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Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated) Binding: VHS Tape EAN: 9786302177428 Format: Color, NTSC ISBN: 6302177421 Label: Sony Pictures Manufacturer: Sony Pictures Number Of Items: 1 Publisher: Sony Pictures Release Date: September 29, 1997 Running Time: 123 minutes Sales Rank: 29099 Studio: Sony Pictures Theatrical Release Date: 1959-06
Amazon.com: Gary Cooper's forte--the searching, lone figure beleaguered by conflicts over conscience, truth, and ethics--followed him all the way to the ambitious They Came to Cordura, his third-to-last feature. Cooper plays Thomas Thorn, a career officer in America's fading horse Army of the early 20th century. Thorn's alleged cowardice in battle has been papered over by superiors: He is to identify acts of bravery during an attack on Pancho Villa's troops and lead those designated heroes to a Medal of Honor ceremony in Cordura, Texas. Though Thorn tries to extract the secret behind courage from each man, he discovers a battle-hardened, bestial side to them as well. The Cordura journey becomes fraught with mutiny and near-assaults on a Yankee expatriate (Rita Hayworth). Thorn, reputation aside, redefines courage on his own terms. This widescreen drama (the DVD offers full-screen format as well) is suspenseful, morally complex, and visually rich, but Cooper's performance carries the day. --Tom Keogh
Customer Reviews
Average Rating:
Rating: - An Intelligent Western
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"What is courage? What is cowardice?"
Those are the questions posed in this impressive, intelligent western, set against the backdrop of the 1916 war against Pancho Villa.
Gary Cooper stars as a career Army officer, branded a coward, who is given the task of leading five Medal of Honor candidates to the military base at Cordura, Texas. His hope is to learn what prompted these men to act heroically under fire when he could not. Accompanying ... Read More
Rating: - If it is boring, make sure it's long long long.
This has got to be one of the most boring movies ever made. It goes on and on and on with nothing happening. You would be much less bored at a lecture on the origin of trigonometry. I saw it brand new when I was 15 in 1959. I know I was young, but I saw many serious films that year (I went to the movies every Saturday)--films like Imitation of Life, Anatomy of a Murder, On the Beach, Room At the Top, The Sound and the Fury, and Suddenly Last Summer (to name just a few), and I loved them and stayed interested. I don't think I was too young to appreciate this movie at age 15 because I tried to watch it a ... Read More
Rating: - All for the Love of Production Values..
They Came to Cordura (1959) is an awesome western example of too much money, and not enough script or story. After a brief title card, we have some lackluster dialogue between Gary Cooper and Edward Platt (Chief from Get Smart the Complete Series -- Seasons 1-5 DVD Box Set) and launch into the most amazing cavalry charge ever to grace the silver screen, outside of Waterloo (1970). The action sequence following it tightly edited and well done as well, but after the banditos are finished, the cameras should have been shut off.
If you're looking for some courageous US Cavalry action from the ... Read More
Rating: - Hah!
I disagree with all the characteizations in the first three reviews of this film; They Came To Cordura. I found the film fascinating, complex, thought provoking, and above all well acted. It's too bad Tab Hunter got pigion-holed as a prettyboy--the talent he showed in this film, shows he could have been a 'serious actor'. I don't believe that anyone accustomed to television could ever 'get' a film like this...they have been dumbed down to the point of...well, I can't even put it in polite language. One more thing; Cooper is Cooper, he has always been. He has a peculuar dilivery to his speech. One either ... Read More
Rating: - ACTING AT ITS BEST !!!!
If you like Gary Cooper you will enjoy him in this tense story of a man finding who he really is. Rita Hayworth in a role that actually demands acting , serious acting . She usually plays the dance hall type but in this she is a woman of substance...This movie requires patience and attention to the characters. If you can do that you will enjoy it! Its an adult movie that treats you like an adult.....
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