The Treasure of the Sierra Madre / Four Roses

0:00 Hey everybody. I'm Bob and I'm Brad, we're the host of the film whiskey podcast and we're just so excited because we've been doing this for about six seven, eight months now and we have some big exciting news for you guys. And so we just kind of want to give you a couple updates about the podcast as a whole. Yeah, just here at the top of this episode we thought that we would give you a couple announcements and the first one is that we have joined a podcast Network which we are super excited about. This is such a great opportunity to collaborate with other creators and the network. We have joined is called robots radio. So Bob, once you tell them what robots video is all about. Yeah, so robots radio is a small, but growing network of podcasts, and all of their podcasts have to do with nerd culture.

0:42 So on the network, you're going to see podcast about gaming, you're going to see podcasts about even something like boardgaming I think is on the podcast. There's actually one other movie podcast on the network called fresh tomatoes, where they look at films that have rotten Rotten Tomato scores and they try to find something positive in them. So, Super excited to be joining this network. You know, if you've listened to the podcast, you have heard me go on and on, in my nerdy way about movies and I think we fit right in. So what this means is that you're going to start hearing a couple advertisements for other shows on the network. And usually, we're going to play those at the Midway point or at the end of each episode. So just be prepared to hear a couple advertisements but please check out the other podcast on this network.

1:25 They are all great. They've all been produced at a super high level just like you would Come to expect from filming whiskey. And we've really just realized that this is such an awesome opportunity. We have to collaborate with other people on making cool, fun and interesting podcasts. So, we're just so excited to bring you that we've updated our logo to represent the change. Yeah. And speaking of changes, we are actually in the process of making a 4 to 5 Minute Podcast trailer, that is going to show up as the preview episode for the podcast in your player. So, currently right now, You will see that we have a preview episode that we recorded back in February on Anchorman and that was never really intended for us to release as a full episode. It was something that Brad and I just did one day for fun to see if this film.

2:11 And whiskey thing might work out and that preview episode has really served us. Well, but what we found is that it doesn't really reflect the quality that you all have come to expect from the show if you absolutely love the Anchorman episode, you can go ahead, go to the simple cast are simple, cast page, And you can download it right now and keep it forever. Listen to it at your heart's content, but that will be coming down in the next two to three weeks. And so that's it. We are about to get into our episode on Humphrey. Bogart's classic. The Treasure of the Sierra Madre. Bob, is there anything else you'd like to say? No. Enjoy. We love you guys. Thanks again. Robots radio presents in 1948 director, John Huston and star Humphrey Bogart, gave the world, a tragic.

2:56 Tale about the fruits, born out of greed in 2019. We sample? A flagship bourbon. That could be a gateway to Liquid Gold. The film is The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, the whiskey is for roses and we'll review them both. This is the film and whiskey podcast. Welcome to the film and whiskey podcast were each week, we review a classic movie and a glass of whiskey.

3:37 I'm Bob book, I'm Brad G. And this week we're looking at the 1948 film. The Treasure of the Sierra Madre Brad. I feel like this is one of those movies, you know? It's one of my favorite older movies and I feel like it's had such an impact on culture. And yet at the same time, it's one of those movies that I don't think anyone has really heard of before. Yeah. I mean, I've watched the movie recently and I don't think I've ever heard of it. Yeah. It's just not one of those titles that comes up when you hear the list of classic movies, it just doesn't come up in the conversation with, you know, Citizen Kane, Casablanca vertigo. And yet it's just as highly regarded as any of those movies, you know, when Library of Congress started.

4:20 This thing called the national film registry in 1989 to basically like preserve movies that they thought were culturally important to the United States. This movie was inducted in the second year of existence for that thing. So, it's like, people certainly hold this movie in high regard. And yet, at the same time, I think if you ask the average person on the street, like, name more than one movie that has Humphrey Bogart in it. I don't really know if this movie is coming out of their mouths. Yeah, and it's, and it's really sad to see that because Cuz honestly, I'll give myself away right now. It's a really good. Oh, it's so good, it's one of my favorites. So I'm glad to hear that, you know, you hadn't heard of it and that you also really enjoyed watching it Brad.

5:00 What were your kind of initial impressions of the movie as you went into it? Did you have any idea what it was going to be about? Did you know, the plot in advance for some reason just the title and the cover art for the film kind of gave away? The fact that it was gold mining or something about, you know, striking it rich out. Wild West. I didn't know that it was in Mexico, even though you probably could have gotten that from the title Sierra Madre. Well, that's okay. We forgive you for that. Well, you know, but yeah, a long story short. I went into this movie without many expectations. I didn't know what was coming my way and I was blown away. I think one of the things that makes it difficult to be accessible to the common public is just the fact that I don't know man, old movies or just made so very differently than modern movies.

5:48 Yeah. Yeah. And I think that really comes out in this film. Yeah, and I noticed it in the way that John Huston, the director kind of put this movie together as well. He wasn't making this movie in like the conventional way that you would have seen movies made at that time. This was actually one of the very first movies, ever to be filmed almost entirely on location outside of the United States. They went to Mexico. They were roughing it, you know, kind of in the wilderness out there. John Huston kind of prided himself on being like a rough-and-tumble guy and he made All of his actors go out hiking with him in all of these scenes and this movie was like, exorbitantly expensive, because of that. But you see it also in the way that Houston kind of directs a scene like I don't know how to explain it but it almost struck me as like a foreign film.

6:35 The way that the first couple scenes are pasted, it was like lots of cuts. Lots of weird camera angles as you get the feel for what this, you know, City street in Tampico and Mexico, looks like and you just immediately are put into this world where or like whoa, old movies, don't usually flow like this. There's something different about this one and that's truly. Thanks to director John Huston. He now correct me if I'm wrong. He was the director for African queen. Correct. Yeah. He directed The African Queen. And then before this his first film as biggest most well-remembered film would be the Maltese Falcon, which he also did with Bogart, right? And so would you say that one of Houston's legacies is the fact that he really promoted the format of actually filming in a location that truly Slate's to the viewer. What it's like to be in a foreign country. Absolutely.

