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The Treasure of the Sierra Madre

Introduction by Sam Sloan

http://www.amazon.com/dp/4871878961
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/boo...SBN=4871878961

The Treasure of the Sierra Madre is regarded as one of the greatest
books ever written. Then, it was made into a movie by the same name,
which in turn is regarded as one of the greatest movies ever made.

It is also the source of one of the most often repeated lines ever in
movie history. Different versions of this line are repeated so often
that it has become part of the English language. In both the book and
the movie, it is spoken by the villain, known as “Gold Hat”, who is
played by Mexican actor Alfonso Bedoya. The line, like most of the
lines in the movie, comes directly from the book. It can be found on
page 193 of the book, where the bandit says, “We don't need badges. I
don't have to show you any stinking badges.”

[In this scene, actor Alfonso Bedoya speaks those immortal words, “I
don't have to show you any stinking badges.”]

Although the movie closely follows the book, there are differences. In
the train robbery scene, the bandits led by “Gold Hat” attack the
train on horseback, but are fought off by the passengers, including
Dobbs, Curtin and Howard. In the book, Dobbs, Howard and Curtin never
meet Gold Hat except in the scene where Gold Hat says, “I don't have
to show you any stinking badges.”

In the book, the train robbery takes place in Chapter 12, on pages
163-169. Dobbs, Curtin and Howard are not on the train. They later
learn about the train robbery incident because Cody has read about the
incident in the newspapers. The bandits had gotten on the train as
passengers and then, after the train had reached the country-side, the
bandits had pulled out their guns and had killed most of the adult
male passengers.
[Here Gold Hat, one of many bandits, is riding a horse and attempting
to rob a train. In the book, the bandits board the train as passengers
and, once the train is out in the countryside, they shoot and kill the
soldiers there to guard the passengers, rob the passengers and then
jump off the train with their loot.]

[One of the most important scenes in the movie. Here, Dobbs throws a
glass of water in the face of a young Mexican boy who is pestering him
to buy a lottery ticket. Even after having the water thrown in his
face, the boy persists and Dobbs finally buys a ticket. The ticket
later proves to be a winner, giving the prospectors enough money to go
up into the mountains and prospect for gold.

[This scene was shot over and over again to get the right splash of
water into the boy's face. It has been remarked that nowadays the
director would have been arrested and charged with child abuse.
However, the boy loved it and took the glass of water and the cup of
coffee Dobbs is drinking from as souvenirs, (which he will probably
sell on ebay some day). The boy is Robert Blake, who grew up to be an
actor and the star of the TV series “Baretta” and was later charged
with the murder of his wife.]

When Dobbs and Curtin confront McCormick, who has cheated them of
their wages, McCormick finally pays them without a fight, realizing
that they are prepared to beat him up if he does not.

[Here, McCormick is strolling with a lovely senorita, actress
Jacqueline Dalya, who has just asked McCormick to buy her a pair of
shoes, showing that McCormick has money. Dobbs and Curtin confront
Dobbs, demanding to be paid their wages for a week of work. In the
book, McCormick finally pays up after being threatened by Dobbs and
Curtin. However, in the movie, a fight starts and they take the money,
but only the amount owed to them, although McCormick is carrying a
much larger stash which they could have taken. This proves that Dobbs
and Curtin are honest men.]

In the movie, McCormick refuses to pay and a fight breaks out. The
fight scene in the movie was one of the most difficult scenes ever to
film and without it the movie would be different.

[Here is one of the most important scenes in the movie and one of the
reasons why Walter Huston won the Academy Award for Best Supporting
Actor. Here Walter Huston is dancing a jig because he has just
discovered gold. Huston says that Dobbs is too stupid to realize what
is under his feet and Dobbs is about to smash Howard's face in with a
rock.]

[One of the most important scenes in the movie and the subject of
correspondence between the author B. Traven and the director John
Huston. The mine has just caved in and Dobbs is trapped and injured in
the mine. Curtin rushes to save him, but then realizes that if Dobbs
dies he gets half of the gold but if Dobbs lives he only gets one-
third. He stops to think about this, then turns and starts to go away,
but then finally makes up his mind and rushes in to save Dobbs.]

