Rent Vera Cruz (1954)

Once Upon a Time in Mexico (Part One) - Vera Cruz review by Count Otto Black

Although it does show its age at times (it was made in 1954), this is a classic western which in many ways is a missing link in cinematic evolution (apart from not being missing), since it bridges the gap between earlier, more stately westerns in which we were very seldom in any doubt who the good and bad guys were, and the later, bloodier spaghetti westerns in which morality was much more of a grey area. Robert Aldrich, who directed this film, went on to co-write "A Fistful Of Dollars" and direct "The Dirty Dozen", so it's no great surprise to see him experimenting with morally dubious heroes and, for the time, considerable amounts of violence this early in his career. Other directors who are better remembered today, such as Sam Peckinpah, have cited this movie as a major influence - "The Wild Bunch" is basically a remake with the violence turned up to 11 (Ernest Borgnine plays much the same character in both films).

Burt Lancaster, always a better actor when he was allowed to play somebody who wasn't very nice instead of being typecast as beefcake, is a charming rogue who, as the story progresses, isn't quite so charming any more, and never leaves us in any doubt that he's totally amoral and will always look after number one, while Gary Cooper is a lot more subtle as a man doing something he knows is wrong because he needs the money. Obviously we know Gary Cooper will eventually do what's right because he's Gary Cooper, but if you pay attention, more than once there's room for doubt as to quite how pure his motives are.

Unfortunately, many of the supporting cast are badly underused. The rest of the ragtag band of mercenaries of whom the two leads are the principle members are a colorful rabble it would be fun to know more about, but they're so obviously in the film only to be whittled down that they might as well be wearing those Star Trek red shirts. Caesar Romero is built up throughout the movie as a fiendishly cunning and unpredictable adversary without ever really becoming interesting. And those German lancers who are obviously stand-ins for the Nazis, though they're certainly evil, are so ineffective against any foe who isn't helpless that they make unsatisfactory villains (note to self: don't bring a lance to a gunfight!). But despite these flaws, it's an excellent high-budget western with everything you'd expect, some things you wouldn't in a film made this early, and a great deal happening most of the time, with very watchable leads who make a great double act. Recommended.

Good in parts - Vera Cruz review by MS

Gary Cooper was enjoyable to watch, as always. Though his range was limited, what he could do, he did well. Burt Lancaster (so young!) was very handsome, but mostly acted with his teeth -- how they gleamed! Cesar Romero -- same comment as for Gary Cooper. The plot wasn't too bad, but the numbers of bodies heaped up was ridiculous.

I won't complain about the perfectly dressed, perfectly made-up heroines - so clean, too! - as they were they same in all 50s cowboy movies.

A mediocre movie, but with a few good scenes, and some interesting historical info about one of the many Mexican revolutions.

overrated - Vera Cruz review by AB

I like Westerns - always have done but this one, for a labelled 'classic' is, to me, nothing of the sort - nothing especially stands out to make it any different/ground-breaking/surprising from a multitude of others of the genre. Burt Lancaster gets his over-whitened teeth set in a rictus smile most of the time and gets to show off his circus skills as per usual in a scene (look up his background) but this ended up simply being a routine 'watch' and one that I can tick off as having seen. Gary Cooper is his usual laconic type and acts as the part demands, but BL seems to be taking it too seriously, trying to show that he is the 'baddie', not to be trusted. Nice to have the historical situation explained at the start to lend a background to what is going on

Given it two stars (even though that means "didn't like it", which is a bit over the top/below the belt?) of my opinion but couldn't quite give it 3 stars ("Liked it"). A 2.5 stars rating really