They came to Cordura
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | They came to Cordura |
| Original title | They came to Cordura |
| Country of production | United States |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1959 |
| length | 123 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 16 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Robert Rossen |
| script |
Ivan Moffat , Robert Rossen |
| production | William Goetz |
| music | Elie Siegmeister |
| camera | Burnett Guffey |
| cut | William A. Lyon |
| occupation | |
| |
They Came to Cordura (original title: They Came to Cordura ) is an American western with Gary Cooper and Rita Hayworth from 1959. The novel of the same name by Glendon Swarthout served as a literary model .
action
Thomas Thorn, an American Major of cavalry , shows in 1916 in a cross-border raid the Mexicans dishonorable conduct and is branded as a coward in the sequence. His inexplicable failure is not punished with expulsion from the army because of the position of his father, who was a respected general, but he is withdrawn from direct service at the front for the time being. Instead, as a personnel officer, he should escort five death-defying soldiers to a town called Cordura and find sufficient reasons to propose the men for an order. He is also supposed to take away the prisoner Adelaide Geary, who is suspected of collaborating with the enemy. For this she should stand in court at the destination.
The ride to Cordura soon gives Thorn the opportunity to study the essence of true bravery. When they are robbed of their horses in an enemy attack, they are forced to cross the desolate desert on foot. As Thorn's detailed questioning of the soldiers finally revealed, the motives for their special courage in battle were not very heroic. Coincidence, anger, hatred of the enemy or even their own colonel, and simply desperate efforts to save their own skin, were the real driving forces behind their actions.
The instinctive and unbridled behavior of the men towards Adelaide takes Thorn's last illusion. He has to repeatedly put the shameless soldiers in their place on the exhausting path and lead with discipline and his own example. The situation escalates when Soldier Chawk tries to rape Adelaide. From then on, Thorn and Chawk face each other as mortal enemies. When Thorn can hardly stay awake from exhaustion, Adelaide selflessly humiliates herself to a night with Chawk in order to prevent him from treacherously murdering Thorn in his sleep. When they finally reach Cordura in spite of all the dangers, thirst, hunger and fatigue, the hostilities between the men are forgotten. It beckons freedom and a new life. Side by side they walk towards the saving city - with Thorn in their midst, who has ultimately proven to be a true hero.
background
Producer William Goetz was so impressed by Glendon Swarthout's novel of the same name that he paid $ 250,000 for the film rights. It then took a whole year before Ivan Moffat and director Robert Rossen were able to deliver a finished script. When the cast was put together, the film crew traveled to St. George , Utah in the summer of 1958 , where filming began for nine weeks with more than 400 residents serving as extras. The western was filmed by cameraman Burnett Guffey , who with Rossen had already directed his directorial debut Johnny O'Clock (1947) and The man who wanted to rule ( All the King's Men , 1949). Due to bad weather, however, the shooting had to be relocated to Moapa Valley, outside of Las Vegas . The film was finally completed there and many scenes that had already been filmed in Utah were re-shot. Since everyone involved was accommodated in the posh Sands Hotel in Las Vegas, there were no complaints from the film crew when the shooting went way beyond the schedule.
Actor Dick York suffered serious back injuries in an accident while filming, which plagued him years later and forced him to give up his role as Darrin Stephens in the US television series In Love with a Witch . Gary Cooper also had health problems, but nevertheless took over the part of Major Thorn against the advice of his doctors. It would be his third from last film before he died of prostate cancer in 1961 . Viewers noticed that Rita Hayworth, the screen goddess of the 1940s, also looked emaciated and older than usual in You Came to Cordura . However, the make-up artist Bob Schiffer, who had been responsible for Hayworth's make-up for 18 years, was responsible for this . On the set, he spent two hours every morning transforming the 41-year-old actress into a woman who is well past her prime. Although Columbia Pictures , their former studio, was against making Hayworth look less glamorous and older, producer Goetz insisted on the external change of his leading actress. Hayworth herself was happy about it, as it gave her the opportunity to convince as a serious actress. She subsequently received some of the best reviews of her career for her role as Adelaide Geary.