7:22 Yeah. And I mean, you just can't beat the authenticity. And I think part of that is why this movie has such a different feel because, you know, when you watch a Casablanca or any movie made in that era, you know, your mind doesn't know it, but you're watching something that was filmed on a soundstage and all of the camerawork reflects that whereas in this movie like when you're watching, somebody walk up the side of a mountain you're watching. Someone walk up the actual side of a mountain and no matter what kind of fancy camera work, they try to do. Do there's only so much that you can work around nature. And so, it really does give this film a completely different vibe and feel like throughout the whole thing. Yeah, the scene that I think of when you talk about that is when the fourth member of their group briefly joins them and they're ready to kill him, but then he points out.

8:08 Hey, there's there's Bandits coming up the mountain and they give you that beautiful camera shot of the entire mountain and you see the Bandits on horses? Yeah, you know a few miles away Right. And and that shot gives you the sense of how big the the set is that you're not on a soundstage at, you're actually out in nature and it gives credibility when, you know, Walter Huston says, well, it'll probably take him an hour to get here. We should probably eat some food for. Yeah, right, right. And that like make sense, you're like, oh yeah, they're really far away. It'll probably take him an hour to get here, so I don't want to go too far into the details of the plot especially for people who are listening to this and haven't seen the movie yet. So why don't we hit the X right now and go to our favorite segments.

8:51 Brad explains. The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, I think that we might need to rename the segment Brad spoils. The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, dad spoils the movie that's 71 years old. That's right. Oh yeah, we forgot to mention. This is the 71st anniversary. It's a big one, it's a major Milestone. You're the worst just do Brad explode. So The Treasure of the Sierra Madre is a movie that It's off by basically just following Humphrey Bogart, around a town in Mexico and he's just a hobo. He's a Drifter that ask people for money and he ends up, striking it rich with the lottery.

9:34 And with that money, he decides that. Hey, I should probably take this money by some donkeys and equipment, and go prospecting with my other hobo friend. And this crazy old man, we found in a bar who talked to us about prospecting. I mean, that's pretty much. Much does that set? Our, that's the setup for the movie and then, that's, that's the entire set of. Yeah. And then, where it goes from, there is essentially, you know, everything that Walter Houston's character, Howard. And that would be the crazy old man that they find. He basically gives this speech about the, you know, the power of gold to corrupt people and what happens to people's, you know, psyches as they go out and try to Prospect. And the rest of the movie is that basically becoming a prophecy and coming true and you watch these three men go Into the Wilderness and slowly lose their minds as they look for gold.

10:23 Yeah, and the, the movie succeeded, I think the only reason the movie is good is because the three main performers in the movie Walter Huston, Humphrey Bogart. And I can't remember the third guys name, it's Tim Holt, Tim Holt, they turn in three of the best performances. I think I've ever seen, they're all fantastic and the great thing about the roles that they're playing is, you know, they're not all Super complex characters, like you get the sense from the beginning that Bogart's character is this loud. Brash kind of morally. Corrupt guy, that's capable of doing bad things and that's exactly what he becomes. You know, Walter Houston's character is the Wise Old Prospector who seems, you know, insane, but is the most sane one of all, and then, Tim Holtz character and I actually think Tim Holt is the character that anchors the movie down because he ends up becoming who we as the audience latch onto, because he's the only One that kind of keeps his sanity and has a good heart throughout the movie. Yeah.

11:24 For sure. The the moment that you really latch onto him as a character is when the cave-in at the mine happens and he almost turns and leaves Humphrey Bogart to die. Yeah. So they're, they're like they're just starting their sort of prospecting Journey. They've like they've basically created a mine in the side of the mountain and it caves in on top of Humphrey Bogart. And you're right Brad, you get this wonderful scene. Scene where Tim hold is like calling into the mine Dobbs Dobbs, which is Bogaerts character's name. And for just a second, he turns his back and you, you get the sense of like, oh, gold is starting to corrupt, even this guy and then all of a sudden, you get this great musical cue of like the camaraderie theme that you've heard through the whole movie and he runs back into the mine to rescue, Humphrey Bogart. It really is it's a great beat in the movie. Yeah.

12:15 And that I will say that brings me to one of my points of how Old movies are so much different than new and older movies. It is so much more obvious. What the director wants you to feel with music? Yeah but you know what? I almost I kind of wanted to talk about this too, because I almost feel like the music in this movie is too much and like it's really catchy. I love all the different themes but it beats you over the head with what it's trying to do. Yeah. But I guess the thing for me is I feel like that happens in a lot of older movie. For sure, the music is, is just be like you said, it beats you over the head with like this is how you should feel, and we talked about on the waterfront of few weeks ago, I felt very similarly about that movie, that whenever you were supposed to feel good, you had a nice upswell in the music whenever you supposed to be scared. There's a nice little you know up and down wavery. Oh man.

13:08 What's going to happen next? You know piece of the music right? And so like these older movies, they just hit you over the head with music is showing you how you should feel. Yet, at the same time, I think this is where Houston's decisions as a director really shine because he makes the decision that not a lot of people did back then to completely drop out the music at really crucial moments. And it's, it's always when there's a really suspenseful scene happening and he knows exactly when to make it just silent and it happens, probably three or four times in the movie. One of the first times that it happens is, you know, Brad, you were referring to this earlier. There's a point in the movie where one of the characters Curtain.

13:49 Tim Holtz character has to go down into town and buy supplies and someone notices him down there and follows him up the mountain and tries to become part of their group and they're sitting around the campfire that night and Tim Holt is recounting to the other two guys. Yeah, I think that guy followed me and all of a sudden, the music cuts out and you see that the guy standing right there by his camp and you have no idea what's going to happen. But the tension is so ratcheted up because you do get rid of that, sort of like bombastic. Music and you're left with nothing but the silence that all these guys are sharing with each other and and that silence, I think mimics real life. Oh crap moments. Yeah, we're, you know, obviously, we don't all run around with music playing in our head but if we did, they would stop when we feel like we got caught doing something, we shouldn't be doing or we're in trouble for something you don't know, I mean solutely. All right.

