The Treasure of the Sierra Madre

[Dramatic instrumental music]

[Ominous instrumental music]

[Cheerful instrumental music]

DOBBS:
Say, buddy,

will you stake a fellow...

Hey, mister, will you stake

a fellow American to a meal?

[Shop owner speaking Spanish]

[Slow instrumental music]

- State lottery, seor?

- Beat it. I ain't buying no lottery tickets.

4,000 pesos is the big prize.

DOBBS:
Get away from me,

you little beggar.

The whole ticket is only 4 pesos.

It's a sure winner.

I ain't got 4 pesos.

Buy a quarter of a ticket for 1 peso silver.

DOBBS:
If you don't get away from me,

I'll throw this water right in your face.

Then one tenth of a ticket, seor, for 40...

Seor, buy one twentieth.

One twentieth costs you only 20 centavos.

Look, seor, add the figures up.

You get 13.

What better number could you buy?

It's a sure winner.

- Yeah, how soon's the drawing?

- Only three weeks off.

Give me a twentieth

so I don't have to look at your ugly face.

[Speaking Spanish]

Come again next time.

I always have the winners,

all the lucky numbers. Good luck.

Thirteen.

DOBBS:
Excuse me.

Cigarette?

Thanks.

- It's hot.

- Yeah.

What a town, Tampico.

You said it, brother.

If I could get a job

that'd bring enough to buy passage...

I'd shake its dust off my feet

soon enough, you bet.

If I was a native,

I'd get a can of shoe polish...

and I'd be in business.

They'd never let a gringo.

You can sit on a bench

till you're three-quarters starved.

You can beg from another gringo,

or even commit burglary.

You try shining shoes in the street...

or peddling lemonade out of a bucket

and your hash is settled.

You'll never get another job

from an American.

CURTIN:
And the natives

would hound and pester you to death.

- Some town to be broke in.

- What town isn't?

Can you stake a fellow American

to a meal?

[Upbeat instrumental music]

[Cash register dinging]

DOBBS:
Hey, mister.

Will you stake a fellow American

to a meal?

MAN:
Such impudence

never came my way.

Early this afternoon, I gave you money.

When my shoes were being polished,

I gave you more.

Now you put the bite on me again.

Do me a favor.

Go occasionally to somebody else.

It's beginning to get tiresome.

Excuse me. I didn't know it was you.

I never looked at your face, just

your hands and the money you gave me.

Beg pardon. I promise

I'll never put the bite on you again.

This is the very last you get from me.

Just to make sure you don't forget

your promise, here's another peso.

DOBBS:
Thanks, mister.

MAN:
But from now on...

you have to make your way through life

without my assistance.

[Spanish music]

Hey, buddy, will you stake

a fellow American to a meal?

McCORMICK:
I won't give you a cent.

If you want to make some money

I'll give you a job.

- What's the catch?

- There's no catch.

I got a job if you want.

It's hard work, but good pay.

McCORMICK:
You ever rig a camp?

DOBBS:
Sure.

The ferry's making off,

one of my men hasn't shown up.

I don't know what's happened to him.

He's probably drunk in some dive.

DOBBS:
What's the pay?

McCORMICK:
$8 a day.

Don't just stand there.

Make up your mind, the ferry doesn't wait.

DOBBS:
I'm your man.

McCORMICK:
Come on.

[Ferry chugging]

- Hello, there.

- Hello, yourself.

McCORMICK:
Okay, you guys, get aboard.

[Ferry horn blaring]

[Siren blaring]

DOBBS:
Take it your way.

[Bell ringing]

[Siren blaring]

McCORMICK:
What's the matter

with you two? Can't you take it?

It's 130 in the shade, and there ain't

any shade up there on that derrick.

Just figure you're a couple of millionaires

in your own private steam bath.

And the sooner we're through...

the sooner we'll be back in town

drinking cold beer.

We finish within two weeks,

I'm giving you fellas a bonus.

Yeah, it's coming to us

working 16, 18 hours a day like we do.

Don't go crying to your mamas.

What do you want?

I'm paying top salaries and a bonus.

What about our pay anyway,

and when do we get it?

- I ain't seen a buck out of you yet.

- You'll get your dough, all right...

don't worry about that,

when we get back to Tampico.

What could you do with money out here

anyway, except gamble and lose it?

You'll be paid as we step off the ferry.

[Ferry horn blaring]

The agent was supposed to be here

with the dough.

Don't know what could've happened.

But don't worry.

I'll go to the office and pick up the money.

You men stay here.

Any objection to a couple of us

coming with you?

Don't you trust me?

You think I'd run out on you?

I don't think you'd do that.

But I ain't got a cent, not even enough

to buy me a glass of beer.

Say, you two guys meet me

over at the Cantina Madrid.

It's 2:
15 now and I'll be over there

no later than 3:
00.

BARTENDER:
Pat McCormick.

He comes here from time to time.

I haven't seen him lately.

CUSTOMER:
Pat McCormick?

What about Pat McCormick?

- He's supposed to meet us here.

- Does he owe you any money?

CURTIN:
Yeah.

Say, how long you guys

been around Tampico, anyway?

DOBBS:
What's that got to do with it?

Only foreigners and half-baked Americans

fall for McCormick's tricks.

CURTIN:
How do you mean?

I mean, he hires dumb guys like you

to work for him.

When it comes time to pay off,

he takes a powder.

[Spanish music]

How much we got left

of that $10 he gave us, Dobbsie?

DOBBS:
$2.50.

CURTIN:
Not even enough for one bed.

DOBBS:
I know a joint that's full of rats,

scorpions and cockroaches.

The cots are only 50 centavos a night.

MANAGER:
Have another...

MAN:
jobs that were a dime a dozen

ain't to be had at all.

Streets are full of guys...

pushing each other over a meal.

HOWARD:
Gold in Mexico? Sure.

Not 10 days from here by rail.

The mountain's waiting for the right guy

to discover and take her treasure.

The question is. Are you the right guy?

Real bonanzas are few and far between.

They take a lot of finding.

Answer me this, will you?

Why is gold worth some $20 an ounce?

MAN #2:
I don't know. Because it's scarce.

A thousand men go searching for gold.

After six months one of them's lucky.

One out of the thousand.

His find represents not only his own labor

but that of 999 others to boot.

That's 6,000 months, 500 years...

scrambling over mountain,

going hungry and thirsty.

The gold is worth what it is 'cause of

the human labor that went into finding it.

MAN #2:
Never thought of that.

There's no other explanation.

Gold ain't good for nothing

except for making jewelry and gold teeth.

Gold's a devilish sort of thing.

You start out to tell yourself

you'll be satisfied with $25,000 worth.

So help me Lord and cross my heart.

Fine resolution.

After months of sweating yourself dizzy,

few provisions, finding nothing...

you finally come down to $15,000,

then $10,000.

Finally you say,

"Lord, let me just find $5,000 worth...

"and I'll never ask for anything more

the rest of my life."

MAN #2:
$5,000 is a lot of money.

In this joint it seems like a lot.

But if you made a real strike,

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