Poseidon-3 Review of They Came to Cordura

They Came to Cordura (1959)

Actually, they almost crawled to Cordura, but who's nit-picking?

[17 July 2005]

Two of filmdom's biggest stars pair up in this rugged 'message western' that tries so hard to delineate the duality of human nature that it almost forgets to be an entertaining movie. Cooper plays a Cavalry major in 1916 who is assigned the task of finding five noteworthy men to receive Congressional Medals of Honor in a bid to increase the country's morale before inevitably entering into WWI. He has one man already, young Callan, from a previous skirmish and quickly finds more when the Colonel he is stationed with heads a battle plan that goes awry. In minutes, he witnesses the gallant heroism of four men as they take serious risks in order to turn the tide of the battle at hand. He is assigned to escort his five men to Cordura, keeping them out of danger, until they can have their commendations approved and awarded to them. Unfortunately, Cooper must also escort Hayworth to the town, so that she can be punished for offering comfort and lodging to the men of Pancho Villa. Her feminine assets, along with her penchants for drinking tequila and smoking, bring out the worst in these men who have been deprived of all three pleasures for over a month. Soon, it is revealed that Cooper is in his position because he, himself, was a coward, yet the men he is rewarding are not exactly heroes in every department themselves. Oddly, most of the men do not want their medal anyway! Personalities clash as the men bicker over the best way to handle the terrain and a remaining gaggle of Villa's men. Cooper looks a bit tired here and it's not easy to watch a man two years away from death take on the type of abuse he suffers. His performance is solid, but awfully underplayed at times. Hayworth does an admirable job through most of the film, especially towards the end. She does have one drunk scene which is horrible and almost embarrassing, but once she casts aside her character's airs and acts from the heart, her performance improves considerably. She still had quite an attractive figure at this late date, as well. Heflin is appropriately despicable and forges a strong, villainous characterization. Conte does well also, as does York. Callan spends much of the film unconscious, which may not be a bad thing considering his fairly drippy character. Hunter, who is at just about his most handsome here, shows a nice amount of range as he goes from obedient soldier to enraged powder keg, though he does take it just a tad too far at the end. There are definite moments of insight and interest in the film, but it tends to wear down the viewer with its nearly relentless cynicism and unpleasantness. The characters at times seem more like stand-in's for various philosophies or points of view rather than real people. This material probably worked a bit more effectively as a book. Still, there's a nice, world-weary chemistry between Cooper and Hayworth and some remarkable Mexican scenery. Fans of theirs will likely get more enjoyment out of it than the casual viewer.