Vera Cruz (film)

Infobox Film
name = Vera Cruz


image_size =
caption =
director = Robert Aldrich
producer = James Hill
writer = Roland Kibbee James R. Webb
narrator =
starring = Gary Cooper Burt Lancaster
Denise Darcel
Cesar Romero Sara Montiel
George Macready
Ernest Borgnine
Morris Ankrum
Henry Brandon
Charles Bronson
Jack Elam
music = Hugo Friedhofer
cinematography = Ernest Laszlo
editing =
distributor = United Artists
released = December 25, 1954
runtime = 94 min.
country = USA
language = English Spanish
budget = $3,000,000 (estimated)
preceded_by =
followed_by =
website =
amg_id =
imdb_id = 0047647

"Vera Cruz" is a 1954 film starring Gary Cooper, Burt Lancaster, Denise Darcel, and Cesar Romero. The Technicolor Western was directed by Robert Aldrich from a story by Borden Chase. It isconsidered one of the most influential Western movies ever filmed.Fact|date=August 2008 The film's amoral characters, Mexican setting, and cynical attitude towards violence (including a scene where Lancaster's character threatens to murder child hostages) was considered shocking at the time, and influenced future Westerns such as "The Magnificent Seven", "The Wild Bunch", and the films of Sergio Leone.

Plot

During the Franco-Mexican War, ex-Confederate soldier Ben Trane (Cooper) travels to Mexico seeking a job as a mercenary. He falls in with Joe Erin (Lancaster), a lethal gunslinger who heads a gang of cutthroats (including Ernest Borgnine, Jack Elam, Charles Bronson, and Archie Savage). They are recruited by Emperor Maximilian (George Macready) to help escort Countess Duvarre (Denise Darcel) to Vera Cruz.

Trane and Erin discover that the countess and Marquis Henri de Labordere (Cesare Romero) are secretly transporting a large cache of gold intended for the French army. All concerned, including Juarista secret agent Nina (Sara Montiel), conspire to steal it for their own purposes. Also involved in the mix is Morris Ankrum as a heroic Juarista leader.

In the end, Trane and Erin face off in a showdown.

Cast

*Gary Cooper as Ben Trane
*Burt Lancaster as Joe Erin
*Denise Darcel as Countess Marie Duvarre
*Cesar Romero as Marquis Henri de Labordere
*Sara Montiel as Nina (billed as Sarita Montiel)
*George Macready as Emperor Maximillian
*Ernest Borgnine as Donnegan
*Morris Ankrum as General Ramírez
*Henry Brandon as Captain Danette
*Charles Bronson as Pittsburgh (as Charles Buchinsky)
*Jack Lambert as Charlie
*Jack Elam as Tex
*James McCallion as Little-Bit
*James Seay as Abilene
*Archie Savage as Ballard
*Charles Horvath as Reno
*Juan García as Pedro

External links

*imdb title|id=0047647|title=Vera Cruz
*tcmdb title|id=17830|title=Vera Cruz
* [http://seul-le-cinema.blogspot.com/2007/11/1130-key-to-reserva-all-that-heaven.html#i3 Review by Ed Howard at Only The Cinema]