"Badges? We don't need no stinkin' badges!" is a paraphrase of a line of dialogue from the 1948 film ''
The Treasure of the Sierra Madre
''The Treasure of the Sierra Madre'' (originally titled ''Der Schatz der Sierra Madre'') is a 1927 adventure novel by German author B. Traven, whose identity remains unknown. In the book, two destitute American men in Mexico of the 1920s join a ...
''. That line was in turn derived from dialogue in the 1927 novel of the same name, which was the basis for the film.
In 2005, the full quote from the film was chosen as #36 on the
American Film Institute
The American Film Institute (AFI) is an American nonprofit film organization that educates filmmakers and honors the heritage of the motion picture arts in the United States. AFI is supported by private funding and public membership fees.
Lead ...
list, AFI's 100 Years...100 Movie Quotes. The shorter, better-known version of the quote was first heard in the 1967 episode of the TV series '' The Monkees'' "It's a Nice Place to Visit". It was also included in the 1974
Mel Brooks
Mel Brooks (born Melvin James Kaminsky; June 28, 1926) is an American actor, comedian and filmmaker. With a career spanning over seven decades, he is known as a writer and director of a variety of successful broad farces and parodies. He began ...
film '' Blazing Saddles'', and has since been included in many other films and television shows.
History
The original version of the line appeared in B. Traven's novel ''The Treasure of the Sierra Madre'' (1927):
The line was popularized by
John Huston
John Marcellus Huston ( ; August 5, 1906 – August 28, 1987) was an American film director, screenwriter, actor and visual artist. He wrote the screenplays for most of the 37 feature films he directed, many of which are today considered ...
's 1948 film adaptation of the novel, which was altered from its content in the novel to meet the
Motion Picture Production Code
The Motion Picture Production Code was a set of industry guidelines for the self-censorship of content that was applied to most motion pictures released by major studios in the United States from 1934 to 1968. It is also popularly known as the ...
regulations severely limiting profanity in film. In one scene, a Mexican bandit leader named "Gold Hat" (portrayed by Alfonso Bedoya) tries to convince Fred C. Dobbs ( Humphrey Bogart) that he and his company are '' Federales'':
Appearances in media
Comics
*In one issue of the ''
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'' is an American media franchise created by the comic book artists Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird. It follows Leonardo (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles), Leonardo, Michelangelo (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles), Miche ...
Image Comics
Image Comics is an American comic book publisher and is the third largest comic book and graphic novel publisher in the industry in both unit and market share. It was founded in 1992 by several high-profile illustrators as a venue for creator-o ...
,
Donatello
Donato di Niccolò di Betto Bardi ( – 13 December 1466), better known as Donatello ( ), was a Florentine sculptor of the Renaissance period. Born in Florence, he studied classical sculpture and used this to develop a complete Renaissance st ...
paraphrases a variation of that sentence ("Plans?! I don't need no stinking plans!") whilst using his cyborg systems to restore a stripped-down aircar.
Film
* In
Mel Brooks
Mel Brooks (born Melvin James Kaminsky; June 28, 1926) is an American actor, comedian and filmmaker. With a career spanning over seven decades, he is known as a writer and director of a variety of successful broad farces and parodies. He began ...
's Western '' Blazing Saddles'' (1974), the line was delivered as "Badges? We don't need no stinking badges."
* In Charles Swenson's animated film '' Down and Dirty Duck'' (1974), a stereotypical Mexican mouse character, wearing a sombrero and a bandolier (probably in a parody of
Speedy Gonzales
Speedy Gonzales is an animated cartoon character in the Warner Bros. ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies'' series of cartoons. He is portrayed as "The Fastest Mouse in all Mexico" with his major traits being the ability to run extremely fast ...
), speaks the line as "I don't want your stinkin' badges!"
* In the film '' The Ninth Configuration'' (1980), when the asylum patients are quoting lines from movies, one quotes "Badges? We don't need no stinking badges."
* In the sketch-comedy film '' Elephant Parts'' (1981), one of the fake ad sequences portrays "an authentic Mexican bandito in a Mexican-American restaurant," whose sole line is "Nachos? We don't need no stinkin' nachos!"
