''They Came to Cordura'' is a 1959 American

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

film co-written and directed by

Robert Rossen Robert Rossen (March 16, 1908 – February 18, 1966) was an American screenwriter, film director, and producer whose film career spanned almost three decades. His 1949 film '' All the King's Men'' won Oscars for Best Picture, Best Actor and Be ...

and starring

Gary Cooper Gary Cooper (born Frank James Cooper; May 7, 1901May 13, 1961) was an American actor known for his strong, quiet screen persona and understated acting style. He won the Academy Award for Best Actor twice and had a further three nominations, ...

Rita Hayworth Rita Hayworth (born Margarita Carmen Cansino; October 17, 1918May 14, 1987) was an American actress, dancer and producer. She achieved fame during the 1940s as one of the era's top stars, appearing in 61 films over 37 years. The press coined th ...

Van Heflin Emmett Evan "Van" Heflin Jr. (December 13, 1908 – July 23, 1971) was an American theatre, radio and film actor. He played mostly character parts over the course of his film career, but during the 1940s had a string of roles as a leading man. H ...

and

Tab Hunter Tab Hunter (born Arthur Andrew Kelm; July 11, 1931 – July 8, 2018) was an American actor, singer, film producer, and author. Known for his blond, clean-cut good looks, Hunter starred in more than forty films. He was a Hollywood heartthrob of t ...

. It was based on a 1958 novel by

Glendon Swarthout Glendon Fred Swarthout (April 8, 1918 – September 23, 1992) was an American writer and novelist. Several of his novels were made into films. ''Where the Boys Are'', and ''The Shootist'', which was John Wayne's last work, are probably the bes ...

Plot

In 1916, as U.S. soldiers chase after

Pancho Villa Francisco "Pancho" Villa (, Orozco rebelled in March 1912, both for Madero's continuing failure to enact land reform and because he felt insufficiently rewarded for his role in bringing the new president to power. At the request of Madero's c ...

, Army Major Thomas Thorn (

) is assigned to be a battlefield observer and reward heroism. He has been suggested for this duty by a Colonel Rogers ( Robert Keith), who is 63 years old and impatiently yearning to be promoted to general before mandatory retirement a few months hence. Rogers leads his regiment in an old-fashioned but poorly planned Cavalry charge on Ojos Azules, a villa owned by Adelaide Geary (

) where Villa's men withdrew after a victory over Mexican government troops, enjoying her hospitality. Thorn, excused from the fighting, observes through his binoculars various acts of heroism by Lt. Fowler (

), Sgt. Chawk (

), Cpl. Trubee (

Richard Conte Nicholas Peter Conte (March 24, 1910 – April 15, 1975), known professionally as Richard Conte, was an American actor. He appeared in more than 100 films from the 1940s through 1970s, including '' I'll Cry Tomorrow'', ''Ocean's 11'', and ''Th ...

) and Pvt. Renziehausen (

Dick York Richard Allen York (September 4, 1928 – February 20, 1992) was an American radio, stage, film, and television actor. He was the first actor to play Darrin Stephens on the ABC fantasy sitcom ''Bewitched''. He played teacher Bertram Cates in th ...

) in defeating Villa's men. Rogers is proud of having personally led the charge, but furious when Thorn won't nominate him for a citation. Thorn insists that leading his regiment in the charge was "in the line of duty" and refuses to consider a citation for the

Medal of Honor The Medal of Honor (MOH) is the United States Armed Forces' highest military decoration and is awarded to recognize American soldiers, sailors, marines, airmen, guardians and coast guardsmen who have distinguished themselves by acts of valo ...

, awarded for heroism "above and beyond the call of duty." Rogers reminds Thorn that he protected him from an investigation for cowardice, which he did out of respect for Thorn's father, but does not sway Thorn. Thorn intends to recommend the four soldiers for the Medal of Honor. He is ordered to take along Mrs. Geary, who is charged with "giving aid and comfort to the enemy." A fifth soldier, a private (

Michael Callan Michael Callan (born Martin Harris Calinieff; November 22, 1935 – October 10, 2022) was an American actor best known for originating the role of Riff in ''West Side Story'' on Broadway, and for his film roles for Columbia Pictures, notably ' ...