14:41 So maybe this is a good time for us to kind of walk back to the three lead performances that we've been talking about. So we're talking about Bo. Bogart. We're talking about Walter Huston and Tim Holt and I want to start with Humphrey Bogart because he is, you know, the major Hollywood star. He's been at the top of the Heap, since Casablanca really catapulted him into the stratosphere, and he takes a lot of risks here. I mean, he's the villain of the movie and yet he's the, he's the first person you see where dropped into the movie and we think that we're going to be sympathizing with and following his character of Dobbs, all through the movie and really what the movies. God is watching this guy Dobbs go from kind of you know a jerk of a guy to being a completely insane murderer and for someone of his stature to take on a role like that, I think was super gutsy.

15:32 Yeah, I think you could almost call him a lovable loser, at the start of the movie and by the end of the movie, he really does turn into this. This murderous psychotic mumbling to himself crazy person. That is the villain of the movie. Who tried to kill the man who Who saved his life. I know you for what you want for a long time. I've had my suspicions about you. Now, I know I've been a right suspicions. Are you talking about? Oh you're not putting anything over on me, I see right through you for a long time. You had in your mind a bumping off at the first, good opportunity and bury me out here in the bush, like a dog. So she could take not only the old man's good but mine and the bargain. And when you get to Durango safely, you'll have a big laugh. Won't you thinking how dumb the old man? And I were make another move toward me and I'll pull the trigger.

16:21 I'll get your hands up. Come on, get them up. Was I right? Or was I you and your Sunday school? Talk about protecting people's Goods. You want. Stand up and take it like a man. Come on, get up. You know, it's really funny as you call him a lovable loser, at the start of the movie, and I think maybe it's because I've seen the movie before that, on this watch, I knew where his character goes. But because he's the first person we see, I think the audience tries to forgive some of his rough edges and, and try to sympathize with him. But on a second watch, you can kind of see from the very beginning. The signs are all there of where this guy is going to go like the the Mexican kid that comes in and tries to sell him the lottery ticket.

17:10 He's been out on the street asking for meals from all the Americans and basically like manipulating the same guy over and over to give him money. And then this kid comes in to tries to sell him a lottery ticket. And he says, get away from me, you little beggar, and he, like, chases after him. And it just shows how much Dobbs has absolutely no self-awareness or is in denial of who he is. Like, he's clearly just as much a beggar as this kid is, but in his mind, he's above that kid and it comes out like the foreshadowing. In this movie comes out time and time again, you know, when they're all in, like the Flop House together. And Walter Huston is saying, I've seen what gold will do to people, you'll never stop wanting more. And Dobbs kind of drunkenly says like, you know, I would only get what I set out to get, you know, immediately like that's BS and, you know, watching it a second time, you know, exactly that. He has no idea what he's in store for. Yeah, I suppose that's one of those situations where You kind of see his character during rough times, but when the true difficult Hard Times come out, you see that, who he always was, is what comes out in the hardest of times. Yeah, definitely.

18:25 So the big thing for me, with this movie about Humphrey Bogart, as an actor, this movie actually made me very glad that I gave Casablanca a nine and a half. Why is that? I looking back on Casablanca, I really struggled with You know, shy to give it a 10, it's such a great movie. I don't think Humphrey, Bogart, turns in half as good of a performance in Casablanca. As he does, in The Treasure of the Sierra Madre. You know, I would agree that his his performance here is the better performance. I also think it's the showier performance, so we're kind of looking for it a little bit, but I'm in complete agreement with you Brad. This is in my opinion, like the best performance of Bogaerts career. Yeah.

19:05 And you get it right away, he actually like raises his voice. Like it. In all of Casablanca. He just kind of uses this low Gravely. Like he almost sounds drunk the entire movie of just like, oh, what are you doing in my bar of all? The Gin joints? Yeah, I'm Han. So it's going to say, I love how he sounds like elderly Harrison Ford it. Yeah, for sure. But like in this movie he actually gets excitable any any any speaks loudly? And he speaks softly and he he just works the camera. And he works his voice in such different ways that I love this performance by Bogart even with him being the villain. Yeah, definitely and it's not the only show we performance in the movie because you've got Walter Huston there. As the old man Howard who is like every bit chewing, the scenery as Bogart is.

20:00 What did you think row? What did you think of Houston's performance bro? He is Hamming. It oh yeah, I mean he just like you said, he Just choose the scenery up. He doesn't care what's happening around him. He knows what his line is and he knows the type of character he needs to be and he throws it in your face every time he laughs. Every time he delivers a line, I mean, he's just spot-on. And it's funny because I feel like I've seen this character a hundred times, but then when you trace it back, they all have their origins in this Walter Huston character. Like we I'd also I don't want to undersell his performance either because it Fantastic.

20:42 Yeah, he honestly reminds me a little bit or I should say this other actor reminds me of Walter Huston Joey Brown in Some Like It Hot so interesting. Like the just the way he laughs and he hands it up and granted. It's a comedy versus a drama. So it's different. But like, just the way he hams up the older male character, right? The it just screamed Walter Huston to me. And the funny thing is, Walter Huston had been, you know, he He was a classically trained actor and he was an Oscar winner. He had been a leading man and, you know, getting into his older years. He still felt like he was leading man, and so when his son, you know, the director John Huston, came to him and said, Dad, I want you to play the supporting part and also you're going to be playing like the old stinky prospector. And also, I want you to take out your dentures in the course of the movie.

