Vera Cruz [Blu-ray]

Director: Robert Aldrich Robert Aldrich

Overview

Produced by Burt Lancaster's own company, Vera Cruz teams Lancaster with the venerable Gary Cooper. The story, set during the Mexican revolution of 1866, casts Cooper and Lancaster as Ben Trane and Joe Erin, two rival soldiers of fortune who team to fight for the highest bidder. The two men come to loggerheads when Trane's sweetheart Nina (Sarita Montiel) begs them to fight on the side of the rebels, while the wealthy Marquis de Labodere (Cesar Romero) implores them to offer their services to Emperor Maximillian. Though they still haven't taken sides, Trane and Erin agree to escort the aristocratic Countess Marie Duvarre (Danielle Darrieux) through hostile territory to Vera Cruz. It soon develops that the Countess is transporting a gold shipment to the Emperor's armies. Hardly the most patriotic of souls, she offers to split the gold with Trane and Erin, but they steal it for themselves instead. It takes a while (and several bloody armed confrontations) before the two protagonists do The Right Thing. While it's fun to watch Burt Lancaster try to upstage the taciturn Gary Cooper, the film's best line goes to supporting player Henry Brandon: impassively watching the loutish Lancaster wolf down his dinner and slop wine all over his blouse, Brandon says calmly "Be careful, senor. Some of it is getting in your mouth."

Product Details

Release Date:	10/12/2021
UPC:	0738329255848
Original Release:	1954
Rating:	NR
Source:	Kl Studio Classics
Language:	English
Time:	1:34:00
Sales rank:	20,825

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Burt Lancaster	Joe Erin
Gary Cooper	Benjamin Trane
Denise Darcel	Countess Marie Duvarre
Ernest Borgnine	Donnegan
Cesar Romero	Marquis de Labordere
Sarita Montiel	Nina,Actor
George Macready	Emperor Maximilian
Morris Ankrum	Gen. Aguilar
Henry Brandon	Danette
Charles Bronson	Pittsburgh
Jack Lambert	Charlie
Jack Elam	Tex
James McCallion	Little Bit
James Seay	Abilene
Archie Savage	Ballard
Charles Horvath	Reno
Juan Garcia	Pedro
Ketty Clavijo	la danseuse
Hugo Friedhofer	Composer

Technical Credits

Roland Kibbee

James R. Webb

Borden Chase

Robert Aldrich	Director
Roland Kibbee	Screenwriter
James R. Webb	Screenwriter
James Hill	Producer
Borden Chase	Screenwriter
Robert Carlisle	Sound Effects
Galdino R. Samperio	Sound Effects
Manuel Topete	Sound Effects
Harold Hecht	Producer

Editorial Reviews

A vital antecedent to Sergio Leone's comically cynical spaghetti Westerns, Vera Cruz (1954) dispenses with black-and-white distinctions between good and bad and ratchets up the humor, becoming a comic yet violent epic of American bad behavior during the Mexican Revolution. Though Gary Cooper sports the lighter hat than grinning co-star Burt Lancaster, both pursue the highest paycheck and a cache of gold with an amusingly amoral fervor that stands in striking contrast to their more noble Western incarnations in High Noon (1952) and Apache (1954), respectively. Cooper's anti-imperialist conscience and Southern manners provide the few glimmers of ethics, as well as several laughs at the snobbish Mexicans' expense. While Lancaster's charisma and wit make him into an inordinately appealing outlaw, director Robert Aldrich's harshly staged battles finally reveal the cost of such systemic greed. Boasting gloriously composed, location-shot widescreen vistas as well as megastars Cooper and Lancaster, Vera Cruz overcame critical distaste for its gleeful venality to become a blockbuster hit.

All Movie Guide - Lucia Bozzola