Goofs for
The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948)

photos

board

trailer

details

• Crew or equipment visible: When Dobbs goes back to bury the body, he runs around looking for it, then trips over. As he does so he practically falls off the set, as visible to the left are a large water tank and a hose.
  
  
• Anachronisms: In an early scene when Dobbs is getting a haircut, an automobile flashes past the window of the barbershop. It appears to be a late 1940s sedan.
  
  
• Anachronisms: Although set in Mexico in the 1920s, many of the cars on the street in the Tampico scenes are of 1930s and 1940s vintage.
  
  

• Revealing mistakes: When Howard and Curtin pursuit Dobbs, they pass a "dead" donkey, left by Dobbs. The donkey is breathing and the ropes used to tie the its legs are visible.
  
  
• Crew or equipment visible: During the fight with the bandits, a shadow of a crew member is visible against Tim Holt's shirt for a few seconds before he goes to check on the condition of Cody.
  
  
• Continuity: When they are looking for gold, Curtin and Dobbs stop to rest, and Curtin puts the stick on his right leg. Immediately after, without his having moved, the stick is leaning on his shoulder.
  
  
• Continuity: When Howard is trying to revive the Indian boy, there is nothing around the boy. Later a calabash gourd appears on his left side and changes position between shots.
  
  
• Continuity: When Howard is laid on a hammock, being served by Indian women, he has a little bunch of flowers on his left ear which disappear in subsequent shots.
  
  
• Continuity: When Dobbs finds the well, he is ahead of the donkeys. Next shot he is behind them.
  
  
• Errors in geography: There are background noises from wildlife in parts of the movie. One of which is the unmistakable call of the Australian Kookaburra.
  
  
• Continuity: In subsequent scenes Gold Hat's sombrero is missing the bullet hole that Bogart shot into it at the mountain confrontation.
  
  
• Revealing mistakes: In the last scene, after Curtin has been shot and his arm is put in a sling, he hops onto his horse by pulling himself up entirely with his hurt arm. He takes the time to slip his arm back into the sling in the same shot.
  
  
• Continuity: After Curtain is shot by Dobbs, the wound to the shoulder is not the same when Dobbs goes back to Curtain with the torch.
  
  
• Revealing mistakes: Glaringly obvious use of doubles in the barfight scene to replace Humphrey Bogart, Tim Holt and Barton MacLane.
  
  
• Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): In trying to pass themselves off as hunters, Dobbs, Howard, and Curtain mention some of the animals they are hunting. Among the game they mention are tigers and lions, which are not found in Mexico. Tigers are found in Southeast Asia and the Indian Subcontinent and although there are mountain lions in Mexico, they are not referred to as such; they are called Puma.
  
  
• Factual errors: At the end, the gold dust would have never blown away. It is far too heavy. It could have been recovered by panning the topsoil where it was dumped. That brings another problem. No Mexican bandit would have mistaken gold dust for anything but gold.
  
  

Related Links