Yes, those big pearly white choppers flashed by Burt Lancaster's frequent sarcastic smiles tend to dominate many scenes in this fast moving complicated film. All the twists and turns in this story , set in a Mexico in political turmoil, provide an exciting and unpredictable drama, although you can bet the 2 stars will fight a duel in the finale.........Cooper(Ben Trane) and Lancaster(Joe Erin), provide an interesting reluctant buddy pair. Lancaster seems much younger than his 40 years, while Cooper belies his 52 years. Thus, their sudden relationship superficially resembles the young, impulsive, hero/old-timer relationship common in westerns. But, actually, it doesn't turn out that way. Ben, as well as Joe, is still a remarkable shot. And, Joe is no hero material, just a greedy, swashbuckling, bully. In contrast, Ben is a former southern gentleman, dispossessed by the Civil War.............The buddy/rival relationship starts off rocky, as Joe nearly shoots Ben when the latter pulls his weapon to kill his injured horse. Joe sells Ben a stolen horse, then the owner militia show up to reclaim it. Ben's horse is eventually shot dead from under him, and Ben plays dead, as well. Joe comes to strip Ben's body of valuables, but Ben surprises Joe with a gun in the face. Ben rides off on Joe's horse. However, Joe is impressed with Ben's daring and shooting, and rescues him from a bad scene with Joe's friends, who accuse Ben of Joe's presumed murder........Later, Joe asks Ben why he stepped in save his skin during an ambush by rebel forces. Presumably, Ben would have gotten all their combined salary if Joe had died. " Don't do any favors, take any chances, trust anybody, you don't have to" advises Joe(Sounds like a speech from a quintessential anti-hero). In a nutshell, that tells us the basic difference between the 2...........Like several others involved, Ben sometimes considers trying to make off with the gold secretly stashed in the carriage he is involved in escorting to Vera Cruz. But, under the influence of the lovely Sarita Montiel, and her rebel friends, he is finally persuaded that he is not that kind of thief, and that the gold should go to the rebels, minus his (exorbitant) cut..........In the finale, Ben is visibly upset that he couldn't tame Joe's greed, meanness and impulsiveness, as unacceptable flaws for a partner that outweighed his exceptional bravado and skill as a gunslinger. Ben had to decide whether to shoot Joe while he had his rifle trained on him, or whether to give Joe an even chance in a classic gun draw duel. Yep, it's "High Noon" time again.
Review of Vera Cruz
