Vera Cruz is a 1954 AmericanWestern film directed byRobert Aldrich and starringGary Cooper andBurt Lancaster, featuringDenise Darcel,Sara Montiel,Cesar Romero,Ernest Borgnine,Charles Bronson andJack Elam. Set during theFranco-Mexican War, the film centers on a group of American mercenaries tasked with transporting a large shipment ofImperial gold to the port ofVeracruz, but begin to have second thoughts about their allegiances. It was produced byHecht-Lancaster Productions and released byUnited Artists on 25 December 1954.

Vera Cruz
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Robert Aldrich
Screenplay by	Roland Kibbee James R. Webb
Story by	Borden Chase
Produced by	James Hill
Starring	Gary Cooper Burt Lancaster Denise Darcel Cesar Romero Sara Montiel
Cinematography	Ernest Laszlo
Edited by	Alan Crosland Jr.
Music by	Hugo Friedhofer
Production companies	Hecht-Lancaster Productions Flora Productions
Distributed by	United Artists
Release date	December 25, 1954 (1954-12-25)
Running time	94 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$1.6 million[1][2]
Box office	$11 million[3] (estimated)

The picture'samoral characters and cynical attitude towards violence (including a scene where Lancaster's character threatens to murder child hostages) were considered shocking at the time and influenced future Westerns such asThe Magnificent Seven (1960),The Professionals (1966),Sam Peckinpah'sThe Wild Bunch (1969), and thespaghetti Westerns ofSergio Leone, which often featured supporting cast members fromVera Cruz in similar roles. Its influence on Leone's work led some critics to label it "the proto-Spaghetti Western."^[4][5][6]

During theFranco-Mexican War, ex-Confederate soldier Ben Trane travels to Mexico seeking a job as amercenary. He falls in with Joe Erin, a youngergunslinger who heads a gang of cutthroats. They are recruited byMarquis Henri de Labordere for service withEmperor Maximilian. Maximilian offers them $25,000 to escort theCountess Duvarre to the city ofVeracruz. Trane gets the emperor to double the offer.

During a river crossing, Trane notices that thestagecoach in which the countess is traveling is extremely heavy. Erin and Trane later discover that hidden inside are six cases of gold coins. The countess informs them that it is worth $3 million which is intended to pay for reinforcements from Europe. They form an uneasy alliance to steal and split the gold. Unbeknownst to them, the marquis is listening from the shadows.

TheJuaristas, led by General Ramírez, attack the column several times. Pickpocket and Juarista undercover agent Nina joins the convoy. When Trane, Erin and their men are surrounded by the Juaristas, Trane persuades Ramirez to join forces and agree to pay them $100,000. The marquis succeeds in getting the gold to Veracruz. In the Juarista attack, the French are defeated, but most of Erin's men are killed. Erin attempts to steal the gold for himself by getting the countess to reveal the location of the ship she had hired to transport it. He even kills one of his own men. However, Trane arrives in time to confront him. They face off in a showdown that ends in Erin's death. Trane and Nina leave, while women search the dead for their loved ones.

Burt Lancaster andHarold Hecht had just signed a contract withUnited Artists to make two films, starting withApache, also directed byRobert Aldrich. Just before filming on that movie began in October 1953, Lancaster announced their second film would beVera Cruz with himself andGary Cooper, based on a story byBorden Chase.^[7]

In December 1953, afterApache finished filming, Lancaster announced Aldrich would directVera Cruz.^[8]

United Artists were so happy withApache they changed the two-picture deal with Hecht and Lancaster into a two-year deal covering seven films.^[9]

Before taking the role of Ben Trane, Gary Cooper was advised byClark Gable not to work withBurt Lancaster, fearing the younger actor would upstage him.^{[citation needed]}

Mari Blanchard was meant to play the female lead and Hecht signed to borrow her from Universal. However, there was a clause forbidding her to appear on television which Hecht disagreed with. Instead they castDenise Darcel.^[10]Mamie Van Doren claimed in her autobiographyPlaying the Field that Lancaster interviewed her for the role of the Countess, but she lost the part after refusing tosleep with him.^[11]

Charles Bronson was billed under his real name, 'Charles Buchinsky', in the film. This would mark the last time he would be credited that way, before he adopted his more well-known stage name.^[12]

Filming started in February 1954.Vera Cruz was the first American film production to be shot entirely inMexico. Though set in the city ofVeracruz, the majority of the film was actually shot in and aroundCuernavaca.^[13] Exterior shots were filmed atChapultepec Castle inMexico City, the ruins ofTeotihuacan, and the climax was shot atMolino de Flores Nezahualcóyotl National Park inTexcoco de Mora. The interiors were filmed atEstudios Churubusco.^[14]

Vera Cruz was also the first production to use theSuperScope widescreen process, which was designed to achieve anamorphic prints from standard flat 35mm negatives.^[13] Shot at a conventional 1.37:1 aspect ratio, the film was cropped to 2:1 in post-production, given aCinemaScope-compatible (2x) squeeze, and blown up to normal frame height.

Aldrich and Lancaster got along well onApache but as toVera Cruz, the director said "we probably had a less amicable relationship than we anticipated. This was because Burt, until he directedThe Kentuckian, thought he was going to be a director and when you're directing your first great big picture you don't welcome somebody else on hand with directorial notions. There were a few differences of opinion about concepts and about action."^[15] Lancaster recalled that Cooper demanded rewrites to his character to make him less morally-gray and more conventionally heroic.

According toEli Wallach, the Mexican authorities were appalled at the unflattering depiction of their country, so any subsequent Hollywood productions (includingThe Magnificent Seven) were thoroughly overseen by state censors.

The film earned an estimated $5 million at the North American box office during its first run^[16] and $9 million overall.^[17]

In 1963, Aldrich announced he was working on a sequelThere Really Was a Gold Mine but it was never made.^[18]

Critic and historianDave Kehr would later citeVera Cruz as one of the most influential films of the 1950s, inspiring later Westerns by such directors as Sam Peckinpah and especially Sergio Leone.^[4][19] Kehr also praised Cooper and Lancaster's performances in the film, writing that "the generational transition from an aging star to his up-and-coming replacement has seldom been handled with better humor or more biting wit."^[19]

• You Can't Win 'Em All, a 1970 film with a similar plot set in theGreco-Turkish War.
• P.O.W. The Escape, a 1986 film with a similar plot set in theVietnam War.

• Vera Cruz atIMDb
• Vera Cruz at theTCM Movie Database