Vera Cruz
A great western starring the great Gary Cooper & the versatile Burt Lancaster that takes place during the revolution of 1866. The film also has Denise Darcel as the female lead & Cesar Romero as a wealthy Marquis on the side of Maximilian. Robert Aldrich was the director & this is one of his better efforts.

Benjamin Trane (Gary Cooper) & Joe Erin (Burt Lancaster) are two mercenaries on the way to Mexico to participate in the revolution albeit for different reasons but mostly for profit. Trane is the more altruistic while Erin is outright mercanary. The two team up to fight for the highest bidder, this is after Erin has stolen Trane's horse. Trane & Erin agree to escort Countess Marie Duvarre (Denise Darcel). What Trane & Erin don't realize is the Countess has a large gold shipment she is trying to get to Maximilian's army at Vera Cruz. She makes an offer to split it with them but they, instead, steal it for themselves. In the end Trane & Erin have an eventual showdown gunfight.

Vera Cruz is a very enjoyable movie that has two dynamic male leads, one at the end of his career, the other entering his prime. It's fun to see Lancaster play the heavy but he's so likable one almost hates to see his demise. The film also has Ernest Borgnine & Charles Buchinsky (Bronson). The only special feature is the movie trailer; this edition is widescreen.

vera c ruz
I am not satisfied. You have shipped af film, that cannot be viewed on dvd maschines i Europe.

I bought the film Vera Cruz dvd version. You should inform customers about the issue

Kind regards,
svend-Erik Klein
Kolonnevej 11
DK-6400 Sønderborg
Denmark
email: sek@shs.dk

Is this a toothpaste commercial?
Yes, those big pearly white choppers prominently displayed in Burt Lancaster's frequent sarcastic smiles tend to dominate most scenes in this fast moving complicated film. All the twists and turns in this story set in a Mexico in political turmoil provide an exciting and unpredictable drama, although you can almost bet the two stars will fight a duel in the finale. Cooper(Ben Trane) and Lancaster(Joe Erin) provide an interesting odd pair. Lancaster seems much younger than his 40 years, whereas Cooper looks his 52 years. Thus, their sudden relationship superficially resembles the young impulsive hero/oldtimer relationship common in westerns. But, actually, it couldn't be more different. Ben, as well as Joe, is still a remarkable shot. And Joe is no hero material, just a greedy swashbucking bully. In contrast, Ben is a former southern gentleman, dispossesed by the Civil War. The buddy/rival relationship between the two starts off rocky as Joe nearly shoots Ben when the latter pulls his gun to kill his injured horse. Joe sells Ben a stolen horse and the owner militia immediately show up to reclaim it. Ben's horse is eventually shot dead from under him and Ben plays dead as well. When Joe comes to strip Ben's body of valuables, Ben surprises him with a gun in the face. Ben rides off on Joe's horse. However, Joe is impressed with Ben's daring and shooting ability and rescues him from a bad scene with Joe's friends, who accuse Ben of Joe's murder... Later, Joe asks why Ben stepped in to save his skin during an ambush by rebel forces. Presumably Ben would have gotten all of their combined salary if Joe had died. Don't do any favors, take any chances, trust anybody, you don't have to, says Joe. In a nutshell, that tells us the basic difference between the two..
Like several others involved, Ben sometimes considers trying to make off with all the gold secretely stashed in the carriage he is involved in escorting to Vera Cruz. But,under the influence of the lovely Sarita Montiel and her rebel friends, he is finally persuaded that he is not that kind of thief and that the gold should go to the rebels, minus his exorbitant cut. In the finale, Ben is visibly upset that he couldn't tame Joe's greed, meanness and impulsiveness as unacceptable flaws that outweighed his exceptional bravado and skill as a gunslinger. He had to decide whether to shoot Joe while he had a rifle trained on him or whether to give Joe an even chance in a classic gun draw duel.

