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The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948) |
Humphrey Bogart receives and handles a Mexican silver peso
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The 1948 film "The Treasure of the Sierra Madre" shows some Mexican silver pesos of the type in
circulation in Mexico in 1925.
The film stars Humphrey Bogart as Fred C. Dobbs, Walter Huston as Howard, and Tim Holt as Curtin,
three Americans in 1925 Mexico who go prospecting for gold in Mexico's Sierra Madre mountains.
Early in the film, Dobbs is panhandling in a town square and is given a silver peso by a man in a white suit.
1. Title
Fred C. Dobbs (Humphrey Bogart) is an American living rough in Mexico.
He has bought a lottery ticket and checks it against a list of winning ticket numbers.
2. Lottery poster
The lottery poster gives the time that the film is set is early 1925.
Dobbs' ticket is not a winner and he throws it away. He decides to try panhandling.
3. Fred C. Dobbs spots a likely customer
Dobbs asks a man in a white suit:
"Say, Mister. Will you stake a fellow American to a meal?."
The man hands Dobbs a Mexican peso without looking at him.
4. The peso reverse
The coin is a Mexican peso, size 33 mm, 16.6 gm, 0.720 silver.
It is hard to read the date of the coin, but they were made from 1920 to 1945.
The coin might be dated 1924 as it looks new in early 1925 when the film is set.
The coin might be dated 1924 as it looks new in early 1925 when the film is set.
5. The peso obverse
A Mexican peso dated 1924:
6. Mexico peso 1924
Silver, 34 mm, 16.68 gm
Dobbs is sitting in a restaurant having spent most of his peso when a boy approaches him
and tries to sell him a lottery ticket.
7. Dobbs buys lottery ticket
Dobbs has some change left and buys a ticket.
He then leaves and tries panhandling again, using the same request as the first time.
8. Dobbs repeats his request
Dobbs receives a second peso from the white suit man.
9. The second peso obverse
The legend reads "UN PESO."
Dobbs spots a woman going up a flight of stairs and thinks about another use for his peso.
10. Another use for his peso
He decides against this and tries panhandling again.
11. Dobbs asks for third peso
He unknowningly asks the same white-suit man who gives him two peso coins and tells him to
stop bothering him and ask someone else for money.
He meets Curtin (Tim Holt) and the two move to a very cheap establishment, the El Oso Negro
or "Black Bear."
Howard (Walter Huston) is an old prospector staying there and he is telling stories of his adventures.
12. Howard, the old prospector
Howard tells the younger men about gold:
"Say, answer me this one, will you? Why is gold worth some twenty bucks an ounce?"
"Well, there's no other explanation, mister."
"Gold itself ain't good for nothing except making jewelry with and gold teeth."
Dobbs and Curtin encounter a man who tried to swindle them and collect their money by force.
The pair talk to Howard about forming a gold mining venture and Howard tells them that
they need $200 each. Dobbs doesn't have the money.
The boy who sold Dobbs the lottery ticket sees Dobbs and tells him that it is a winner worth
100 pesos, fifty US dollars at the time and now all three men have the money.
13. Dobbs holds some money
The bills are standard Mexican Revolution motion picture stage or prop bills.
A Mexican Revolution Sonora note:
14. Mexican Revolution Sonora note (front)
These bills were no longer used in Mexico and motion picture studios began printing them for use
in films.
15. Mexican Revolution Sonora note (back)
For more information on these bills please visit: Mexican Revolution Currency Notes.
Back to the film:
The men pool their money together to start their venture.
16. The men ride a train into the mountains
The men leave the train and head for the small mountain town of Perla.
There, they purchase burros and other last supplies for the trip.
17. The men buy some burros
Silver coins (pesos) appear on a table.
18. Fight breaks out
The young men think that they have found gold, the old man laughs at them.
19. Panning for gold
This time the old man has found gold traces in the rocks.
They do find gold, construct a mine, and start the hard work.
20. Running the mine
The young men find out how much hard work mining is.
21. Gunplay in the mountains
The men don't trust each other and each hides his share of gold separately.
Howard tells the other two:
"Only I know what kind of ideas even supposedly decent people get when gold's at stake."
22. Gila monster, a type of lizard
Curtin has seen a Gila Monster (a large lizard) go into a hole under a rock.
Dobbs has been keeping his share of the gold under the same rock.
The two men argue and then move the rock. Curtin shoots the lizard.
Every so often Curtin goes to the nearest town to purchase supplies.
He has told the townspeople that he has been hunting animals for furs.
23. A stranger appears in town
A fourth man, Cody (Bruce Bennett), shows up in the town and asks Curtin about gold mines.
Curtin puts him off and goes back to the mine.
24. The men eating dinner
Curtin tells the others about the man he met.
