Vera Cruz

Following the success of "Apache", Aldrich directed his first major production for Burt Lancaster’s production company: "Vera Cruz" became one of the decade’s biggest box-office hits and gave the careers of everyone involved a tremendous boost. Aldrich’s combination of fun, violence, and subversion revolutionized the genre and foreshadowed the Spaghetti Westerns of the next decade (and Sam Peckinpah’s “Mexican” late Westerns). Two American adventurers—Gary Cooper as a Southern gentleman and Lancaster as an unscrupulous mercenary—are tasked by Emperor Maximilian with escorting a carriage through Mexico that contains hidden gold, while being pursued by various groups. Everyone is after the treasure, and part of the film’s appeal lies in watching them being gleefully pitted against one another. The adventurous twists have often been copied, but the blend of nihilism and vitality—pure Aldrich—remains unmatched. (C.H.)