Gary Cooper and Burt Lancaster ride together in Vera Cruz – and make no mistake, it’s Cooper and Lancaster riding together, not two characters named Ben Trane and Joe Erin. Cooper is the Strong, Silent Type, a man of principle in an unprincipled situation; Lancaster is the Charismatic Man of Action, flashing his unreal smile. This is star-system filmmaking the way it used to be, built on the shoulders of icons and with plenty of formulaic action set pieces to go around.
There were worse ways to build a film in 1954, and many viewers still look on such old-fashioned contraptions with affection. But viewed with contemporary eyes, Vera Cruz looks like a sprawling vacuum of a movie. Set during the Mexican revolution of 1866, it casts Cooper as the aforementioned Trane, a Southerner reduced to penury by the Civil War. Searching for a fresh start and cash as a hired gun, he hooks up with a group of mercenaries headed by Lancaster’s Erin. They sign on with the forces of the Emperor Maximillian (George Macready) for a mission to escort a French noblewoman (Denise Darcel) to the port of Vera Cruz, but soon discover they’re also escorting a fortune in gold.
Theoretically, Vera Cruz sets up best as a clash between the personalities of the two mercenaries, one reluctant and one extremely eager. Lancaster does his part with the nastier and more colourful Joe, turning his trademark beaming grin into a show of bared teeth as the tense “friendship” develops between Joe and Ben. Cooper, meanwhile, generally appears to be on autopilot, cruising on that earnest, taciturn golden boy vibe of his. From the opening scene between the two characters, there’s a palpable sense that the conflict between them could have fuelled a compelling drama.
But ultimately this is a simple western showcasing two stars, so the richer content gets trampled under the hooves of horses. Cooper clinches a few times with a Mexican girl of questionable motives (Sarita Montiel, one of those “exciting new discoveries” of the day, whose primary “exciting” aspect seems to be her chest). The men roughhouse and make a scene at a fancy court function. Gunfights pop up at regular intervals so people can fall bloodlessly from horses or rooftops. For every scene involving a little witty exchange of dialogue or reasonably evocative visual, there’s plenty of plug-and-play banter and mechanical shoot-’em-up.
Even mechanical shoot-’em-up would have been a blessed relief, however, from the hyper-edited climax. Not only does director Robert Aldrich make it virtually impossible to tell who is shooting whom, but there are serious questions as to why anyone is shooting anyone at all. So we’re left to enjoy the energy of Cooper and Lancaster together, and there is certainly some energy there. But star power takes Vera Cruz only so far, especially when – by the time they face off for their big showdown – you’ve forgotten what their characters’ names were supposed to be. One of them was Joe Something, right?