* In the movie '' Gotcha!'' (1985), the character Manolo says "Don't show me your badges; we don't know nothing about no stinking badges."
* The movie '' Troop Beverly Hills'' (1989) contains the line "We don't need no stinkin' patches."
* In the "Weird Al" Yankovic film ''
UHF
Ultra high frequency (UHF) is the ITU designation for radio frequencies in the range between 300 megahertz (MHz) and 3 gigahertz (GHz), also known as the decimetre band as the wavelengths range from one meter to one tenth of a meter (on ...
'' (1989), when animal show host Raul ( Trinidad Silva) is asked to take a consignment of badgers, he says "Badgers? Badgers?! We don't need no stinking badgers!"
* In the film '' Flashback'' (1990), as the hooker is undressing the FBI agent, she discards his badge saying "We don't need no stinkin' badges."
* In the Ron Howard film '' Backdraft'' (1991), William Baldwin's character tries to refresh his nephew's memory by using a hand puppet to exclaim, "Spinach? We don't need no stinkin' spinach!"
* In the film '' No Code of Conduct'' (1998) Paul Gleason's character says in a bad Mexican accent "Badges? We don't need no stinkin' badges!", then goes on to sheepishly mention that he was quoting from the 1974 film ''Blazing Saddles''.
* In the film '' Bubble Boy'' (2001), when Jimmy offers Danny Trejo's character Slim patches for his motorcycle's flat tire he responds, "Patches? I could use some stinking patches."
* In the film '' Zombie Strippers'' (2008), when Paco (Joey Medina) is told to obtain some wild animals to dispose of the bodies, he says, "Badgers? Badgers? We don't need no stinking badgers."
* In the film '' 6 Underground'' (2019), Three says the line while breaking into the enemy stronghold and going past the security desk.
* In
Spike Lee
Shelton Jackson "Spike" Lee (born March 20, 1957) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and actor. His production company, 40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks, has produced more than 35 films since 1983. He made his directorial debut ...
's American war drama film '' Da 5 Bloods'' (2020), when Desroche's gunmen first try to dispossess the Bloods of the recovered gold bars, the leader of the gunmen tells Paul, "We don't need no stinking official badges."
* In the film " Fatherhood"(2021) Matt (
Kevin Hart
Kevin Darnell Hart (born July 6, 1979) is an American comedian and actor. Originally known as a stand-up comedian, he has since starred in Hollywood films and on TV. He has also released several well-received comedy albums.
After winning s ...
) and his daughter say "Rules? We don't need no stinkin' rules." many times throughout the film.
Games
* The trading card game '' Magic: the Gathering'' (1993) makes reference to a card that was to be included in the joke Unhinged set called, "We don't need no stinkin' Merfolk!"
* The game '' FTL: Faster Than Light'' (2012) includes an achievement called, "I don't need no stinkin' upgrades!"
* The game ''
Ground Zero Texas
''Ground Zero: Texas'' is a full motion video
Full-motion video (FMV) is a video game narration technique that relies upon pre-recorded video files (rather than sprites, vectors, or 3D models) to display action in the game. While many games ...
'' (1993) has a dialog from actor Danny Trejo saying: "Badges, We don't need no stinking badges"
* In the adventure game '' Escape from Monkey Island'' (2000), the main protagonist Guybrush Threepwood is given a dialogue option, when asked for ID by the bartender, "ID? I don't need no stinkin' ID!"
* In the game '' Leisure Suit Larry 6: Shape Up or Slip Out!'' (1993), the main protagonist has the line of dialogue, "Badges? Ve don' need no steenkin' badges!" to Cavaricchi, the aerobics instructor.
* In the adventure game '' Sam & Max: Chariots of the Dogs'' (2008), when asked by the protagonists why their prisoners aren't being kept in cages, the mariachi Pedro responds "Cages? We don't got no cages. We don't have to show you any stinking cages."
