One of the best ever made!

Burt Lancaster's grin. That's all you need to know. I love his accent. He has this educated glottal stop that is completely NY but he's some cowboy. Still, it works.

although i'm not usually a fan of westerns, i really liked this movie. plenty of twists, turns, and crosses, never boring.

"Vera Cruz" is most notable for two things: it is a precursor to the amoral Sergio Leone antihero westerns, and it pairs two big-screen cowboy legends in Gary Cooper and Burt Lancaster.

Lancaster shines as ever and is just a joy to watch: his Joe ... (read more) "Vera Cruz" is most notable for two things: it is a precursor to the amoral Sergio Leone antihero westerns, and it pairs two big-screen cowboy legends in Gary Cooper and Burt Lancaster.

Lancaster shines as ever and is just a joy to watch: his Joe Erin looks super-cool and sexy in dusty black, a grinning, charming mercenary brute who's only out for himself but can appreciate a good adversary along the way. Gary Cooper is a deadpan, cynical Southern landowner who's lost everything in the war - his Ben Trane too is mercenary, but ever so slightly more principled than Erin. Like Vivien Leigh calling up the ghost of Scarlett in her Blanche DuBois ("Streetcar Named Desire"), Cooper's world-weary mercenary here represents an earlier, simplier generation of western heroes coming face to face with a more complicated modernity.

The story itself is full of double-crossings and memorable standoffs (memorable cameos from Ernest Borgnine, Charles Bronson). Denise Darcel and the charismatic Sara Montiel (in her Hollywood debut!) provide the equally sly and scheming female love interests. Like many films Lancaster was involved with, the film inclines somewhat to the underdog revolutionaries.

It's a classic, gorgeous and sparkling with great dialogue from a great cast. However, it lacks something of the sweeping wide-open feel of the classic Western, no doubt deliberately. This is a cinematic place that is very much peopled and politicised.

Crosses and double-crosses aplenty in this fun western. It races through its 94 minutes of runtime, which is the only real problem: it could have done with at least another 30-60 to flesh out some of the supporting characters. Western fans will rev... (read more) Crosses and double-crosses aplenty in this fun western. It races through its 94 minutes of runtime, which is the only real problem: it could have done with at least another 30-60 to flesh out some of the supporting characters. Western fans will revel in Lancaster's complicated anti-hero - but we know he'll never come good... on account of his black hat!

Le sourire de Burt Lancaster...

WOW!

Two great actors leading a terrifically plotted movie! Keep your eyes peeled for future "tough guy" Charles Bronson in one of his frst roles...

This film was made in a time where Hollywood was very unfamiliar with the concepts of "grey" o... (read more) WOW!

Two great actors leading a terrifically plotted movie! Keep your eyes peeled for future "tough guy" Charles Bronson in one of his frst roles...

This film was made in a time where Hollywood was very unfamiliar with the concepts of "grey" or "ambiguity".

Lancaster is a complete bastard throughout the film... (and you just KNOW it won't end well for him)... but you can't help like the guy and root for his ultimate survival and success.

Cooper does very well here too and it could be argued that this "morally ambiguous" 1954 AMERICAN film... actually paved the way for the successful "Spaghetti Westerns" that began to appear in the mid 60's...

Nicely shot, well plotted western for fans of the genre...