The Treasure of the Sierra Madre - Definition and Overview

The Treasure of the Sierra Madre is a 1948 John Huston film in which two down-and-outers (Humphrey Bogart and Tim Holt) in Mexico (bothering director John Huston for money in fun opening cameo) hook up with an old-timer (Walter Huston, the director's father) to prospect for gold. The old-timer accurately predicts trouble but is willing to go anyway. The Treasure of the Sierra Madre was one of the first films to be shot almost entirely on location (though the night scenes were filmed back in the studio).

The film was based on, and is quite faithful to the 1935 novel of the same name, by enigmatic author B. Traven.

The film is the origin of a famous line, often misquoted as "We don't need no stinking badges!" The correct dialog (see also Stinking badges is:

Gold Hat (Alfonso Bedoya): We are Federales... you know, the mounted police.

Dobbs (Bogart): If you're the police, where are your badges?

Gold Hat (Alfonso Bedoya): [puzzled pause] "Badges!? [pause] We ain't got no badges. [pause] We don't need no badges! [angry] I don't have to show you any stinking badges!

John Huston won the Academy Award for Directing in 1948 for his work on The Treasure of the Sierra Madre. The film is consistently in the Internet Movie Database's top 250 films, and was #30 on the American Film Institute's 100 Years, 100 Movies and #67 on its 100 Years, 100 Thrills. The film has also been deemed "culturally significant" by the United States Library of Congress and selected for preservation in the National Film Registry.