Here's an example (one of many) of a movie I've seen multiple times before, but never really watched. I noticed my memory of the plot started fading after the famous "badges" scene. I guess I fell asleep.
This is a movie with a great plot and story at its heart, but it excels because of the details and the great characters throughout. Most memorable, perhaps, is the Mexican bandito who laughs too much and really hates badges. But I'd never realized that the American at the beginning of the film, who Bogart hits up three times for a handout, is played by John Huston (who I remember mainly as the creepy old evil tycoon from Chinatown), son of Walter Huston, who plays the cheerful old prospector Howard.
The movie centers on the development of Humphrey Bogart's character, Dobbs. The theme of money is established in the first scene, where Dobbs tears up a losing lottery ticket. From there we see Dobbs begging for change, working as a laborer, then beating up a boss who cheated him out of his pay, and finally contemplating murder as a way of hanging on to the riches he's managed to obtain.
By transitioning from a sympathetic to pitiable character, Bogart transitions from seeming protagonist to antagonist. Having slept through the end of the movie last time, I never realized that the actual protagonist of the movie is the third prospector, Curtain, played by Tim Holt. Of course, it doesn't help that Holt's portrayal is kind of forgettable. And none of the three leads is entirely pious anyway. All three agree to murder a stranger who finds out about their illegal gold mining operation; the only difference among the three is the degree to which they display some amount of visible hesitancy when it comes time to draw their guns. When Dobbs is trapped in the mine during a cave-in, Curtain seems to hesitate a moment, as if contemplating leaving Dobbs alone to die, before rushing in to help him. But as the movie progresses we are shown the moral side of Curtain (who vows to contribute a share of his fortune to the widow of the dead prospector) and Howard (who risks his gold to save a dying Indian child, demonstrating not only his willingness to help others, but also to trust his colleagues). Howard's trip to the Indian village leads to an almost surreal scene in which he raises and lowers the arms of the drowned child before a crowd of hushed natives.
This is a movie I wasn't necessarily eager to see, since I'd seen it at least a couple times before, but I totally enjoyed watching it. I think I'd be happy to watch it again, especially if I had some time to learn a little Spanish. There are several scenes with lines in Spanish, and one or two that are entirely in Spanish; there are no subtitles, although occasionally an English-speaking character will help us out by translating.
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