) also nominated by Thorn for a medal after an earlier battle, rides with them to the expedition's base at the Texas town of Cordura. This seemingly simple task becomes increasingly complex as the incessant squabbling between Thorn and the men threatens to destroy them all. Eager to learn more about their acts of bravery, Thorn finds the men to be hostile toward him. A series of harrowing incidents make it clear that the apparent heroes were motivated by ambition, terror, or chance, while it is the disgraced Thorn who possesses moral courage. The men soon become insubordinate ultimately turning against Thorn, forcing him to fight the soldiers to save his own life. The movie ends with the men learning personal, not physical, courage from Thorn's example.

Cast

Production

The film was

William Goetz William B. Goetz (March 24, 1903 – August 15, 1969) was an American film producer and studio executive. Goetz was one of the founders of Twentieth Century Pictures, and later served as vice president of 20th Century Fox after the merger with ...

's second film in a six picture deal for Columbia after ''

Me and the Colonel ''Me and the Colonel'' is a 1958 American comedy film based on the play ''Jacobowsky und der Oberst'' by Franz Werfel. It was directed by Peter Glenville and stars Danny Kaye, Curd Jürgens and Nicole Maurey. Kaye won a Golden Globe Award for ...

''. With a budget of $4.5 million it was one of Columbia's most expensive films at the time. Parts of the film were shot at Snow Canyon and

Harrisburg Harrisburg is the capital city of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Dauphin County. With a population of 50,135 as of the 2021 census, Harrisburg is the 9th largest city and 15th largest municipality in Pe ...

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

as well as Indio, California.

Screenplay

Author Glendon Swarthout got the idea for his novel after he had obtained eyewitness accounts for

citations while serving with the 3rd Infantry Division in Southern France during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. This personal experience was applied to his novel.

Filming

suffered a severe back injury during the filming that caused him great pain in his later years, so much so that he was forced to resign from his longtime role of

Darrin Stephens This is a list of characters in ''Bewitched'', an American fantasy television sitcom which aired from 1964 to 1972. Cast Main Recurring Cast notes: Main characters Samantha Stephens Samantha Stephens ( Elizabeth Montgomery) is a witch and ...

on the 1960s television program '' Bewitched'', the injury indeed almost ruining his life. In York's own words, "Gary Cooper and I were propelling a handcar carrying several 'wounded' men down herailroad track. I was on the bottom stroke of this sort of teeter-totter mechanism that made the handcar run. I was just lifting the handle up as the director yelled 'cut!' and one of the 'wounded' cast members reached up and grabbed the handle. I was suddenly, jarringly, lifting his entire weight off the flatbed—one hundred and eighty pounds or so. The muscles along the right side of my back tore. They just snapped and let loose. And that was the start of it all: the pain, the painkillers, the addiction, the lost career."

Music

A film

tie-in A tie-in work is a work of fiction or other product based on a media property such as a film, video game, television series, board game, web site, role-playing game or literary property. Tie-ins are authorized by the owners of the original prop ...

song written by

Sammy Cahn Samuel Cohen (June 18, 1913 – January 15, 1993), known professionally as Sammy Cahn, was an American lyricist, songwriter, and musician. He is best known for his romantic lyrics to films and Broadway songs, as well as stand-alone songs premi ...

and Jimmy Van Heusen was recorded by Frank Sinatra and Robert Horton.
/ref> It was composer Elie Siegmeister's only Hollywood film score.

Notes

External links

* {{Robert Rossen 1959 films 1959 Western (genre) films American Western (genre) films 1950s English-language films Western (genre) cavalry films Films based on American novels Films set in 1916 Columbia Pictures films Films directed by Robert Rossen Films shot in Utah Films shot in California Films with screenplays by Robert Rossen 1950s American films