Review of Vera Cruz (1954) by Jon C — 29 Aug 2015

Tough little western from director Robert Aldrich. Gary Cooper and Burt Lancaster head south of the border during the Mexican Civil War to hire themselves out to Maximilian I during the Franco-Mexican War.

Cooper is there for more noble of purposes to take care of his family back home following the Civil War. Lancaster, on the other hand is our for more mercenary of reasons, looking to make a quick buck and having no real loyalty to anyone.

Made about fifteen years before "The Wild Bunch" and pre-dating the first spaghetti westerns, I do believe this film holds a place in western history of having a lead character who is a real anti-hero in the same way as Pike Bishop or Man With No Name.

The Anthony Mann westerns around this same time were a bit different and more gritty than other pre-war westerns, but they even Mann's films still followed the white hat black hat simple view of characterization and storytelling.

On the downside, this film does have some draggy parts that hold it back from being a classic, but it's a solid western and I do think it deserves more credit for being somewhat of a trailblazer for the revisionist western movement.

And you also get Ernest Borgnine and Charles Bronson in supporting roles as no good thugs.