[The scene in the book where the Mexican bandits are made to dig their
own graves and then are shot and buried in the graves they have just
dug, does not occur in the book. In the book, the bandits are shot
while trying to escape.]

All of these changes were made with the approval of the author, B.
Traven, even though nobody involved in making the movie was ever able
to meet Traven. Traven kept some artistic control over the movie
through his agents, who sometimes visited the movie set.

A remarkable fact about the movie is that it has no leading lady.
There are only three scenes in the movie where a woman appears, and
all are brief. In the first, an elegantly dressed and beautiful young
woman passes Dobbs just after he has received a much needed shave and
haircut. She then gives Dobbs a sideways glance as she enters the
Hotel Oso Negro. After Dobbs has received a small amount of money, by
panhandling the man in the white suit (Director John Huston) again, he
turns to go to the hotel. It has been suggested that the woman is a
prostitute and Dobbs is going into the hotel to enjoy her pleasures,
However, there is nothing like this in the book.

In the second scene where a woman appears, McCormick is walking with a
beautiful young woman. This is to show that McCormick has money, as
beautiful women are not known to spend much time with men who have no
money. So, when McCormick claims that he is broke, we know that this
is not true.

In the third, Howard has been made the medicine man by a local Indian
tribe and is feted by a beautiful young senorita.

As to the absence of women in their lives, when the men are counting
their gold and are asking each other what they will do with their
money once they reach civilization and reduce it to cash, Dobbs and
Curtin stare wistfully off into space. Howard realizes that they are
thinking about the women they will get with all the money they will
have. Howard warns them not to think of women.

The book contains information about the history of the mine. Howard,
Dobbs and Curtin were not the first to discover the mine. There were
several previous discoveries of the same mine, over hundreds of years.
The Aztecs had worked the mine four centuries earlier, before the
first Europeans had arrived. Howard talks about this on pages 66-79 of
this book. However, in all those previous cases, the miners had killed
each other because of greed, or they had been killed by Indians or
bandits. Bones of the dead earlier prospectors were still to be found
there. As we will see, almost the same thing ultimately happens to the
three prospectors in this movie.

John Huston was asked how he became such a great director when he
does very little directing. He replied that the key is in the casting.
If you chose the right cast, all you have to do is tell the actors to
be themselves.

John Huston is credited with discovering Marilyn Monroe and many other
stars. One of the great finds in this movie is the villager here, who
appears in many scenes in the movie. Here, he is telling Gold Hat
“Estos burros no son suyos”, meaning “These burros are not yours.” He
knows this because he had sold the same burros to the three
prospectors earlier in the movie. Now, he also sees that one of the
bandits is wearing the boots of Dobbs. He realizes that these three
bandits have killed Dobbs. The three bandits are arrested and later
taken out and executed.

[Here, Howard is teaching Dobbs and Curtin how to pan for gold.]

[This is the final scene in the movie. Howard cackles outrageously and
Curtin is wondering what is so funny. Howard explains that all the
gold has blown away and gone back to the mountains where it came from
and ten months of hard work are down the drain. Curtin finally sees
the humor in this and starts laughing too.]

[Curtin goes into the town to buy provisions and another American in
the tow named Cody, who is called Lacuad in the book, sees him buying
a large quantity of provisions and realizes that he must have found
gold. So, he follows Curtin up into the mountains and then demands
that the prospectors take him in as a partner. The prospectors decide
to kill him instead. Here, just as Dobbs is about to shoot him, Cody
points out the bandits who are on their way up the mountain to attack
them.

In the shoot-out that follows, Cody is killed. They open his
belongings and find a letter from his wife. This is one of the great
ironies in the movie. They had thought that Cody was coming to steal
their gold. Turns out that Cody was a good guy with a wife and small
child waiting for him back in Dallas.

At the end of the movie Curtin decides to go to Dallas to visit the
wife, inform her that her husband is dead, and possibly to hook up
with her.

Bruce Bennett (1906-2007) who plays Cody in the movie was a legitimate
athlete who won the silver medal for shotput in the 1928 Olympic
Games. He lived by far the longest of any adult in the movie, dying in
2007 at the age of 101 !!!!)



