Two down-and-out friends, Fred Dobbs (Humphrey Bogart) and Curtin (Tim Holt) find themselves working a dead-end job in Tampico, Mexico. Wishing they could turn their luck around, the two meet Howard (Walter Houston), an old man telling a tale of bountiful gold ripe for the picking in the neighboring hills.

Convinced of Howard's tale, the three agree to journey to the hills to find gold and split their earnings evenly. But when the elements of greed and paranoia settles in, the three men find themselves in a fight for survival.