From the 1950s: Vera Cruz

1954 Western

From United Artists

Directed by Robert Aldrich

Starring

Gary Cooper

Burt Lancaster

Denise Darcel

Cesar Romero

Sarita Montiel

George Macready

Ernest Borgnine

Charles Bronson

Henry Brandon

Jack Elam

Morris Ankrum

Whether or not you think it worked out, director Robert Aldrich intended this as a western spectacle... big, bold, dangerous, violent, exciting... and with two Hollywood giants for your viewing pleasure.

The film takes place right after the Civil War and just as another war was beginning south of the border.  The Mexicans were struggling to rid themselves of their foreign emperor Maximilian (Macready).  Into this fight rode a handful of Americans... ex-soldiers, gunfighters, adventurers, criminals, and mercenaries one and all.  They didn't all know one another and that fact lessened trust.

Cooper comes alone and meets up with Lancaster and his band of thugs.  The two men become skeptical partners and leaders of the gang (Borgnine, Bronson, Elam, etc.).  They meet up with Marquis Henri de Labordere (Romero) to handle a dangerous assignment for his boss Maximilian.  They are asked to escort a countess (Darcel) in a coach to the port of Vera Cruz and will be accompanied by a contingent of soldiers.

They are offered $100,000 for the job which no one particularly understands as it seems like a lot of money to escort a single passenger especially considering so many soldiers are there for her protection.  After the coach crosses a stream, its wheels dig into the mud far more than the men think it should have.  Both Lancaster and Cooper are certain that there is something hidden in the coach to make it so heavy.

After they discover three million dollars in gold coins stashed in containers under the seat, of course, they decide they will steal it.  To hell with Maximilian and the others.  But soon they discover that Darcel is planning on making off with the stash as well and then that Romero is planning something as well.  All become highly suspicious of one another despite an agreement with Darcel that the booty will be shared.  All must be watchful of the soldiers who accompany them.

Cooper, Montiel, Darcel, Lancaster

The journey itself is obviously fraught with peril with every incident exciting and exactly what's expected of any good western.  In the mountains, along trails and in small villages there are Juaristas waiting to ambush.  And within the group there are betrayals to such an extent that some original intentions need to be modified.  Also suspicious is Nina (Montiel) from a small village who runs to join the caravan as it pulls out of her village.

Vera Cruz  was the third of 14 films that Lancaster would produce or co-produce and was his third western as an actor.  He certainly could have given himself top billing but it was likely in Cooper's contract that he would have top billing so Lancaster was number two even though he has as much screen time as Cooper.  Cooper had been warned by his friend Clark Gable to not work with Lancaster because the latter would blow him off the screen.  Oddly, four years later Gable would star in Run Silent, Run Deep with Lancaster.

The actor-producer negotiated a two-film pact with United Artists and director Aldrich.  Earlier in the year their Apache was released to good reviews and the two men enjoyed a good working relationship on that film.  But by the time they got to Vera Cruz, things were a little frosty.  Lancaster, always a major control freak and yearning to be a director himself, tried to take over the directing reins and butted heads with Aldrich.  Nonetheless they must have kissed and made up because they made two more films together in the 70s.

Maybe they're nervous about their location romances

Lancaster's high energy couldn't be more obvious as he acts Cooper off the screen.  How could he not?  I liked Cooper but here, as usual, he seems to be tranquilized while Lancaster who has more facial business as an actor than most anyone I know.  He certainly puts that famous laugh and smile to toothy good effect.  Lancaster understands the word action while Cooper's specialty was inaction.  It couldn't be more obvious.  Gable was right.

Borgnine, Bronson and Elam also shine as the bad guys and Montiel has her moments.  She has most of her scenes with Cooper who reportedly didn't like the Spanish actress.  Darcel and Romero are rather lackluster and she is, as usual, difficult to understand.

Cinematographer Ernest Laszlo got some spectacular shots including ones of the giant caravan of people and animals in a long procession and another shot of them spread out across the vast landscape.  At one point he placed a camera on a platform at the top of the highest pyramid in Teotiaucan to capture a gorgeous 50-mile vista.  The occasional fuzziness of Superscope, however, certainly was distracting from time to time.  Too bad little ol' United Artists didn't have something better to offer.

The Mexican government was appalled how its citizens were portrayed which surprised United Artists and the studio made efforts to placate by adding the following at the end of the film:  Vera Cruz was filmed entirely in Mexico.  The producers gratefully acknowledge the friendly cooperation of the people and government of Mexico and the contribution of the Mexican motion picture technicians without whose aid this film would not have been possible.  Nonetheless, on future U.S. productions, Mexico had government officials on set to monitor the filming. 

A few critics carped that the movie was loaded with meaningless violence.  They didn't grasp that the maverick Aldrich's violence was never meaningless.  He mingles violence with bizarre camera angles and harsh transitions to form a picture of a decadent, disordered world. 

Director Robert Aldrich

Even the suggestion of violence ruffled some feathers when in an early scene Lancaster orders Bronson and Borgnine to kill a group of children if his needs aren't met pronto.  Of course it didn't happen but, ah, that suggestion...

Sam Peckinpah said he drew from this film for his violent horse opera, The Wild Bunch.  Vera Cruz has occasionally been called the first spaghetti western but what is certain is that Sergio Leone says the film and Aldrich greatly influenced his eventual love affair with the American western, Italian style.

This is not a film with a message.  All it is is simply rock-solid western entertainment, lovely escapism, wrapped up in all the gloss that the makers could manage and with two big Hollywood stars to enjoy.  Did I mention it's violent?   Here's a trailer:

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A rare little something from the 90s