This minor, insignificant scene is one of the most talked-about in the
movie. The photo credits say that the girl in this scene is Ann
Sheridan (1915–1967), a famous actress. However, the girl in the movie
does not look like her.

Right after seeing her, Dobbs again encounters the man in the white
suit (Director John Huston) and asks him for money again. The man in
the white suit gives Dobbs some extra money on the promise that Dobbs
will not ask him for money again. Dobbs then follows the girl into
Hotel Oso Negro.

[Here, the girl gives Dobbs a furtive glance while entering the
hotel.]

[The water-hole scene where Dobbs is found by the bandits who are
preparing to kill him and chop off his head. This one scene which
lasts only a few minutes required seven days to film, showing the
painstaking detail that went into this movie to make every scene
exactly right.]

The greatest mystery of The Treasure of the Sierra Madre concerns the
identity of the author, B. Traven. B. Traven wrote twelve novels and
numerous short stories. Nobody knows who he was and great efforts have
been made to find out. Life Magazine once offered a $5,000 reward to
anybody who could prove the identity of B. Traven. The reward has
never been claimed.

Many, perhaps even most, published authors use pen names for various
reasons. Usually, their real names eventually become known or revealed
as their works become popular. Authors who keep their identity a
secret have a good reason to do so.

I am among those who believe that William Shakespeare was the name of
a mere actor and that the plays under the Shakespeare name were
written by somebody else. In that case, there was an obvious reason
for his anonymity. The plays of Shakespeare often contain attacks on
the monarchy and the king, and the author might have lost his head,
had his identity become known.

Charles Lutwidge Dodgson may have written under the name Lewis Carroll
because, in his great work, “Alice in Wonderland”, The Queen of Hearts
bore a clear resemblance to Queen Victoria. Dodgson must have feared
that Queen Victoria would say “Off with his head” with respect to
him. Fortunately, however, Queen Victoria liked Alice in Wonderland,
and so Dodgson made his identity known.

The real name of George Eliot was Mary Anne Evans. She used a male
name because she feared that a female author would not be taken
seriously.

There are many theories about the identity of B. Traven. People who
study this are known as "Travenologists". It seems certain that B.
Traven was a left-winger, possibly a Communist. This is apparent from
his books, although his political observations were left out of the
movie.

I have a theory that nobody else has yet suggested, which that B.
Traven was actually a woman. The motivation is obvious. This is a
novel about three extremely macho men. One would never think that a
woman would write such a work, and had it become known the work might
not have been taken seriously. I find support for this theory in some
stylistic factors in the book. The author spends 12 pages describing
the interior of the Hotel Oso Negro, pages 4-16. Yet, the Hotel Oso
Negro is not central to the plot. Women, due to their nesting
instinct, pay more attention to interior design than men do.

Later, the author makes the comment that no women would want to be
associated with men like these, as they are scruffy and probably
smelly. This too seems to be the sort of observation that a woman, but
not a man, would make.

It is also the fine structure and detail of the writing itself that
makes me think that a woman wrote it. Women in general make better
writers than men.

This book was first published in Germany in 1927 as “Der Schatz der
Sierra Madre”. This has led many to conclude that B. Traven was
German. Perhaps he had even fled Germany to get away from the Nazis.
Perhaps this explains the reason he kept his identity hidden. Perhaps
he was a fugitive from justice or even an illegal alien and for this
reason did not want his identity made known.

The book was first published in English in 1935. Thus, it seems that
the original version was German and the English version was a mere
translation. Traven himself however stated that he was American, not
German, and the original book was in English.

There are three persons who must have known the true identity of B.
Traven:

Esperanza López Mateos, sister of the man who was President of Mexico
from 1958 to 1964, translated The Treasure of the Sierra Madre into
Spanish and represented B. Traven in negotiations for the movie rights
to his books during the 1940s. She must have met him. However, she
committed suicide in 1951, so any information she had was lost.

After her death, her place was taken by Rosa Elena Luján, who
published biographical articles about B. Traven.

