They Came To Cordura (1959, U.S.A.)

“An impressive and important film”, Variety.

THEY CAME TO CORDURA is a timeless story of courage and cowardice set against the backdrop of the 1916 war against Pancho Villa.

The film stars Gary Cooper as the career Army officer Thomas Thorn.  He’s ordered to lead five Medal of Honor candidates to the military base of Cordura, Texas.  Branded a coward during battle, Thorn hopes to learn what these heroic men possess, that he apparently lacks. But as the gruelling journey through the desert progresses, the “heroes”.  They attempt murder, mutiny and rape as the quest for survival reveals their true characters.

Rita Hayworth, in a dramatic departure from her glamour-girl roles, co-stars as the seventh member of the group.  She plays an American expatriate accused of helping the Mexicans. At first contemptuous of Thorn, she gradually comes to appreciate his quiet integrity as he leads his mutinous charges through a desperate, action-packed odyssey.

They Came to Cordura is a war/western with both exciting battle scenes and finely-tuned drama.  Their trek to the town of Cordura (the Spanish word for courage) is a rugged and riveting tale of bravery far more enduring than the fleeting heroics of battle.