Vera Cruz

Synopsis: After the American Civil War, mercenaries travel to Mexico to fight in their revolution for money. The former soldier and gentleman Benjamin Trane meets the gunman and killer Joe Erin and his men, and together they are hired by the Emperor Maximillian and the Marquis Henri de Labordere to escort the Countess Marie Duvarre to the harbor of Vera Cruz. Ben and Erin find that the stagecoach is transporting US$ 3,000,000.00 in gold hidden below the seat and they scheme to steal it. Along their journey, betrayals and incidents happen changing their initial intentions.
Director(s): Robert Aldrich
Production: United Artists
 
IMDB:
7.1
Rotten Tomatoes:
82%
APPROVED
Year:
1954
94 min
326 Views


Howdy.

You an American?

You interested in me or the horses?

Would one of 'em be for sale?

- One would.

- Which one?

Guess.

- How much?

- $100.

Gold.

- That's mighty hard.

- So's walkin'.

His leg was broke.

A three-legged horse'd

bring a price down here.

- He was sufferin'.

- Soft spot, huh?

Only for horses.

Next time you draw near me,

say what you're aimin' at.

If I have the time, I will.

- Government troops! Gonna run or fight?

- I got no quarrel with them.

Fancy shootin' for a man with no quarrel.

- That featherhead tried to kill me!

- Why not? That's his horse you're ridin'.

Back in Louisiana, we hang horse thieves!

Howdy.

Howdy.

I said howdy.

What gets into Americans down here?

He's got Joe's horse.

Friend, if you got Joe Erin,

you rode the wrong way.

Shoulda headed for the States

and claimed the reward.

All I got was his horse.

You're a liar!

You see, nobody could steal

Joe Erin's horse unless he killed him.

Nobody'd kill Joe

'less they shot him in the back.

Turn around, mister.

I didn't kill him.

Give the gent a hand first, boys.

A pleasure.

My old man always said

the bottle could ruin a man.

Joe! You ain't dead!

That's what the man said.

We didn't know he was your friend.

I got no friends, Donnegan, not even you.

Follow him, boys. We're leavin' anyway.

Louisiana, huh?

- Mint julep, Colonel?

- Colonel?

- All you Southerners are colonels.

- Not any more.

Civil War cost me everything but my shirt.

- Travelling alone?

- Depends.

How come you stopped the fun?

You got a soft spot for an innocent man?

No such thing as an innocent man.

- You aimin' to fight in this civil war here?

- If it pays.

I figure a whole passel of guns'll

pay better than a lone hand.

Howdy.

Howdy.

About my horse...

Your horse? You found another fast one

to get you here in time to save my neck.

Meanin'?

I'll give you back your saddle.

Colonel,

I just don't see how the South lost.

Hear tell some boys

from the States is here.

Trouble draws 'em like hogs to swill!

The boys is here, all right!

Let me go!

Little Bit,

you gonna put your brand on her?

Ride her, cowboy!

Hooray for the papaya lady!

All right, Papayas. I'll take you.

Slow down, Little Bit.

Man's just tryin' to keep you alive.

- Easy, friend, easy. That's Ben Trane.

- That supposed to mean somethin'?

He stole Joe Erin's horse and lived to tell.

Thank you, seor.

Thought your soft spot

was only for horses.

Boys, there's a war goin' on down here.

Be a shame if fine men like us

weren't on the same side.

Anybody wanna ride along with me?

We're doin' just fine on our own.

We're here to dicker with General

Ramirez, big chief of the rebels.

- How much does he pay?

- I figure that's 'tween me and him.

Kind of exclusive, ain't you, Charlie?

Gentlemen,

permit me to welcome you to Mexico.

- You the mayor?

- I'm the Marquis de Labordere.

Aide to His Imperial Majesty Maximilian,

Emperor of Mexico.

You are Monsieur Joe Erin?

- You know me?

- Indeed. The American police account

of your exploits was so inspiring

I was compelled to seek you out.

Hear that, Ben?

I offer you a commission

in the service of His Majesty.

You and your men could be

of profitable service to the emperor.

- How profitable?

- Yeah. That's what I wanna know.

His Majesty is extremely generous.

How many men have you?

- 17.

