There was an article about the director Robert Aldrich a few weeks ago in the NY Times. I was not familiar with him, so I moved a couple of the recommended films to the top of my queue.
The first one I watched was Vera Cruz, starring Burt Lancaster and Gary Cooper. Burt actually produced this film. The plot is great, with lots of double-crosses. Burt and Gary meet in Mexico; both trying to make it rich. They hire on to the Spanish during the Civil War - basically they follow the money and both keep an eye out to steal it all for themselves. Burt shows off some of his acrobatic skills, and Gary Cooper is his laconic self. That part is all good.
But the movie is old Hollywood clean and cast. Burt is really bad, so he wears black. The bad guys are really evil, but very clean, and they have good teeth. The Mexicans all wear blindingly clean white clothes, like out of a Clorox commercial. Nobody has an accent. I liked it, but I didn't love it. It's pretty predictable, but still a lot better than a Michael Bay film. The stars make the film.
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