Vera Cruz (film)

Vera Cruz is a American western set during the Franco-Mexican War (Second French Intervention in Mexico) where a former confederate soldier is hired as a mercenary by Maximilian I, Emperor of Mexico; however his mission to escort a countess becomes complicated by the discovery of a gold shipment in the convoy and when Mexican Republicans get involved. The film has a run time of 94 minutes and was published on December 25, 1954.

Plot
During the Franco-Mexican War, ex-Confederate soldier Ben Trane travels to Mexico seeking a job as a mercenary. He falls in with Joe Erin, a lethal gunslinger who heads a gang of cutthroats (including Ernest Borgnine, Jack Elam, Charles Bronson, and Archie Savage). They are recruited by Marquis Henri de Labordere for service with the Emperor Maximilian I of Mexico After an almost-miraculous display of shooting with a lever-action model 1873 Winchester rifle, the Emperor offers them $25,000 to escort the Countess Duvarre to the seaport city of Veracruz on the Gulf of Mexico. Trane uses a compliment to the Countess to get the Emperor to double it, impressing Erin with his boldness. During a river crossing, Trane and Erin noticed that the stagecoach in which the countess is traveling is extremely heavy. Erin later discovers that the stagecoach contains six cases of gold coins. First Trane and then the countess discover him looking at the gold. The countess informs them that it is worth $3 million which is being transported to pay for troops for Maximilian's French army. They form an uneasy alliance to steal and split the gold. Unfortunately for their plans, the Marquis was listening from the shadows.

Also involved in the mix is General Ramírez a heroic Juarista leader. He and the other Juarista leaders soon suspect that there is more to the expedition than the Countess and ambush the column several times. Eventually, the rest of Erin's group also learn that something suspicious is going on and they demand to be let in on the secret. The different groups, including Juarista secret agent Nina conspire to steal the gold for their own purposes. Alliances are formed, quickly dissolved and others are formed. A ruse is successful in getting the gold to Veracruz where the Juarista troops attack the French in a bloody battle over the ownership of the gold. Erin attempts to steal the gold for himself by getting the countess to reveal the location of the ship she had hired to transport the gold. However, Trane arrives in time to stop him. In the end, Trane and Erin face off in a showdown that concludes with Erin's death. Trane leaves the gold and walks through the dead bodies from the battle while the wives and mothers of the Juarista troops search among the dead and wounded for their loved ones.

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 Maximilian
 * 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

Crew

 * Director: Robert Aldrich
 * Producer: James Hill

Reception
The film earned 5 million in it's first run in the US and 9 million in total. The film was especially well received in France when it arrived in theaters 1955; it earned roughly 4.5 million (out of it's total earnings of 9 million which is about 44% of the film's total earnings). [1]