers, would they have chosen the same shots? Probably not. But you never know.
I think the main objection to colorization came from how bad the early attempts looked. The colorized "Maltese Falcon" looks ghastly. The colorized "Babes in Toyland" (aka "March of the Wooden Soldiers") from 1934, doesn't look bad at all to me.
So it's a complicated issue.
But, to get back to the original subject, I do think "Sierra Madre" is better in black and white.

I posted somewhere else that I used to be violently opposed to colorization, but after watching the color-added Holiday Inn, I am willing to concede a little...