During the pre-production of The Treasure of the Sierra Madre ,
director John Huston corresponded with B. Traven but his efforts to
meet him in person were rebuffed. Finally, Traven agreed to meet him
in Acapulco, Mexico. John Huston traveled to Mexico to meet him, but
Traven did not appear at the designated place. Later however a man who
identified himself as Hal Croves appeared in Huston's hotel room, and
said that he was authorized to negotiate on behalf of B. Traven.
Huston assumed that Croves was Traven himself, although Croves denied
it.

During the shooting of The Treasure of the Sierra Madre , on the
Hollywood movie sound stage, Croves appeared again and was paid a
salary of $500 per week. However, during the final stages of the
filming, the production manager reduced the salary of Croves to $100
per week and Croves angrily disappeared and did not return.

Croves later married Rosa Elena Luján. Hal Croves died in Mexico City
on 26 March 1969. On the same day, his wife announced at a press
conference that her husband's real name was Traven Torsvan Croves, and
that he had been born in Chicago on 3 May 1890. That seemed to end the
controversy, but later she made contradictory statements, so the
controversy was re-kindled.

The controversy about the identity of B. Traven seemed settled except
for the fact that little was known about Hal Croves. The birth records
of Chicago do not show anybody by that name being born there. Hal
Croves seems to have been just another of the many fake names that B.
Traven used, so concluding that B. Traven was the same person as Hal
Croves leads us nowhere. Another pseudonym was Ret Marut, a German
stage actor and anarchist. The real name of Ret Marut is not known
either.

When I reprint a book, I make great efforts to obtain the original
hard-cover first edition. There are several reasons for this. One is
the first edition usually contains the best quality type-face and
production. Later, as the book is reprinted in soft cover, it contains
increasingly fuzzy copies of the original.

Secondly, in reprinting there are often small editorial changes. The
new editors will often claim a copyright on whatever changes they have
made, however small.

In this case, I have used the original hard cover 1935 edition of The
Treasure of the Sierra Madre. This is the only one I have ever been
able to find.

There have been many reprints. The most commonly available reprints
are from the Time, Inc. book edition, which came out at the time of
the movie in 1948. The type was reset for this edition. It has 423
pages, whereas the original had 366 pages. This is because the text in
the Time version is narrower with less characters per line. The
original has 56 to 60 characters to a line and 34 lines to a page. The
Time Inc. version has 50 characters in a line and 29 lines in a page.
Also, the type fonts are different.

None of this affects the copyright. Fonts, type-faces and color are
not copyrightable. However, words are. I have not found any changes in
the words of the text in the Time, Inc. version, but some might be
found after a thorough search. Time Inc. did include a new preface in
their version. Of course, I did not use their preface. I wrote my own
(much better) preface.

Hollywood can do amazing things by getting us to believe the
unbelievable. For example, the most famous Bogart performance of all
is in the movie Casablanca, where Bogart does not even appear to be
acting. Watching that movie, we become convinced that the nearly
impossible is true. We believe that a tall, blond Swedish girl, Ingrid
Bergman, is hopelessly in love with a short, ugly man, Humphrey
Bogart, who is three inches shorter and 16 years older than she is. In
order to make this impossible thing seem possible, Bogart wore three
inches high platform shoes when standing next to Bergman to make it
appear that he is slightly taller than she is. The result is so
convincing that movie goers often believe that a real affair was going
on between them and they were sleeping together between takes. Even
Bogart's wife, Loren Bacall, got jealous.

The reality was that they had never previously met and did not even
like each other. They met for the first time on the first day of the
shooting, and Bergman famously asked the director, "Which man am I
supposed to be in love with -- I don't know how to play my
character."

In The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, many viewers will doubt the
probability of three Americans going to Mexico to prospect for gold.
However, the story is far from impossible. As to the probability or
improbability of the story, it must be recalled that when Hernán
Cortés conquered Mexico in 1519, he found large quantities of gold in
Moctezuma's palace.

Nowadays we think of Mexico as a poor country and the United States of
America as a rich country, but Mexico was fully developed and a rich
country long before the first development of North America. The first
permanent colony in what became the USA was in 1607, nearly a hundred
years after the conquest of Mexico. The United States of America was
not crossed by land until the Lewis and Clark Expedition of 1805,
amazingly three hundred years after the development of Mexico. The
famous California Gold Rush of 1849 took place more than three hundred
years after the discovery of gold in Mexico.