Literature
* In the
Stephen King
Stephen Edwin King (born September 21, 1947) is an American author of horror, supernatural fiction, suspense, crime, science-fiction, and fantasy novels. Described as the "King of Horror", a play on his surname and a reference to his high ...
novel '' It'' (1986), character Richie Tozier repeatedly says, in a poor imitation of a Mexican accent, "Batches? We don't need no steenking batches."
* In the Stephen King novel ''
Bag of Bones
''Bag of Bones'' is a 1998 horror novel by American writer Stephen King. It focuses on an author who suffers severe writer's block and delusions at an isolated lake house four years after the death of his wife. It won the 1999 Bram Stoker Award ...
'' the narrator describes his denial of having writer's block by saying to the reader "Writer's block? What writer's block? We don't got no stinking writer's block."
* The Luis Valdez play ''I Don't Have to Show You No Stinkin' Badges'' (1987) draws its title from this quote, and makes a specific reference to ''Sierra Madre''.
* In '' Eldest'' (2005), the second novel in Christopher Paolini's The Inheritance Cycle series, a cobbler named Loring eschews the use of barges as a means of human transportation, saying, "Barges? We don't want no stinking barges."
* In William S. Burroughs' report on the
1968 Democratic Convention
The 1968 Democratic National Convention was held August 26–29 at the International Amphitheatre in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Earlier that year incumbent President Lyndon B. Johnson had announced he would not seek reelection, thus making ...
for ''Esquire'' magazine, Burroughs has a cop demand to see the permit of the candidate's entourage. The response is: "Permits? We don't have any permits. We don't have to show you any stinking permits. You are talking suh to the future President of America."
Music
* The song "Badges" (1984) by
Minutemen
Minutemen were members of the organized New England colonial militia companies trained in weaponry, tactics, and military strategies during the American Revolutionary War. They were known for being ready at a minute's notice, hence the name. Mi ...
quoted the line as: "We have no badges... we don't need no badges... we don't need no stinking badges".
* The song "Medicine Show" (1985) by Big Audio Dynamite sampled the quote by Alfonso Bedoya from the film ''The Treasure of the Sierra Madre''. The song prominently featured quotes sampled from other westerns as well, including several by or making reference to the Eli Wallach character Tuco from the film ''The Good, the Bad and the Ugly''. This association — as well as the similarity of voice and accent employed by both actors in their respective bandito roles — reinforces the common misconception that Wallach delivered the famous line.
* Julian Cope's semi-eponymous song "Julian H Cope" from his album '' Jehovahkill'' (1992) featured the line: "Badges? Badges? We don't need no stinkin' badges! So sissified, civilised, I want to be a savage".
* The 2 Skinnee J's song "The Good, the Bad, and The Skinnee" (1998) from the album ''
SuperMercado!
''SuperMercado!'' is an album by 2 Skinnee J's, released in 1998. A music video was made for the single, "Riot Nrrrd."
Critical reception
''The Washington Post'' thought that "J. Guevera and Special J, the New York City septet's frontmen, are ext ...
'' features the line "Badges, we don't need no stinking badges" sung as a refrain five times in a row.
* At the beginning of the song "Big Fat Money" off the album '' Balance'' by
Van Halen
Van Halen ( ) was an American rock band formed in Pasadena, California, in 1972. Credited with "restoring hard rock to the forefront of the music scene", Van Halen was known for its energetic live shows and for the virtuosity of its lead gu ...
click
Click, Klick and Klik may refer to:
Airlines
* Click Airways, a UAE airline
* Clickair, a Spanish airline
* MexicanaClick, a Mexican airline
Art, entertainment, and media Fictional characters
* Klick (fictional species), an alien race in the g ...
on this one?" to which Alex Van Halen replied, "I don't need no stinkin' click!"
* The New York-based jambandMoe often uses the line humorously during a pause in their song "Mexico" when playing it live.
* The Roger Clyne and the Peacemakers song "Barons to Break," from the album ''Native Heart'' (2017), includes the line in the chorus.
*The Ian Brown song "Little Seed, Big Tree" has the phrase at the beginning of the song.
Micky Dolenz
George Michael Dolenz Jr. (born March 8, 1945) is an American actor, musician, TV producer and businessman. He is best known as the drummer and one of three primary vocalists for the Pop music, pop-Rock music, rock band the Monkees (1966–1970, ...
delivers the line as "Badges? We don't need no stinking badges".
