Humphrey Bogart plays Fred Dobbs, a man beaten by life. He spends his days looking for work and begging in the streets of a Mexican border town. While there, they meet Howard, an old-time prospector, played to perfection by the Director's father, Walter Huston. The wacky old man speaks fondly of chasing the nugget and how he's never heard of a prospector dying rich.
Prospectors tend to spend their loot on other digs until they end up with nothing.
Dobbs and Curtin are intrigued but they have no money to buy the supplies needed. When Dobbs' lottery ticket hits the number, they buy the supplies, enlist Howard and the three of them are on their way. The three of them end up mining a desolate hill in the Mexican desert. We don't need any badges, we don't have any stinkin' badges. The men become leery of their tent-mates and begin hiding their loot in different places.