Director Robert Rossen was not happy with the outcome of his only western, as Columbia had given him little free hand during filming and insisted that Gary Cooper's character never die in the end. The song They Came to Cordura was written by Sammy Cahn and James Van Heusen for the marketing of the film . The song was interpreted by Frank Sinatra . After the film had hit US cinemas in June 1959 and was unsuccessful with audiences, Rossen Columbia bought the rights to them. They came to Cordura to re-cut the film and bring it back to the cinema in a modified form. However, he died before he could finish his director's cut . In Germany, the film was released in cinemas on September 4, 1959. On September 11, 1971, it was first shown on German television by ARD . It was released on DVD in 2004.
Reviews
Bosley Crowther of the New York Times described Swarthout's story as a "clever reversal of boring Western clichés." All actors are also "expressive" in their roles "under the sure direction of Robert Rossens, who knows how to shoot an outdoor shoot".
According to Daily Variety , Gary Cooper was "very good" in his role, "although he is somehow too old for [her]". Rita Hayworth, "who looks quite emaciated here", offers "the best performance of her career". If she shows “only half as much beauty as usual”, she shows “twice as much talent”. Also, The Hollywood Reporter found that Rita Hayworth was delivered as a hapless woman, "one of the best performances of her career."
For the lexicon of international films , you came to Cordura was "a long winded Western with Gary Cooper in a prime role". Cinema described the film as a "star star that never really picks up speed".
Awards
Gary Cooper won the 1960 Golden Laurel Award for Best Actor in an Action Drama , for which Richard Conte was nominated in the same category for You Came to Cordura .
German version
The German dubbing was created in 1959 by Ultra Film Synchron GmbH Berlin for the first German release on September 4, 1959.
| role | actor | Voice actor |
|---|---|---|
| Maj. Thomas Thorn | Gary Cooper | Heinz Engelmann |
| Adelaide Geary | Rita Hayworth | Gisela Trowe |
| Sgt.John Chawk | Van Heflin | Curt Ackermann |
| Lt. William Fowler | Hunter tab | Eckart Dux |
| Cpl. Milo Trubee | Richard Conte | Arnold Marquis |
| Pvt. Andrew Hetherington | Michael Callan | Claus Wilcke |
| Pvt. Renziehausen | Dick York | Otto Czarski |
| Col. Rogers | Robert Keith | Siegfried Schürenberg |
Web links
- They Came to Cordura in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- They Came to Cordura at Turner Classic Movies (English)
- Pictures of the film on cinema.de
Individual evidence
- ^ Gene Ringgold: The Films of Rita Hayworth . Citadel Press, Secaucus 1974, p. 215.
- ↑ cf. imdb.com
- ↑ cf. Rob Nixon on tcm.com
- ↑ “It is a clever reversal of a tired Western movie cliché that Mr. Swarthout has provided for the mobilization of this film. [...] All play their roles expressively under the stinging direction of Robert Rossen, who knows how to make an outdoor film. " Bosley Crowther : They Came to Cordura (1959) . In: The New York Times , October 22, 1959.
- ^ "Gary Cooper is very good as the central figure, although he is somewhat too old for the role. [...] Miss Hayworth, looking Haggard, gives the best performance of her career. If she shows only half the beauty she usually does, she displays twice the ability. " Daily Variety cit. after Gene Ringgold: The Films of Rita Hayworth . Citadel Press, Secaucus 1974, p. 218.
- ↑ "Rita Hayworth gives one of the finest performances of her career as the tough-luck dame." The Hollywood Reporter quoted. after Gene Ringgold: The Films of Rita Hayworth . Citadel Press, Secaucus 1974, p. 218.
- ↑ They came to Cordura. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed October 28, 2018 .
- ↑ cf. cinema.de
- ↑ cf. synchrondatenbank.de