He is sure that the man followed him and the man appears at their campsite.
The three men allow him to stay for the night but tell him to leave the next morning.
25. No company wanted
Cody warns the men that he has seen bandits nearby.
The men lose interest in rejecting Cody, cache their supplies, and dig in for a fight.
26. Dobbs with a rifle
The rifle might be a Winchester model 1894 rifle.
27. The bandits appear,
The bandit "Gold Hat" (Alfonso Bedoya) is with them.
28. "Gold Hat"
Gold Hat offers a watch "made in your own country" for their guns and tells the Americans
that his group are Mexican Federal Police. Dobbs asks to see their badges.
This results in Gold Hat (Alfonso Bedoya) uttering one of the most famous lines in films:
"I don't have to show you any stinking badges!".
A gun battle ensues and Cody is killed.
Shortly after the men decide to close their mine and leave the area.
29. The men decide it is time to leave
On the trail out, some Indians appear and ask for help.
30. Howard and the Indians
Howard goes to their village and manages to save the life of a child pulled from water.
Howard then rejoins his partners and the three continue on.
31. Men and burros
Getting the gold, now $105,000 worth, to a railroad is hard work, too.
At the 1925 price of gold, $20 per troy ounce, $105,000 worth of gold would be 5250 troy ounces,
or about 360 pounds of gold.
The Indians reappear and want Howard to stay with them.
32. The Indians appear again
They need to repay him with hospitality for saving the child.
This is an invitation he cannot refuse.
The men have never been separated from Howard before and Dobbs starts going nuts in the
wilderness. He and Curtin start arguing, then fighting, then pulling guns on each other.
33. Curtin holds the guns
Curtin then falls asleep and Dobbs retrieves the guns.
34. Dobbs is in charge
Dobbs shoots Curtin and next morning goes to bury him.
35. Dobbs with shovel
Curtin survived the shooting and crawled away.
36. Back with the Indians
Howard is getting some Indian hospitality.
The Indians find Curtin, bring him to Howard, later the two men and some Indians ride after Dobbs.
37. Riding after Dobbs
The men on horseback travel faster than Dobbs with the burros.
38. Dobbs is in bad shape
Handling burros alone is almost impossible.
Dobbs sees a muddy pond and stops for a drink of water.
39. Dobbs sees a familiar face
The man is, of course, the bandit leader Gold Hat.
40. "Gold Hat"
Gold Hat's partner swings his machete at Dobbs and it is assumed cuts off his head.
41. Off with his head
The bandits take the burros into town.
42. The bandits and the burros
In the town the bandits try to sell the burros.
43. The bandits try to explain
The townspeople recognize the burros as the ones sold to the Americans some time ago.
44. The bandits are put to work digging graves
Their own.
45. Howard and Curtin arrive
They are looking for the sacks of gold.
The townspeople tell them that the bandits thought the sacks contained sand and dumped them.
46. Howard thinks the situation calls for a laugh
All we lost was money and hard work, nothing compared to what Dobbs lost.
47. Howard and Curtin part ways
Cast, Directors, Writers:
Humphrey Bogart as Fred C. Dobbs
Walter Huston as Howard
Tim Holt as Curtin
Bruce Bennett as Cody
Alfonso Bedoya as "Gold Hat" (bandit)
Director: John Huston
Writers: John Huston, B. Traven (novel)
Walter Huston as Howard
Tim Holt as Curtin
Bruce Bennett as Cody
Alfonso Bedoya as "Gold Hat" (bandit)
Writers: John Huston, B. Traven (novel)
B. Traven on Gold:
From The Treasure of the Sierra Madre by B. Traven, published in 1935.
Anyway, gold is a very devilish sort of a thing, believe me, boys.
In the first place, it changes your character entirely.
When you have it your soul is no longer the same as it was before.
No getting away from that.
You may have so much piled up that you can't carry it away;
but, bet your blessed paradise, the more you have, the more you want to add,
to make it just that much more.
Men, Christians and Jews alike, are so greedy or brave where gold is at stake that,
regardless how many human beings it may cost, as long as the gold itself
does not give out and disappear, they will risk life, health, and mind,
and face every danger and risk conceivable, to get hold of the precious metal.
Not dirty, baby. No, not dirty.
Only I know whom I am sitting here with by the fire and what sort of ideas
even supposedly decent people can get into their heads when gold is at stake.
The gold worn around the finger of an elegant lady or as a crown on the
head of a king was more often than not passed through hands of creatures
who would make that king or elegant lady shudder.
There is little doubt that gold is oftener bathed in human blood than in hot suds.
A noble king who wished to show his high-mindedness could do no better than
have his crown made of iron.
Gold is for thieves and swindlers.
For this reason they own most of it.
The rest is owned by those who do not care where the gold comes from or
in what sort of hands it has been.
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