21:33 So, it seems more authentic that he didn't think he could do it at first. And so, it's kind of like, with Bogart. They're playing But what people are used to seeing them play but I think they do it to such incredible results. That you don't question the decision that John Huston made. I'm not going to Nazca and Canada and Colorado house with the crowd in the British Honduras. What made the fare back home and almost enough over to kill me the fiery, red card doesn't California and Australia all over the word practically. I know what Goldust Amanda Souls. You talk is all you struck it rich some time or other pop. How about it? And what are you doing in here? The down in order to Gold? That's what makes this never know, Prospect, he had to died Rich, make own fortune, should have blowed in trying to find another, I'm no exception to the rule. Sure.

22:23 I'm an Audubon now, would say, don't you guys think the spirit gone, I'll set the shoulder pickaxe, and shovel anytime anybody's going to share expenses, rather go by myself. Go along the best way, but you got to have a stomach for long. - some guys gonna do with it. On the other hand going to partner to his dangerous. Murderers, always lurking about Partners the kidneys out of all sorts of crimes. Long as there's no find the noble, Brotherhood will last, but when the piles of gold begin to grow, that's when the trouble starts. Yeah. So can I can I throw something at you? And you can confirm if I'm right or wrong? Yeah, sure. Toy Story tip. The character is it. Stinky Pinky Pete.

23:04 Tell me that he was not based 100% on Walter. He's, it was totally a throwback to treasure this year. Madre like and, you know, the Kelsey Grammer voiced isn't the same as Walter Huston, but the design of that character, 100% Treasure of the Sierra Madre. Yeah, what, as I was watching? Howard. I was like, man, he just there's something about him. That seems so familiar. And like halfway through the movie, I put my finger on, I was like oh it's Stinky Pete from Toy Story. 2. That's exactly right. And, you know, you said that, he was Hamming it up. And I actually like, I think that's probably the best way to phrase it. There's one point in the movie, where I just cannot forgive Walter Huston, or John Huston, and it's like towards the end of the movie, you know, they're getting ready to come in from prospecting and cash in all their gold and these Mexican villagers come and say, there's a sick boy, we need a Healer to come and take care of him. And so Howard's, like, well, you know, I've got some experience in that and he goes off with the Villagers. He saves the boy and the Villagers make him stay so they can honor him and treat him like a god basically. And in this scene where they're like, pampering him Walter Huston like takes a puff off of a pipe or he takes a drink out of a coconut or something and he looks right at the camera and he like winks and goes blurry.

24:24 And I couldn't believe that in the middle of the Super's dispensable dark cynical movie that this man looked Right? Down the barrel of the camera. Like a Bugs, Bunny cartoon, and they left it in the movie. It's unforgivable. Yeah, I do not, I didn't understand that either if that had happened like at the start of the movie. Maybe. Yeah. But like, we're right in the series part where it pulled me out of the movie guard has. Yeah. Humphrey Bogart has just killed Tim Holt In Cold Blood, right? And you just have him Hamming. It up winking at the camera we can. This young girl whose lighting his pipe, it was the most like whoa.

25:07 It was the most jarring thing in the whole movie and yeah, it really did. Pull me out of the movie for a minute. Well, it felt like an outtake. That should have been left on The Cutting Room floor or like, you know, John Huston keeps it for his private collection and laughs with his dad. When they watch that go. Haha, I remember when you worked at the camera and they just left it in. Yeah, that that was amusing to me. So, let's round out our discussion of the three main actors here. I want to talk about Tim Holt for a minute as his name. Is Bob curtain in the movie, they call him curtain, the whole movie, Jim Holt, in my opinion, like I said earlier, he anchors the whole movie down, he gives the most grounded performance and you kind of have to because you can't be at the intensity level of either. One of those other two actors like someone had to balance it out and I don't think people give Tim Holt enough credit for what he does in this movie.

25:56 Yeah. The depth of his character. I think really is shown best at the very end of the movie when they've ridden back to Ruins and they're looking for their gold and Walter Huston, just loses it. And he's giving us that ridiculous laughs. And he finally just says he's as ah, the Earth is taken back. What we took from it, you know, hahaha, that's so funny and you see this this path from anger and frustration to acceptance and understanding. Yeah. In Tim Holtz face that any regular, you know, No American watching that movie would say, yeah, I could do the same thing.

26:38 I could come to terms with losing out on 35,000 gold, right, right. And there's something about that character that he just. He works the camera perfectly. He he bounces off of Humphrey Bogart. So well like he's so calm and cool and collected in the face of Bogaerts Madness that you just, he really does ground the movie and anchor it in reality. And he's the only one that they really give these emotional speeches to or I don't even know say emotional, but like hopeful because, like, Howard gets a couple speeches where he talks about what gold can do to a man's soul. But curtain is the guy who reads the letter, from the fourth guy, Cody's wife after we find out that Cody's been killed by Bandits.

27:25 You know, he's reading about like little Timmy wants you to come home and keeps asking where's Dad? And it's such a cheesy. Seen. But the way Tim Holt gives this movie a little bit of like, gravitas and emotion you buy it coming from him. Like he is the only thing that gives this movie an emotional punch because otherwise I feel like it would be almost too dark and too cynical to really succeed. Yeah, I feel like the three characters are set up so perfectly that they're all they're almost like caricatures of what we want to see, you know, with Walter Huston. You see the person who you, you almost see this, this might sound weird, but he's almost like an Angelic figure that is trying to send a message to Humphrey Bogart and Tim Holt.

28:16 He comes in, he tells them the danger of gold, he tells them the danger of greed and then and then he just lets them play it out. And you see and Humphrey Bogart. And in Tim Holtz, the two results that can happen. You can be tempted by the gold and turn away from it or or you can be tempted by the gold and given to the Mad. Yes, yeah, definitely. So Brad, you know, we have so much more to talk about in this movie. We haven't really gotten into John Huston's direction. We haven't talked about our favorite scenes. We haven't analyzed what this movie is all about, but I think that in order to really get into The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, it's time for us to drink a little bit of liquid gold.

