VERA'S CRUZ

VERA CRUZ (1954)
dir: Robert Aldrich

VERA'S CRUZ
MAD #24, July 1955
w: Harvey Kurtzman
a: Jack Davis

The very first movie parody from MAD as a magazine, when they were trying to be more like a version of Look or Saturday Evening Post than what they became. Kurtzman had wanted to go beyond what the thought was too restrictive and juvenile as a comic book, and you can tell in the later issues he was trying to subvert the magazine form. When they started, their articles were intended to be like magazine articles rather than comedy sketches on paper.

During the Franco-Mexican War, ex-Confederate soldier Ben Trane (Gary Cooper) travels to Mexico seeking a job as a mercenary. He falls in with Joe Erin (Burt Lancaster), a younger gunslinger who heads a gang of cutthroats.

They are recruited by Marquis Henri de Labordere (Cesar Romero) for service with Emperor Maximilian (George Macready). Maximilian offers them $25,000 to escort the Countess Duvarre (Denise Darcel) to the city of Veracruz. Trane gets the emperor to double the offer. During a river crossing, Trane notices that the stagecoach in which the countess is traveling is extremely heavy. Erin and Trane later discover that hidden inside are six cases of gold coins. The countess informs them that it is worth $3 million which is intended to pay for reinforcements from Europe. They form an uneasy alliance to steal and split the gold. Unbeknownst to them, the marquis is listening from the shadows.

The Juaristas, led by General Ramírez (Morris Ankrum), attack the column several times. Pickpocket and Juarista undercover agent Nina (Sarita Montiel) joins the convoy. When Trane, Erin and their men are surrounded by the Juaristas, Trane persuades Ramirez to join forces and agree to pay them $100,000. The marquis succeeds in getting the gold to Veracruz. In the Juarista attack, the French are defeated, but most of Erin's men are killed. Erin attempts to steal the gold for himself by getting the countess to reveal the location of the ship she had hired to transport it. He even kills one of his own men. However, Trane arrives in time to confront him. They face off in a showdown that ends in Erin's death. Trane and Nina leave, while women search the dead for their loved ones.