Mexican coins made of gold and silver set the standard for world
currency, starting in 1497, especially the gold doubloons and “pieces
of eight” starting in the 15th century. These coins set the standard
for world currency and were legal tender in the United States of
America and used to back the United States dollar. Even as far away as
China, Mexican coins were the standard currency. Mexico was the
richest country in the world prior to the Twentieth Century.

Thus, the idea of three Americans going to Mexico to prospect for gold
in 1925 is not as outlandish or improbable as it might seem nowadays.
It is only in the last century that America became the richest country
and Mexico became one of the poorest countries in the world.

Sam Sloan

http://www.amazon.com/dp/4871878961
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/boo...SBN=4871878961

On Jun 19, 1:28*pm, samsloan <samhsl...@gmail.com> wrote:
> The Treasure of the Sierra Madre
>
> Introduction by Sam Sloan
>
> http://www.amazon.com/dp/4871878961h...SBN=4871878961
>
> The Treasure of the Sierra Madre is regarded as one of the greatest
> books ever written. Then, it was made into a movie by the same name,
> which in turn is regarded as one of the greatest movies ever made.
>
> It is also the source of one of the most often repeated lines ever in
> movie history. Different versions of this line are repeated so often
> that it has become part of the English language. In both the book and
> the movie, it is spoken by the villain, known as “Gold Hat”, who is
> played by Mexican actor Alfonso Bedoya. The line, like most of the
> lines in the movie, comes directly from the book. It can be found on
> page 193 of the book, where the bandit says, “We don't need badges. I
> don't have to show you any stinking badges.”
>
> [In this scene, actor Alfonso Bedoya speaks those immortal words, *“I
> don't have to show you any stinking badges.”]
>
> Although the movie closely follows the book, there are differences. In
> the train robbery scene, the bandits led by “Gold Hat” attack the
> train on horseback, but are fought off by the passengers, including
> Dobbs, Curtin and Howard. In the book, Dobbs, Howard and Curtin never
> meet Gold Hat except in the scene where Gold Hat says, “I don't have
> to show you any stinking badges.”
>
> In the book, the train robbery takes place in Chapter 12, on pages
> 163-169. Dobbs, Curtin and Howard are not on the train. They later
> learn about the train robbery incident because Cody has read about the
> incident in the newspapers. The bandits had gotten on the train as
> passengers and then, after the train had reached the country-side, the
> bandits had pulled out their guns and had killed most of the adult
> male passengers.
> [Here Gold Hat, one of many bandits, is riding a horse and attempting
> to rob a train. In the book, the bandits board the train as passengers
> and, once the train is out in the countryside, they shoot and kill the
> soldiers there to guard the passengers, rob the passengers and then
> jump off the train with their loot.]
>
> [One of the most important scenes in the movie. Here, Dobbs throws a
> glass of water in the face of a young Mexican boy who is pestering him
> to buy a lottery ticket. Even after having the water thrown in his
> face, the boy persists and Dobbs finally buys a ticket. The ticket
> later proves to be a winner, giving the prospectors enough money to go
> up into the mountains and prospect for gold.
>
> [This scene was shot over and over again to get the right splash of
> water into the boy's face. It has been remarked that nowadays the
> director would have been arrested and charged with child abuse.
> However, the boy loved it and took the glass of water and the cup of
> coffee Dobbs is drinking from as souvenirs, (which he will probably
> sell on ebay some day). The boy is Robert Blake, who grew up to be an
> actor and the star of the TV series “Baretta” and was later charged
> with the murder of his wife.]
>
> When Dobbs and Curtin confront McCormick, who has cheated them of
> their wages, McCormick finally pays them without a fight, realizing
> that they are prepared to beat him up if he does not.
>
> [Here, McCormick is strolling with a lovely senorita, actress
> Jacqueline Dalya, who has just asked McCormick to buy her a pair of
> shoes, showing that McCormick has money. Dobbs and Curtin confront
> Dobbs, demanding to be paid their wages for a week of work. In the
> book, McCormick finally pays up after being threatened by Dobbs and
> Curtin. However, in the movie, a fight starts and they take the money,
> but only the amount owed to them, although McCormick is carrying a
> much larger stash which they could have taken. This proves that Dobbs
> and Curtin are honest men.]
>
> In the movie, McCormick refuses to pay and a fight breaks out. The
> fight scene in the movie was one of the most difficult scenes ever to
> film and without it the movie would be different.
>
> [Here is one of the most important scenes in the movie and one of the
> reasons why Walter Huston won the Academy Award for Best Supporting
> Actor. Here Walter Huston is dancing a jig because he has just
> discovered gold. Huston says that Dobbs is too stupid to realize what
> is under his feet and Dobbs is about to smash Howard's face in with a
> rock.]
>
> [One of the most important scenes in the movie and the subject of
> correspondence between the author B. Traven and the director John
> Huston. The mine has just caved in and Dobbs is trapped and injured in
> the mine. Curtin rushes to save him, but then realizes that if Dobbs