28:56 What do you say we tried this for Roses? Yellow label, the only gold that truly matters. Amen. Let's get To it. All right, so today we are checking out for Roses, yellow label. Now this is for like, just standard for Roses, but they call it yellow label. It used to actually have a yellow label. They've redesigned the package. It has this weird cream colored label. Now, I don't know, don't shoot the messenger, but that's what we're drinking today. Brad. What? Why do you think it's for Roses? Like, why not five roses? I almost looked up the origin of the name for Roses before we hit record, but I did not do it. So next time, We have four roses on the show, I'll have an answer for you but today I have no idea. Hey man, that's okay.

29:45 We all have our faults. So for Roses clocks, in at 80 proof, the website says that it's aged for a minimum of five years. It runs 2199 for a fifth in the state of Ohio. So it's a super affordable whiskey. Like I said, this is their Baseline standard whiskey. Now, we have a fantastic friend on Instagram, called bourbon in college. If you are not listening, Link to his podcast, go check it out. If you're not following Bourbon and College on Instagram, go follow him right now. But Bourbon and college is actually sent us four different samples of Four Roses. So maybe that's where the Four Roses come from Brad, it probably, they probably rebranded after he sent us the for saying that they knew exactly what he was doing.

30:29 So he sent us a sample of their standard yellow label. He sent us a small batch. He sent us a single barrel and then he also sent us a small batch select. So at four different points in the coming weeks, we will be trying for different kinds of Four Roses. Thanks to our friend bourbon in college. Yeah. Tonight's drink goes out to my boy Bourbon and college. Go check him out. All right, so let's get into it Brad. What are you thinking about this? On the nose? Ooh, it smells boozy doesn't really smell boozy to. You see? I'm I'm smelling mine and I don't, it actually doesn't give me a lot at all. It seems kind of low proof. I mean, I know that it's only 80 proof.

31:10 But I don't smell a lot of ethanol. There's not a lot going on here. I was just pulling your chain Bob. Well, my chain has been pulled my friend. So what do you actually think about it? I'm getting a little bit of like vanilla and butterscotch. That is so crazy. I'm not getting any. So I I have a lot of Oak. Like I'm just smelling Oak Barrel and almost like a like a sea water. Kind of smell like a saline. Well but not a lot of vanilla. Not a lot of brown sugar. Not a lot of maple, it smells a little bit spicy. Like maybe there's a higher rhyme Ash bill and I get a little bit of fruit on it but I'm not getting those classic vanilla notes that you are. Yeah, I don't understand that for me right now I'm picking up some of the vanilla I do.

32:00 Pick up a little bit of that spiciness that you're talking about. I can I can sense that. But yeah, a little bit of vanilla and butterscotch. I feel like so what kind of score was Give it on the nose Brad. I'm gonna give it a seven on the nose. I think it has a nice pleasant. It's not offensive. It doesn't hit you very hard. I like the nose pretty well. Well, that's good. I'm actually only going to give it a 5 on the nose. For me, it's just, it's not doing it. I I wish that there was a little bit more complexity. I wish I was picking up some of those things that Brad's picking up, but for me, it's just a 5. Yeah. So what do you think about taste? Let's give it a swig. All right, so, first thing I'll say is, it's really thin. Yeah.

32:43 And it's not very sweet, it's a little bit peppery. Like I get a little bit of a tingle from it, and I don't think that's the alcohol. I think that, you know, like we said, there might be a little bit more Ryan this than we're used to, but I'm just getting tons and tons of Oak. This tastes underaged. And I'm surprised that it says that it's five years minimum because I would have sworn, this was like a two-year whiskey. Just it, it tastes like Oak, that hasn't mellowed. Yeah, I would totally agree with that. It's a little bit thin. You can tell it's watered down to 80 proof and I still taste a hint of the vanilla and butterscotch. But I'm getting more of that pepper and more of that Oak that you smelt on the nose. I will say the second and third sip of this I really really like it's an easy sipper and that's because it's 80 proof. It doesn't have a ton of character on it but it's not bitter.

33:34 It's Unpleasant. It's not that astringent like harsh ethanol taste. It's just it just kind of tastes like it hasn't been aged long enough. I don't know how else to explain it. Yeah I would agree. I think I'm going to give it a 6 on the taste. It tastes fine. It's solid. It doesn't quite live up to the nose but yeah, it's easy sipper. That's the best way to describe it. I think I'm gonna give it a seven on the taste. I don't dislike this. It just doesn't really have a ton of character, but again, for an 80, Proof 21 dollar whiskey. Like, what do you really expect? So I like sipping on this. I think it's something that I could have a couple glasses of and be satisfied.

34:15 So I'm gonna give it a seven on the taste and that brings us to finish which I kind of felt was almost non-existent. Like I said, it's not bitter. It doesn't leave a bad taste in your mouth. It does have that sort of spicy Oak flavor to it, but it evaporates pretty quickly, which if you're looking for a long con, Lex finish, you're not going to find it here, but if you're looking for something that you can just continually sip on, this might be right up your alley. It just depends on what you like on the finish. I can't say anything that you didn't just say, I mean, it's an easy sipper. It goes down, smooth. It does not sit on your palate for very long. You could, you can almost feel it evaporating, as you're swallowing, it disappears pretty quick, and that is a little bit of a disappointment.

35:01 But for $21, I'd say it's about Right on what I'd expect. I would say the same thing. Brad. Do you generally consider yourself to be a guy that enjoys a longer finish or one? That Fades pretty quickly. That's actually a really hard question. I I don't know the answer to that question. Yeah. I guess it depends on whether or not you like the taste because, you know, if it's like for me a really heavily peated, Scotch like those have super-long finishes, but they just remind me of how much I hated the experience of drinking it. So I hate the finish on those. For sure. And like when you have a ride that's just you know 99% rye and it sits on your palate 45 minutes after you're done sipping on it.

