Vera Cruz: Difference between revisions
Vera Cruz: Difference between revisions - Internet Movie Firearms Database - Guns in Movies, TV and Video Games
Vera Cruz: Difference between revisions
Joe Erin's ([[Burt Lancaster]]) handgun is a nickel plated [[Single Action Army|Single Action Army "Civilian" Model]] revolver with pearl grips. Many mercenaries, including Donnegan ([[Ernest Borgnine]]), Pittsburgh ([[Charles Bronson]], at that time still credited as Charles Buchinsky), Reno ([[Charles Horvath]]), Little-Bit ([[James McCallion]]), Tex ([[Jack Elam]]), Ballard ([[Archie Savage]]), carry common "Civilian" revolvers; their handguns sometimes switch between "Civilian" and "Artillery" (see below) models due to numerous continuity errors.
Joe Erin's ([[Burt Lancaster]]) handgun is a nickel plated [[Single Action Army|Single Action Army "Civilian" Model]] revolver with pearl grips. Many mercenaries, including Donnegan ([[Ernest Borgnine]]), Pittsburgh ([[Charles Bronson]], at that time still credited as Charles Buchinsky), Reno ([[Charles Horvath]]), Little-Bit ([[James McCallion]]), Tex ([[Jack Elam]]), Ballard ([[Archie Savage]]), carry common "Civilian" revolvers; their handguns sometimes switch between "Civilian" and "Artillery" (see below) models due to numerous continuity errors.
''Note:'' see additional screenshots and promotional images on [[Talk:Vera Cruz#Single Action Army|talk page]].
''Note:'' see additional screenshots and promotional images on [[Talk:Vera Cruz#Single Action Army Civilian Model|talk page]].
[[Image:ColtSAA475barrel.jpg|thumb|none|300px|Colt Single Action Army with 4.75" barrel, case colored and blued, referred to as "Quick-Draw" or "Civilian" model - .45 Long Colt ]]
[[Image:ColtSAA475barrel.jpg|thumb|none|300px|Colt Single Action Army with 4.75" barrel, case colored and blued, referred to as "Quick-Draw" or "Civilian" model - .45 Long Colt ]]
[[File:Vera Cruz-SAACivMod-2.jpg|thumb|none|600px|Erin draws the revolver after Benjamin Trane ([[Gary Cooper]]) draws his gun (not as agression but to shoot a lame horse).]]
[[File:Vera Cruz-SAACivMod-2.jpg|thumb|none|600px|Erin draws the revolver after Benjamin Trane ([[Gary Cooper]]) draws his gun (not as agression but to shoot a lame horse).]]
Vera Cruz is a 1954 Western film directed by Robert Aldrich and adapted from a story by Borden Chase. The movie stars Gary Cooper as Benjamin Trane, ex-Confederate soldier and Burt Lancaster as gunslinger Joe Erin, the boss of mercenary gang. During the Franco-Mexican War both men are recruited to escort Countess Duvarre (Denise Darcel), the favorite of the Emperor Maximilian of Mexico, to the seaport city of Veracruz. The mission becomes even more dangerous when it turns out that Countess' stagecoach transports a large load of gold.
Note: the story is set in 1866, and nearly all weapons in the movie doesn't fit that time.
The following weapons were used in the film Vera Cruz:
Benjamin Trane's (Gary Cooper) revolver is a Single Action Army "Artillery" Model. Mercenaries Pittsburgh (Charles Bronson), Reno (Charles Horvath), Abilene (James Seay) and some unnamed ones are also seen with "Artillery" revolvers; their handguns sometimes switch between "Civilian" (see above) and "Artillery" models due to numerous continuity errors.
Note: see additional screenshots and promotional images on talk page.
Colt 1860 Army revolvers with Richards cartridge conversion are used by officers of Emperor Maximilian's army, notably Emperor's trusted person Marquis Henri de Labordere (Cesar Romero), and by Mexicans, notably the commander of Juarista troops General Ramirez (Morris Ankrum). Most revolvers are of compact version but some full-length revolvers are also seen.
Note: see additional screenshots and promotional images on talk page.
Countess Marie Duvarre (Denise Darcel) owns a nickel plated compact top-break Smith & Wesson revolver of unclear model (it is possible that the revolver isn't even S&W but a production of some other manufacturer).
Capt. Danette (Henry Brandon) carries an unidentified revolver with swing out cylinder (such models appeared more than twenty years later). It appears to be some Colt model.
Springfield Model 1873 Rifles are used by Emperor's troops, including Guards (in red uniform), and Mexican republicans. Some are mocked up as flintlock muskets.
Trapdoor Springfield (Mocked Up as Flintlock Muskets)
Mexican republicans are also armed with flintlock muskets that turn out to be visually modified Trapdoor Springfield rifles and carbines. Similar props started appearing on screen as early as 1930s.
An aged Mexican holds a sawed-off flintlock musket. Possibly this gun is a visually modified breechloading rifle, like full-length flintlocks (see above).
Several hand grenades are seen near the Gatling Gun. Trane uses one of them to blow gunpowder. These spherical hand grenades with tail fins are most likely props, specially made for filming, rather than some genuine grenades. They are possibly inspired by Ketchum Grenade, used by Union troops in the American Civil War, but they still look different.
