Stinkin' Badges

"Badges? We don't need no stinkin' badges!" is a widely quoted paraphrase of a line of dialogue from the 1948 film The Treasure of the Sierra Madre. 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 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 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):

"All right," Curtin shouted back. "If you are the police, where are your badges? Let's see them."
"Badges, to god-damned hell with badges! We have no badges. In fact, we don't need badges. I don't have to show you any stinking badges, you god-damned cabrón and chinga tu madre!"

The line was popularized by John Huston's 1948 film adaptation of the novel, which was altered from its content in the novel to meet the Motion Picture Production Code 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:

Dobbs: "If you're the police, where are your badges?"
Gold Hat: "Badges? We ain't got no badges. We don't need no badges. I don't have to show you any Stinkin' badges!"

Comics

• In one issue of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Archie comics, the Malignoid drones Scul and Bean meet with the nihilistic industrian Null to discuss the contract between him and the Malignoid queen Maligna. When Null insists on consolidating the contract through his lawyers, either Scul or Bean yells out: "Lawyers?! We don't need no stinkin' lawyers!!"
• In the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series from Image Comics, Donatello 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'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), 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 (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'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."

Ken's Stinkin' Badge Baltimore Police Style

Ken wanted this as a joke to carry in his wallet so none of his issued badges would be lost, stolen or damaged He had it made using his badge number 550 from when he was a Detective with the Baltimore Police Department To see more novelty badges, most with Ken's badge number click HERE If you order one tell them Ken sent ya. Note: He only sells to active, or retired police.