35:45 I don't know if I enjoy that. No same thing. But again, I wish there was a little more going on in the finish on this particular whiskey. So I'm just going to give it a 5 on the Finish. Yeah, I'm gonna give it a 6 on the finish. It lingers just long enough to remind you what it did for you, but it doesn't stick around for very long. All right, that brings us to overall balance. We're talking knows taste and finish on this Brad. How do you think the stacked up when all things are considered, you know, this is a really well-balanced whiskey for all of its pitfalls. I think that the nose and The Taste and the balance. All, tell me exactly what they're going to do up front. They don't trick me into thinking. It's something that it is.

36:27 And I actually I'm going to give it an 8 on balance, it's very honest about what it is. Yeah I'm going to do the same. I'm going to give it an eight like you said. I'm not expecting a ton out of this and I think that might be kind of boosting my score a little bit but no one part of this stuck out, which says a lot for a cheap whiskey because usually either it's going to smell too harsh on the nose or it's going to taste too harsh or it's going to finish too harsh, but it was fairly mellow and that may have something to do with the 80 proof. But I think it still says a lot that it was consistent from the time I nosed it to after I swallowed it. So I'm going to Head and give it an 8 on balance as well. Yeah. And when we come into the final category of value, I think I initially started to think man like yeah this is pretty good value but then I really started to think about other Whiskey's I've bought in the 2224 dollar category and there's a lot of other whiskies and Bourbons. I think I'd rather be drinking.

37:25 Yeah you wouldn't think that a fifteen dollar and a twenty dollar whiskey would be that different but if this was something that was like sitting Sitting next to Jack Daniels or Jim Beam on the Shelf at fifteen to Seventeen dollars. I would think this would be an astronomical value. But I mean, I paid or I guess Bourbon and college paid as much for this as we would have paid for like a Weller Special Reserve and we weren't super high on Weller. But at the price point I would take Weller over this any day of the week. Yeah, for sure. I think I'm going to give this a 6 on value. It's not you know it's not fully average. It's Above average value, but it's just, okay, yeah, I'm gonna give it a seven on value. I do think that it's definitely above average, I still like it for the price point, it's not terrible. I do wish it was a few dollars cheaper, but it's not like they're guiding people for what they're providing. Yeah, I totally agree.

38:22 So that brings me out to a 33 out of 50 Bob. What does that bring you to? That brings me to a 32 out of 50. Yeah, so we're like right on par with each other. I think we kind of think the same The thing about this whiskey, it's good, it's above average, it doesn't sit with you very long but it's a good easy sipper. Yeah, I mean we come out to a 65 out of 100 and you know when you just look at the score it makes it seem like this is a mediocre whiskey. I don't think that's the case at all. You know, most of our scores have been in that 60 to 70 range. Except for ones that we really, really don't like. And I think to say that something is a 65 out of 100 and you only have to pay twenty Twenty-One dollars for it actually says quite a About what they're able to do at such a low price point and at such a low proof. Yeah, and if you are looking for an easy sipper, this would be one.

39:12 I highly recommend and I guess to get to our recommendation in general. I would recommend this. I think it's a solid whiskey that you should try at some point. Yeah, I would too. And, you know, we're not going to be trying these four different samples of, for the Four Roses line in consecutive weeks. But this makes me excited to see what happens when we get into a small batch when we get into a singer single. Barrel that are going to be at higher proofs because what we're getting at 80 proof, I'm really, really excited about. Yeah, and it excites me that big companies are willing to make products like this that are still really high quality, but a little bit lower on the price because I think it's easy to get into this attitude of.

39:54 Well, if I can't spend $100 on a bottle of, you know, liquor then it's not worth it for me. Well, not many people can do that. Most people are in the category of I'm looking for something I really want to enjoy but my budget for, you know, non-essentials isn't super high. So what can I enjoy? And if you're if you're in that category, go buy some, you know, for Roses, yellow label. Absolutely well, we both recommend. I actually really enjoyed that. Thank you again to Bourbon and college. Brad. What do you say? We get back into talking about The Treasure of the Sierra Madre. Let's do it. So that was for Roses, yellow label, Brad and I both recommending it and Brad, and I both recommend this movie Treasure of the Sierra Madre, Brad. There's a lot of different directions we can go, but I just want to take a minute and talk some more about John Huston's Direction in this movie.

40:50 One of the things that I'm shocked by every time I watch this movie, it's not just that it's a really dark kind of cynical movie. But it's that the only word I could think of to write down in my notes was It'll it's just there's such brutality in this movie and it doesn't have that sort of Classic Hollywood Sheen of the violence is covered up and you don't see anything. I mean you get it like really early on in the movie when Bogart and Tim Holtz characters have been working like hard labor for this guy who's supposed to pay them and then stands them up and they find him they track him down in a bar and they just beat him to a pulp and that fight scene goes on for like Four minutes, and it's literally like it was like a Goodfellas stomping of this guy and it happened like 40-something years before.

41:41 Goodfellas was filmed, I was shocked at how brutal that fight scene was, oh, for sure. And I think, I think maybe that scene is, why you have hope for Humphrey Bogart's character because they didn't just robbed the man blind. They took the money that he said, he would pay them for working on the oil rig, and then they left him the rest. And then they paid the bartender and says, Ed. Hey, thanks for the use of the bar. We apologize. We're heading out. And so there's that kind of hope that he's not just going to you know be a greedy son of a gun that he's actually a decent person at heart. You know. I thought about that seen a lot after it and I part of me wonders though if it's because Tim Holt was there with him because he pulls the money out of that guy's wallet and he's counting it out and he says like, you know what does he owe us 300 and then Tim Holtz says yes.

42:30 And then he says okay and part of me wonders if Fred see Jobs had beat that guy up on his own. Would he have felt the need to be as upstanding? Or would he have just robbed that guy blind and I love that you said Fred C Dobbs there. I think one of the best caricatures of his character is when Humphrey Bogart says a few times throughout the movie. Well I'm Fred C Dobbs and I have my rights and he says it like he is somebody like you're supposed to know his name, right? But just going back to that fight scene, you know the first First thing, I wrote down in my notes was about the guy that they beat up because he starts the fight, he knows he's cornered and he hits, I think Bogart like over the head with a bottle and the first thing I wrote was, why would that guy throw a punch against two guys? Like knowing he's going to lose and I came to the realization that like this fight.