- Add pretty fast, don't you, Joe?

Anything wrong with the count?

Yeah.

You're dickering with the wrong feller.

Those eight men are mine.

Those seven are his.

If we come in... I run the show.

I string with Charlie.

Anybody else string with Charlie?

Bravo! It is an honour

to know you, Monsieur Erin.

The honour is mine, Your Excellency.

- Who's he?

- A Juarista... a rebel.

A soldier in the army

of Benito Jurez, seor.

- I am General Ramirez.

- General?

- What's your proposition, General?

- We would like you to join us.

You'd be wasting your talents. These

peasants have no money to pay you.

As Americans, you can appreciate

our fight for independence.

We offer you more than money, seor.

We offer a cause.

How 'bout that, Ben? This here's

our cause expert. Fought for the South.

A brave struggle, seor.

My congratulations.

What for? We lost.

You were sayin'...

the emperor was extremely generous.

I am sorry, seor.

His Excellency is now our prisoner.

- What'd you say?

- The marquis is our prisoner.

So are the rest of you.

Each one of you is a target for 20 of us.

At this range,

even our ancient weapons are effective.

- If it's that easy, what's stoppin' you?

- We're not savages, seor.

We do not kill in cold blood.

But we cannot permit you

to serve with Maximilian.

If you do not surrender

before Pedro finishes his song...

Better make it a long one, Pedro,

cos you ain't ever gonna play another!

Hold it!

Get those children outta here.

Yeah, sure... Always did like kids.

How about you, General?

Certainly.

Donnegan! Pittsburgh!

Get those kids inside.

Come on, kids.

Hurry up! Pronto!

All right, Joe!

The two inside will not stop us.

Nor will 200.

No, but they can stop a lot of kids

from growin' up, amigo.

- Donnegan!

- Just say the word, Joe!

You want those kids to live,

get your men up that hill.

We'll leave then, not before.

Wars are not won by killing children.

Hasta la vista, seores.

I give you my word we will meet again.

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes

Roland Kibbee

Roland Kibbee (15 February 1914 in Monongahela, Pennsylvania – 5 August 1984 in Encino, California) was an American screenwriter and producer. more…

All Roland Kibbee scripts | Roland Kibbee Scripts

0 fans

Submitted on August 05, 2018

Discuss this script with the community:

0 Comments

    Translation

    Translate and read this script in other languages:

    Select another language:

    • - Select -
    • 简体中文 (Chinese - Simplified)
    • 繁體中文 (Chinese - Traditional)
    • Español (Spanish)
    • Esperanto (Esperanto)
    • 日本語 (Japanese)
    • Português (Portuguese)
    • Deutsch (German)
    • العربية (Arabic)
    • Français (French)
    • Русский (Russian)
    • ಕನ್ನಡ (Kannada)
    • 한국어 (Korean)
    • עברית (Hebrew)
    • Gaeilge (Irish)
    • Українська (Ukrainian)
    • اردو (Urdu)
    • Magyar (Hungarian)
    • मानक हिन्दी (Hindi)
    • Indonesia (Indonesian)
    • Italiano (Italian)
    • தமிழ் (Tamil)
    • Türkçe (Turkish)
    • తెలుగు (Telugu)
    • ภาษาไทย (Thai)
    • Tiếng Việt (Vietnamese)
    • Čeština (Czech)
    • Polski (Polish)
    • Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian)
    • Românește (Romanian)
    • Nederlands (Dutch)
    • Ελληνικά (Greek)
    • Latinum (Latin)
    • Svenska (Swedish)
    • Dansk (Danish)
    • Suomi (Finnish)
    • فارسی (Persian)
    • ייִדיש (Yiddish)
    • հայերեն (Armenian)
    • Norsk (Norwegian)
    • English (English)

    Citation

    Use the citation below to add this screenplay to your bibliography:

    Style:MLAChicagoAPA

    "Vera Cruz" Scripts.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Mar. 2024. <https://www.scripts.com/script/vera_cruz_22786>.

    We need you!

    Help us build the largest writers community and scripts collection on the web!

    Watch the movie trailer

    Vera Cruz

    Browse Scripts.com

    The Studio:

    ScreenWriting Tool

    Write your screenplay and focus on the story with many helpful features.