Lancaster chews chicken
In this movie, Burt Lancaster not only chews the scenery, he chews chicken.

In seemingly every other scene, Lancaster grabs a handful of chicken and tears off chunks with his lycanthropic teeth. Then he'll snatch up a goblet of wine and spill it on himself while downing the contents in a gulp or two. He's a lusty guy. He talks with his mouth full. He bares his teeth like a mad dog. He kills people with a grin on his face. He slaps women silly and then gives 'em a big sloppy kiss. There is a stylish humor about Lancaster's performance.

The movie is one of many "spectacles" produced in the 1950s to combat the growing menace of television. There were also biblical epics, Roman epics, pharaoh epics.

Featured in this movie
A typical stoic performance by Gary Cooper, a fortune in gold bullion concealed in a fancy red carriage, a saucy contessa who rides in the carriage, a battalion of mounted soldiers armed with lances and costumed like conquistadors with plumed helmets, hordes of Mexican peasants in shabby white costumes (a staple of any western set in Mexico, i.e, the Magnificent Seven), a spicy young Consuelo who functions as Cooper's love interest, spectacular gunplay, a band of henchmen (including Ernest Borgnine and Charles Bronson) who rape and kill for fun, shots of the great Aztec monuments.

What happens
The gold has to be transported through hostile precincts to the port of Veracruz. An escort, including Cooper, Lancaster, the henchmen, and the mounted lancers, is organized to assure delivery. They all want to get the gold. There are double-crosses, ambushes, and pitched battles. White-clad peasants are mowed down like cornstalks. The henchmen corner the fiery young Consuelo for a gang-bang. Borgnine's character suggests that she scream. "I like 'em when they scream." Cooper's character offers to buy Consuelo a thousand silk dresses with shoes and all the trimmings. Lancaster's character thinks Cooper's character is a sap because of his southern gentleman values. One of the main characters comes to a bad end. There is lusty chicken-eating along the way.

Cooper and Lancaster sporting a disarming but treacherous grin throughout...
The middle fifties saw the production of an astonishing variety of Westerns of high quality... Robert Aldrich followed "Apache" in 1954 with a cheerful, action-packed adventure called "Vera Cruz," which starred Gary Cooper and Burt Lancaster sporting a disarming but treacherous grin throughout... Its chief highlight is a display of sharp-shooting in which Cooper and Lancaster demonstrate the effectiveness of the rifles they are trying to sell to the Emperor Maximilian (George Macready) by snuffing out the torch flames ranged round the palace balustrade...

"Vera Cruz" opens during the Mexican revolution in 1866 where two American adventurers decide to join forces and fight for whichever side pay them the most... The saucy Sarita Montiel, who has fallen for Cooper, implores them to fight for the rebels, while Cesar Romero, an aid to the Emperor Maximilian, asks them to fight on his side...

At a ball in the sumptuous Chapultepec Palace, the pair meets the vivacious Denise Darcel who appears as a colorful but doublecrossing French Countess, and soon agrees to escort her on the hazardous journey to Vera Cruz... Later, she informs them that she is actually transporting a gold shipment to the Emperor's forces... Shortly after, she offers to steal the gold and split it with them...

In spite of the strong presence of Gary Cooper who lines up on the side of the Juaristas, Burt Lancaster steals the show as the smiling, black-dressed American adventurer, unable to forget Mexico's shining gold...

"Vera Cruz", with excellent supporting cast, is filmed on location in Mexico... Cooper and Lancaster well know that when one outdraws and shoots the other, one is the "quick" and the other, the "dead." Ernest Laszlo photography, in SuperScope and Technicolor, captures well the Mexican scenery with glorious shots of Mexico City's famous Chapultepec Castle, and the pyramids of Teotihuacan...

Sarita Montiel whose sensuality draws lustful aggression from Bronson's peripheral tough-guy, Pittsburgh, flourished more beauty to this exciting Western...