The “treasure” of the Sierra Madre is not the pearl of great price, but people treat it as if it were. Watch this film to see what happens when they do!
Not every cultural commentary can find a way to reference both Sam Peckinpah and Gerard Manley Hopkins! Excellent observations on this film, and on things in general. Even mistaken treasure can serve Him...Amen, alleluia, amen!
I own a DVD copy Treasure of the Sierra Madre and I've seen it oodles of times since I was in college. I've also read the book by B. Traven. Both are excellent. I agree that Walter Houston does a great job, as did Bogart and Tim Holt but somehow Walter carries it. There is a credulousness about both book and movie, including the attempt to cheat the three of their wages while working in Tampico for the Barton MacClane character. I also agree that John Houston's productions often center around something that today we would call the transcendental. This is really clear in his version of Moby Dick and later in his last movie, The Dead.
There seems to be some dispute as to the origin of the line "Badges? We don't need no stinking badges!", which has such resonance with today's young people. Some say it originated from The Monkees and was later passed on through Mel Brook's Blazing Saddles. But I first heard it (in a bit more elaborate form) in Treasure and later read it in the book. Both of these predated The Monkees and Blazing Saddles by several decades thus I think Treasure of the Sierra Madre was probably its true origin. In that vein I also take off my hat to the great Alfonso Bedoya otherwise known as "Gold Hat."
Another famous line--absolutely masterfully performed by Bogart--is when he keeps panhandling the character played by John Houston himself. An exasperated Houston admonishes Bogart for repeatedly hitting on him. Bogart honestly, and humbly, admits that he only saw the money he was handed and never noticed Houston's face. I can't think of a single contemporary male actor who could have pulled it off so convincingly.
We moved to the Rocky Mountains ten years ago. To safely keep dogs in our new mountain eyrie, we built a large see-through wire-fence-yard, with the fence-top high enough to keep out leaping coyotes and elk, and the bottom sunk deep enough to dissuade digging badgers. The dogs themselves would keep out the Wyoming ground squirrels.
When I told my friend Bill the badger portion of the story, he exclaimed "Badgers!, Badgers! We don't need no stinkin' badgers!"
Another family favorite! And when I recognized the “we don’t need no badges” line I was surprised to find that in college we were all quoting a movie, that was quoting a movie!
And with respect to Star Trek being Gunsmoke, dealing with current issues.......This includes sometimes latching onto absurdist issues, such as the episode built around the ridiculous "reaserch", 'The Population Bomb', (something still clung to by globalists like Bill Gates) which saw the crew faced with a planet in which every single square inch of the planet was filled with people literally cheek-by-jowel...
One of my least favorite episodes; but they did at least grant that the people of that planet were right to value life as highly as they did, rather than apply the "modern" method of controlling population, namely the Pill. It could have been worse...
And if my memory serves, this film is also where the famous joke from Mel Brooks 'Blazing Saddles' came from............."Badges--we don't need no stinkin' badges."
Not every cultural commentary can find a way to reference both Sam Peckinpah and Gerard Manley Hopkins! Excellent observations on this film, and on things in general. Even mistaken treasure can serve Him...Amen, alleluia, amen!
Treasure of the SM is one of the 10 best “talkies” in American cinema. Any European director would love to say, “I directed that.” But they can’t
I own a DVD copy Treasure of the Sierra Madre and I've seen it oodles of times since I was in college. I've also read the book by B. Traven. Both are excellent. I agree that Walter Houston does a great job, as did Bogart and Tim Holt but somehow Walter carries it. There is a credulousness about both book and movie, including the attempt to cheat the three of their wages while working in Tampico for the Barton MacClane character. I also agree that John Houston's productions often center around something that today we would call the transcendental. This is really clear in his version of Moby Dick and later in his last movie, The Dead.
There seems to be some dispute as to the origin of the line "Badges? We don't need no stinking badges!", which has such resonance with today's young people. Some say it originated from The Monkees and was later passed on through Mel Brook's Blazing Saddles. But I first heard it (in a bit more elaborate form) in Treasure and later read it in the book. Both of these predated The Monkees and Blazing Saddles by several decades thus I think Treasure of the Sierra Madre was probably its true origin. In that vein I also take off my hat to the great Alfonso Bedoya otherwise known as "Gold Hat."
Another famous line--absolutely masterfully performed by Bogart--is when he keeps panhandling the character played by John Houston himself. An exasperated Houston admonishes Bogart for repeatedly hitting on him. Bogart honestly, and humbly, admits that he only saw the money he was handed and never noticed Houston's face. I can't think of a single contemporary male actor who could have pulled it off so convincingly.
Thanks for the review!
We moved to the Rocky Mountains ten years ago. To safely keep dogs in our new mountain eyrie, we built a large see-through wire-fence-yard, with the fence-top high enough to keep out leaping coyotes and elk, and the bottom sunk deep enough to dissuade digging badgers. The dogs themselves would keep out the Wyoming ground squirrels.
When I told my friend Bill the badger portion of the story, he exclaimed "Badgers!, Badgers! We don't need no stinkin' badgers!"
Also, we have always thought that Star Trek was Wagon Train (the old series with Ward Bond) in outer space.
Another family favorite! And when I recognized the “we don’t need no badges” line I was surprised to find that in college we were all quoting a movie, that was quoting a movie!
And with respect to Star Trek being Gunsmoke, dealing with current issues.......This includes sometimes latching onto absurdist issues, such as the episode built around the ridiculous "reaserch", 'The Population Bomb', (something still clung to by globalists like Bill Gates) which saw the crew faced with a planet in which every single square inch of the planet was filled with people literally cheek-by-jowel...
One of my least favorite episodes; but they did at least grant that the people of that planet were right to value life as highly as they did, rather than apply the "modern" method of controlling population, namely the Pill. It could have been worse...
And if my memory serves, this film is also where the famous joke from Mel Brooks 'Blazing Saddles' came from............."Badges--we don't need no stinkin' badges."