> dies he gets half of the gold but if Dobbs lives he only gets one-
> third. He stops to think about this, then turns and starts to go away,
> but then finally makes up his mind and rushes in to save Dobbs.]
>
> [The scene in the book where the Mexican bandits are made to dig their
> own graves and then are shot and buried in the graves they have just
> dug, does not occur in the book. In the book, the bandits are shot
> while trying to escape.]
>
> All of these changes were made with the approval of the author, B.
> Traven, even though nobody involved in making the movie was ever able
> to meet Traven. Traven kept some artistic control over the movie
> through his agents, who sometimes visited the movie set.
>
> A remarkable fact about the movie is that it has no leading lady.
> There are only three scenes in the movie where a woman appears, and
> all are brief. In the first, an elegantly dressed and beautiful young
> woman passes Dobbs just after he has received a much needed shave and
> haircut. She then gives Dobbs a sideways glance as she enters the
> Hotel Oso Negro. After Dobbs has received a small amount of money, by
> panhandling the man in the white suit (Director John Huston) again, he
> turns to go to the hotel. It has been suggested that the woman is a
> prostitute and Dobbs is going into the hotel to enjoy her pleasures,
> However, there is nothing like this in the book.
>
> In the second scene where a woman appears, McCormick is walking with a
> beautiful young woman. This is to show that McCormick has money, as
> beautiful women are not known to spend much time with men who have no
> money. So, when McCormick claims that he is broke, we know that this
> is not true.
>
> In the third, Howard has been made the medicine man by a local Indian
> tribe and is feted by a beautiful young senorita.
>
> As to the absence of women in their lives, when the men are counting
> their gold and are asking each other what they will do with their
> money once they reach civilization and reduce it to cash, Dobbs and
> Curtin stare wistfully off into space. Howard realizes that they are
> thinking about the women they will get with all the money they will
> have. Howard warns them not to think of women.
>
> The book contains information about the history of the mine. Howard,
> Dobbs and Curtin were not the first to discover the mine. There were
> several previous discoveries of the same mine, over hundreds of years.
> The Aztecs had worked the mine four centuries earlier, before the
> first Europeans had arrived. Howard talks about this on pages 66-79 of
> this book. However, in all those previous cases, the miners had killed
> each other because of greed, or they had been killed by Indians or
> bandits. Bones of the dead earlier prospectors were still to be found
> there. As we will see, almost the same thing ultimately happens to the
> three prospectors in this movie.
>
> John *Huston was asked how he became such a great director when he
> does very little directing. He replied that the key is in the casting.
> If you chose the right cast, all you have to do is tell the actors to
> be themselves.
>
> John Huston is credited with discovering Marilyn Monroe and many other
> stars. One of the great finds in this movie is the villager here, who
> appears in many scenes in the movie. Here, he is telling Gold Hat
> “Estos burros no son suyos”, meaning “These burros are not yours.” He
> knows this because he had sold the same burros to the three
> prospectors earlier in the movie. Now, he also sees that one of the
> bandits is wearing the boots of Dobbs. He realizes that these three
> bandits have killed Dobbs. The three bandits are arrested and later
> taken out and executed.
>
> [Here, Howard is teaching Dobbs and Curtin how to pan for gold.]
>
> [This is the final scene in the movie. Howard cackles outrageously and
> Curtin is wondering what is so funny. Howard explains that all the
> gold has blown away and gone back to the mountains where it came from
> and ten months of hard work are down the drain. Curtin finally sees
> the humor in this and starts laughing too.]
>
> [Curtin goes into the town to buy provisions and another American in
> the tow named Cody, who is called Lacuad in the book, sees him buying
> a large quantity of provisions and realizes that he must have found
> gold. So, he follows Curtin up into the mountains and then demands
> that the prospectors take him in as a partner. The prospectors decide
> to kill him instead. Here, just as Dobbs is about to shoot him, Cody
> points out the bandits who are on their way up the mountain to attack
> them.
>
> In the shoot-out that follows, Cody is killed. They open his
> belongings and find a letter from his wife. This is one of the great
> ironies in the movie. They had thought that Cody was coming to steal
> their gold. Turns out that Cody was a good guy with a wife and small
> child waiting for him back in Dallas.
>
> At the end of the movie Curtin decides to go to Dallas to visit the
> wife, inform her that her husband is dead, and possibly to hook up
> with her.
>
> Bruce Bennett (1906-2007) who plays Cody in the movie was a legitimate
> athlete who won the silver medal for shotput in the 1928 Olympic
> Games. He lived by far the longest of any adult in the movie, dying in
> 2007 at the age of 101 !!!!)
>
> This minor, insignificant scene is one of the most talked-about in the
> movie. The photo credits say that the girl in this scene is Ann
> Sheridan (1915–1967), a famous actress. ...
>
> read more »