43:22 Scene is a foreshadowing of the whole movie because that guy is so greedy and so protective of his money that he will get himself in a fight that he knows he And win just to try to protect what little bit of money he has. And it shows early early on the lengths, people will go when they become obsessed with wealth with money with gold. It was actually a really, really interesting piece of foreshadowing that you might not have seen like on first glance. Yeah, I really was interested by John Huston's choice to split the movie into that. You have that foreshadowing. I mean it's like 40 minutes of the movie when he's kind of a hobo and he finds that At job working on the oil rig and then they beat that guy up and that kind of transitions you into the second half of the movie. But like you said, the first little bit of the movie is a full, you know, foreshadowing of what's going to happen in the entire second half of the movie and you're right. That is it's a brilliant use of foreshadowing that you don't even realize until after the movie when you're talking about it on a podcast.

44:29 Yeah for sure. And I think part of that goes back to the fact that this movie was a Opted from a novel of the same name and as you watch it play out on screen. You really do understand that. Like yeah this definitely came from a book because if this was an original screenplay I can just see some. You know, some executive somewhere saying, cut this cut this cut. This get us out into the Wilderness quicker, but they really take their time. Setting up the themes of the movie and as you watch it, you may not understand exactly where it's going because it does seem like it takes forever to get out there. But Once they get out there, they can get you plunged really quickly into the greed, the suspicion, the denials the frustration, the jealousy because they've set those things up so well on the front end of the movie. Yeah, I will say one of my frustrations with the movie is that there are certain times where Humphrey Bogart's character makes assumptions.

45:23 That I I just shake my head at and I'm like man like you're jumping at shadows and not in a way that would make any logical sense. But Maybe that's the whole point is to say that you know, the Greed for gold brings about Madness and you know illogical thinking, I don't know, I struggle with some of those scenes as well and for me it was because I didn't think the writing was fantastic. Like the dialogue didn't sound natural and Bogart does his best with that but there's so many times where he's like ah yes I see that your plan all along was for me to get descended upon by Bandits and it's like who thinks to talk like that when you haven't slept in four hours? Yeah. Yeah, that that is the best way of putting it.

46:05 A lot of the dialogue just felt stilted whenever he was getting angry and upset about things but I will say that I do think from a director standpoint Houston does such a good job of introducing this kind of creeping sense of dread that you know, something's coming and it really happens well in the close-ups that he uses like I'm thinking about the shots in one of the first nights when they're all back in the tent and they decide to split. All the gold up three ways and you see Walter Huston pouring the gold into the bags and they're all watching the bags. They they're already like licking their lips, looking at this gold and then you see their eyes dart back and forth to each other.

46:48 And it's like they're already suspicious of each other. And, you know, like, right from that point on, there's no way this can end. Well, yeah, there's something about the directing in this movie. I loved the, the phrase you use the creeping sense of dread this. V really reminded me of an Alfred Hitchcock movie it with his use of Silence, with his use of, you know, slight bits of humor to like offset. The, the horror that, you know, is about to unfold like, the entire time, you know, something bad is going to happen and it's a suspenseful movie and I haven't seen a suspenseful movie like that outside of many Hitchcock films.

47:29 I actually think that's a really good comparison because Hitchcock, really like to toy. With the audience. And, you know, a lot of times you walk that fine line between really suspenseful horrific things and really Darkly funny things and I feel like there's one scene in this movie, you know, the scene where they've all hidden their goods out in the wilderness. And they don't want each other to find out where all their goods are hidden and one night, you know, one of the characters wakes up and one of the other characters is you know, out relieving himself or something and it starts this scene where each guy has to get up and go out and check on whether his goods are still there. And then the other guys are waking up and getting suspicious and at its core. That's a comedy scene.

48:12 Like, that's the kind of thing. You would see in like a Marx Brothers movie, but Houston, takes it and the actors play it. So straight that it plays for suspense. It's a really, really suspenseful scene but at its heart like it's actually a comedy routine. Oh, for sure, there, you could see the Three Stooges doing that exact same scene, but they'd be moving a lot faster. And everybody would be laughing at them. Yeah for sure. Houston uses it but Houston uses it in such a way that you you just kind of feel it's creeping. Dread of, you know, is one of them going to shoot each other in the middle of the night, you know, what's going to happen and I think that kind of gets us into like our final analysis on the movie. You know, I've said a couple times at this is a really cynical movie and I don't know if cynical is the right word, but I've spent a lot of time trying to figure out the overall message of the movie.

49:00 Is it just that greed corrupts or is there something more? Going on because you know Brad hinted at this earlier in the episode. The end of the movie is that it ends up that. Humphrey Bogart tries to kill Tim Holtz character Holt doesn't actually die, but Bogart ends up with all of the gold and then he gets descended upon by Bandits. They murder him, the bandits don't recognize that. The gold is what's actually in the bags, they think. It's just, you know, dust and they scatter it to the winds Walter Huston and Tim Holt come riding into town and they find out. All their gold is gone and they laugh at the irony of everything and on face value, it kind of seems like a really nihilistic ending, like all of this has been for nothing. It doesn't really seem to give a lot of Hope about what all of our work is for, in life.

49:52 I think that for me, I read a more positive ending into the movie that, you know, all the wealth in the world is not worth the value of your soul. Oh boy, it's a great job paid on this for the Lord or faint, their nature, whatever you prefer. But whoever or whatever plan is turned, the in a sense of humor, the gold is gone back to where we found it. And Humphrey Bogart loses his soul, to the corruption of wealth.