* In the episode "Filthy Pictures" (1980) of '' WKRP In Cincinnati'', Johnny Fever is telling a story "I said show me some badges, and the guys says, Badges! uh, we don't need no stinking badges".
* In a 1983 episode of '' Wizards and Warriors'', the character Marko (played by Walter Olkewicz) delivers a spoof of the line as "Badgers? We don't need no stinkin' badgers".
* In the episode "There Goes the Neighborhood" (December 3, 1985) of '' The A-Team'', Murdock reacts to fake badges with "Badges? We don't need no stinkin' badges".
* In the episode "Sledge in Toyland" (December 3, 1987) of '' Sledge Hammer!'', Sledge and his partner arrive at the office of the murdered toy tycoon and the security guard sticks a visitor's badge on his chest. Sledge throws it on the counter saying: "Heeeey, I don't need no sticking badges."
* In the episode "Darkstar Rising" (2008) of '' Ben 10: Alien Force'', when Kevin is lamenting the loss of his plumber's badge, Ben says, "Badges? We don't need no stinking badges."
* In a 2014 episode of '' Transformers: Rescue Bots'', Kade Burns says "Badgers? We don't need no stinking badgers."
* In an episode (season 1, episode 2: "A Better Mousetrap") of the 2003 ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'' series, Michelangelo intones, "Chill, bro — we don't need no stinking surface world."
* In the '' Salute Your Shorts'' episode "The Treasure of Sara Madre" (1991), the gang is digging for buried treasure, and Z.Z. finds a junior park ranger's badge, about which Michael states, "Badges? We don't need no stinking badges!"
* In the '' Friends'' Season 8 episode "The One with the Baby Shower" (2002), the quote is mentioned as one of Joey's training questions for the show ''Bamboozled''.
* In the "A Beautiful Mine" (2003) episode of '' The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius'', Sheen says, "Uh, Libby, I don't think they need no stinkin' badges." This entire episode is a parody of
The Treasure of the Sierra Madre
''The Treasure of the Sierra Madre'' (originally titled ''Der Schatz der Sierra Madre'') is a 1927 adventure novel by German author B. Traven, whose identity remains unknown. In the book, two destitute American men in Mexico of the 1920s join a ...
.
* In the "Stuck with Dick" episode (1998) of '' 3rd Rock from the Sun'', Harry says "Bagels? Bagels? We don't need no stinkin' bagels!".
* In the "Ghost in the Machine," episode 82, season 3 (1986) of '' The Transformers'', the Ghost of Starscream tells Decepticon guards Runabout and Runamuck by saying, "Passes? Passes? I don't have to show you no stinking passes!"
* In the TV movie '' Good Luck Charlie, It's Christmas!'', when asked to see some identification badges, the leader of a group of live action video game players responded with "Badges? We don't need no stinkin' badges!"
* In the episode "Musta Been a Beautiful Baby" (Episode 28, October 13, 1993) of '' Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog'', Scratch and Grounder masquerade as police officers from the "Department of Lost Kids", and when asked for their badges, reply "Badges? We don't need no stinking—" before being cut off and thrown out.
* In the episode "Gumby with a Pokey" (Season 7, Episode 21, May 17, 2010) of '' Two and a Half Men'', Berta and Charlie are quoting movies while high, and Berta says the line "Badges? We don't need no stinkin' badges!" using a popsicle as a mustache.
* In the 43rd episode of Jessie, the episode is titled "We Don't Need No Stinkin' Badges".
* In the episode "Blood Drive" (Season 5, Episode 18, March 5, 2009) of '' The Office'', Michael is talking at a Valentine's Day singles party and says "Relationships? We don’t need no stinkin’ relationships!"
Theatre
* In the Broadway production of '' American Idiot'', between the songs "St. Jimmy" and "Give me Novocaine" the character, St. Jimmy, proclaims that "We don't need no stinkin' badges!" before Johnny and Whatsername initiate an intimate moment in the center stage bed.