Stan Booz does this all the time. I do not know why he does this.

Sam Sloan

On Jun 19, 6:04*pm, Taylor Kingston <ttk5...@gmail.com> wrote:
> On Jun 19, 5:12*pm, samsloan <samhsl...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> > On Jun 19, 1:28*pm, samsloan <samhsl...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > > The Treasure of the Sierra Madre
>
> > > Introduction by Sam Sloan
>
> > >http://www.amazon.com/dp/4871878961h...andnoble.com/b....
>
> > > The Treasure of the Sierra Madre is regarded as one of the greatest
> > > books ever written. Then, it was made into a movie by the same name,
> > > which in turn is regarded as one of the greatest movies ever made.
>
> > > It is also the source of one of the most often repeated lines ever in
> > > movie history. Different versions of this line are repeated so often
> > > that it has become part of the English language. In both the book and
> > > the movie, it is spoken by the villain, known as “Gold Hat”, who is
> > > played by Mexican actor Alfonso Bedoya. The line, like most of the
> > > lines in the movie, comes directly from the book. It can be found on
> > > page 193 of the book, where the bandit says, “We don't need badges.I
> > > don't have to show you any stinking badges.”
>
> * Close, but not quite exact. Here is the scene:
>
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HaxURLFn6jU
>
> > > [In this scene, actor Alfonso Bedoya speaks those immortal words, *“I
> > > don't have to show you any stinking badges.”]
>
> * Huston made sure the actually mild-mannered Bedoya was in a foul
> mood for that scene, so he could pull it off convincingly.
>
> > > [Curtin goes into the town to buy provisions and another American in
> > > the tow named Cody, who is called Lacuad in the book, sees him buying
> > > a large quantity of provisions and realizes that he must have found
> > > gold. So, he follows Curtin up into the mountains and then demands
> > > that the prospectors take him in as a partner.
>
> * Cody makes no such demand. He proposes that they take him in as a
> partner, but says if they do not he will simply start to work on his
> own, which he's entitled to do, since no legal claim has been filed.
>
> > > In the shoot-out that follows, Cody is killed. They open his
> > > belongings and find a letter from his wife. This is one of the great
> > > ironies in the movie. They had thought that Cody was coming to steal
> > > their gold.
>
> * No, it's just that they can't decide whether they should trust him
> or not in discussing it among themselves. Howard and Curtin lean
> toward taking him in, but finally they are swayed by Dobbs' greedy,
> paranoiac arguments.
>
> > I do not know why Stan Booz keeps doing this.
>
> * Because he likes movies?

I want to thank Taylor Kingston for rescuing this thread from Stan
Booz, who keeps trying to overwrite it.