50:42 And, you know, Tim Holtz is able to resist that, and he's able to go on to do good in the world, you know, Walter Walter Houston's character, says, hey, I'm going to give you all the money that we get from selling the donkeys and, and pretty much everything that I have. And why don't you go up to, to Texas and call on the Widow of Man that we kind of in a sense, killed right? And, you know, pay her respects and tell her about how her husband died. And then why don't you go off, you know, and enjoy what you wanted. Enjoy all along, which was peaches and fruit season. Yeah, and I think that a good microcosm of that is even earlier in the movie, when that fourth guy, Cody dies and it happens in the course of Bandits coming to attack their camp, and they fight all the bandits off and they're like in the midst of celebrating winning this battle.

51:32 Oh, and then they look down and they remember that there's a dead guy there at their feet and it's there, you know, this guy Cody and they just kind of look at his dead body and say like, oh, what are we going to do with this and Bogart looks down? And says, oh yeah, him and it reminds you that in Dobbs is eyes. Human life, ultimately is really cheap. Like he doesn't care. One, bit about that guy. And then you see Tim Holt pull the letter out of his pocket, read the letter, it gives that character a backstory and it reminds you even at that point. That there are some things that are more important than the pursuit of wealth, the pursuit of gold and Dobbs, clearly doesn't see it even if the other two guys do and I think that that truly is the moral of this story is that there are, there's things more valuable in this world than money and wealth.

52:21 And that it's not worth giving up your soul for something that is so transitory and you have it one day and you lose it, the next and that the The important things in this world are valuing. Human life of caring for one, another of truly taking care of one another in this life. And you see that in Tim, you know, Tim Holt and you see the lack of it and Humphrey, Bogart, and the movie tells you what each type of life gets. Yeah. So Brad, why don't we go ahead and score this bad boy out. I'm excited to hear what you thought of it. What kind of a score? Would you? Give this movie out of 10? And would you recommend it? Yeah, I mean, starting with the bad there are certain parts of This movie where, you know, Walter Huston is hammin it up and he's looking at the camera. He's also doing some sort of weird Medicine Man. Ritual with this little boy, where he's raising his arms up into town and like we didn't even talk about that. Like that scene for me.

53:16 First of all, it's like 48 minutes long. It's so long. Yes. And, and when you look at what he's actually doing, like, literally, all he's doing is making the kid. Do like jumping jacks and that's like his, that's his form of medicine. Yeah, I Walter Huston knows how to do a magic. That I have no clue about so there's certain things like that and certain parts of Humphrey Bogart's dialogue that we already said was pretty rough when he gets kind of maniacal. So it's not a perfect movie. However is it a 9 out of 10? Yes. Like this is a phenomenal movie it tells a good story and I think it offers a very important message that is applicable to All Humans in all times. Yeah I'd go one step further.

54:01 Than that, you know, this used to be at one point in my life. This was like, in my top 10 movies of all time, I do think I've come down a little bit since then, but I would still get this movie a 9 and a half. You know, if you remove that ridiculous breaking the fourth wall by Walter Huston and some of those lines of dialogue, like you said, this movie is nearly perfect and it was doing something at a time where movies. Just didn't do it like filming on location getting into this really, really harsh. Cynical. Look at greed and the brutality of violence is stuff. You didn't see in a movie in 1948, and that I think is what helps it hold up in 2019.

54:43 So I'm going to give this movie a nine and a half, that brings our average out to a 9.25. So, I think we'd both definitely recommend this movie. Yeah, highly recommend. And and like I said earlier, in this movie about like, Clint Eastwood. You don't have the gritty realism of Clint Eastwood. If you Don't have, you know, the The Treasure of the Sierra Madre for sure. But we want to know what you think about this movie. So please give us a shout out on social media Brad, where can they find us? They can find us on all the social media platforms at film whiskey, with an E ad film, whiskey with an e or give us a call on our call in line. We'll play your voicemail on are. Who knows? We might even agree or disagree with you. Our number is two one.

55:25 Six eight hundred five. Nine two. Three that's two one. Six eight hundred five nine. You three. If you like what you're hearing from the film and whiskey podcast, please go over to Apple podcast to Google podcast. Give us a five star rating and leave a review. We love more and more people to become part of the film and whiskey community and find out about what we're doing here. Next week. We'll be back reviewing the 1961 musical. Classic West Side Story for the film and whiskey podcast. I'm Bob book, I'm Brad, she will see you next time.

56:29 There is one thing I want to say about Humphrey Bogart is there a way that I can like lead into it? Or is it just going to be like a random observation? Probably probably a random observation. You're so mysterious. Yeah, you know me so. Well now I'm just going to say he looks exactly like Hugh Jackman. What he look. Are you serious in? Oh 100%, he looks exactly like Hugh Jackman with a beard. You're insane man. Have you seen him without know? He looks like a potato Humphrey Bogart or You Jackman Humphrey Bogart Hugh Jackman looks like he was chiseled by the gods. What do you Humphrey? Bogart looks like if you if you melted the plastic on a mr. Potato Head. And then left a man and then left it to baked in the hot. Mexican Sun for months for 10 months. In a gold mine.

57:19 Exactly. If you just look at his face in this movie, he looks exactly like Hugh Jackman with a beard. I'm gonna make a pull out of this audience to Graham, we're gonna see what people think this is going to be the outtake for this episode perfect. Hello. Hi. Do you like bad movies? Do you find yourself defending bad movies saying things like? Well, the soundtrack was, okay, or the costumes were pretty fun from the previous host of. It's not that bad podcast. We bring you fresh tomatoes, the movie podcast from Simone LaRue, and Shadow covers every week. We review two movies that did not do well critically. What we say, hey, there are some nice things about them, maybe Rotten Tomatoes was wrong, maybe they're all fools, and you should watch these movies, regardless. We'll also talk about seems they could have saved it and will often refer to some owns cats.

58:06 Because they're amazing and adorable and we love them. And at the end of each review, we will tell you whether we would watch this movie again. Aaron what circumstances we would recommend you watch this movie. So join us on July 9th for the first drop of our main episode and then two days later for our drop of our many sides and on robots, Radio podcast Network come. See us on July 9th. We love you so much already. Bye.