Vera Cruz

Set in Mexico in the 1860s, amid the conflict between the forces of Emperor Maximilian and the republican rebels under Benito Juárez, Vera Cruz follows two American adventurers who head south after the Civil War looking for profit rather than a cause. Benjamin Trane, a former Confederate officer, meets the gunman Joe Erin, and the two men take work from the imperial side, agreeing to escort a countess to the port of Vera Cruz. What neither of them is meant to know is that the carriage carries a large shipment of gold, and other parties are just as interested in it as they are.

The film was directed by Robert Aldrich, the second of the seventeen features he made in chronological order, following Apache and preceding Kiss Me Deadly. James R. Webb and Roland Kibbee wrote the screenplay, and James Hill produced for Hecht-Lancaster Productions and United Artists. Gary Cooper plays Trane opposite Burt Lancaster as Erin, with Denise Darcel as the Countess, Cesar Romero as the Marquis, Sara Montiel as Nina and Ernest Borgnine as Donnegan among a credited cast of twenty.

Made for about three million dollars, it returned roughly nine million worldwide. On IMDb it holds 7 out of 10 from around thirteen thousand votes, while on TMDB it stands at 6.7 from a much smaller number. The critics' rating of 6.6 sits close to both audience scores.