I am just now touching up my introduction. I hope to submit my reprint
to the printers tomorrow so it will be out and published by Friday.

I now have 245 books in print, mostly reprints like this one.

Sam Sloan

On Jun 19, 4:28*pm, samsloan <samhsl...@gmail.com> wrote:

> In this scene, malefactor Sam Sloan speaks those immortal words, "Copyright? I don't need no steenkin copyright!"

Encore.

"samsloan" <> wrote in message
news:60378d6a-4f1a-4f3b-bf47-...
The Treasure of the Sierra Madre

Introduction by Sam Sloan

http://www.amazon.com/dp/4871878961
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/boo...SBN=4871878961

The Treasure of the Sierra Madre is regarded as one of the greatest
books ever written. Then, it was made into a movie by the same name,
which in turn is regarded as one of the greatest movies ever made.

------------------------------------------------------------

One of the greatest books ever written . . .

Since when?

One of the greatest movies ever made.

Since when?

Howard Brazee <> wrote in
news::

>>One of the greatest books ever written . . .
>>
>>Since when?
>>
>>One of the greatest movies ever made.
>>
>>Since when?
>
> He didn't say "widely regarded".

I haven't read "Sierra Madre". But I have read "The Bridge
in the Jungle" and some of Traven's short stories. He could
be a good writer when he wasn't laying on the left-wing self-
superiority with a trowel - which, unfortunately, was often.
Some of the short stories, however, are wonderful. My
favorite is "When the Priest Was Away" (I think that's the
title), about the sexton of an impoverished rural church
who chooses Judas Iscariot as his patron saint (after all,
wasn't he simply fulfilling his lord's prophechy?), and
the very strange blessing he gets in return.

- Sol L. Siegel, Philadelphia, PA USA

On Jun 22, 8:49*pm, Howard Brazee <how...@brazee.net> wrote:
> On Wed, 22 Jun 2011 17:12:42 -0500, "Joan in GB-W" <jjkr...@aol.com>
> wrote:
>
> >The Treasure of the Sierra Madre is regarded as one of the greatest
> >books ever written. Then, it was made into a movie by the same name,
> >which in turn is regarded as one of the greatest movies ever made.
>
> >------------------------------------------------------------
>
> >One of the greatest books ever written . . .
>

I read _Sierra Madre_ and thought it a drag. The movie is 100 times
better.

Dave M

On Jun 22, 11:01*pm, Dave in Toronto <dmatthew...@sympatico.ca> wrote:
> On Jun 22, 8:49*pm, Howard Brazee <how...@brazee.net> wrote:
>
> > On Wed, 22 Jun 2011 17:12:42 -0500, "Joan in GB-W" <jjkr...@aol.com>
> > wrote:
>
> > >The Treasure of the Sierra Madre is regarded as one of the greatest
> > >books ever written. Then, it was made into a movie by the same name,
> > >which in turn is regarded as one of the greatest movies ever made.
>
> > >------------------------------------------------
\------------
>
> > >One of the greatest books ever written . . .
>
> I read _Sierra Madre_ and thought it a drag. *The movie is 100 times
> better.
>
>

I prefer Elvis Presley's FUN IN ACAPULCO.

On Jun 19, 4:28*pm, samsloan <samhsl...@gmail.com> wrote:
> The Treasure of the Sierra Madre


Scanned in vain for the charming fact that Howard's jig is nowhere in
the book. Huston had his father do the bit that Eugene O'Neill had
taught him for a play.

On Jun 24, 7:18*am, tomcervo <paradisfa...@gmail.com> wrote:
> On Jun 19, 4:28*pm, samsloan <samhsl...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > The Treasure of the Sierra Madre
>
> Scanned in vain for the charming fact that Howard's jig is nowhere in
> the book. Huston had his father do the bit that Eugene O'Neill had
> taught him for a play.

Right. It is not in the book.

More importantly, the scenes where the bandits are required to dig
their own graves and then are shot and executed and buried in them is
not in the book.

My reprint of the book with a lot of scenes from the movie is out now
and will be available here momentarily.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/4871878961
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/boo...SBN=4871878961

Sam Sloan