Introduction

They Came to Cordura is a 1959 American CinemaScope Eastmancolor Western film co-written and directed by Robert Rossen and starring Gary Cooper, Rita Hayworth, Van Heflin and Tab Hunter.

The film is based on a 1958 novel by Glendon Swarthout.

Outline

In 1916, as US Army soldiers chase after Pancho Villa, Army Major Thomas Thorn (Gary Cooper) 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 (Rita Hayworth) 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 Lieutenant Fowler (Tab Hunter), Sergeant Chawk (Van Heflin), Corporal Trubee (Richard Conte) and Private Renziehausen (Dick York) in defeating Villa’s men.

Rogers is proud of having personally led the charge, but furious when Thorn will not 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 Honour, 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 Honour. 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) 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.

Trivia

• Author Glendon Swarthout got the idea for his novel after he had obtained eyewitness accounts for Medal of Honour citations while serving with the 3rd Infantry Division in Southern France during World War II. This personal experience was applied to his novel.
• The day after he finished his last doctoral examination he started writing a novel called They Came To Cordura. Its setting was Mexico of 1916 during the Pershing Expedition to capture Pancho Villa, and some of its fictional cavalry troopers had been nominated for Medals of Honour. The book was quickly sold to Random House and then to Columbia Pictures in 1958, becoming one of their major motion pictures starring Gary Cooper and Rita Hayworth a year later. This NY Times bestseller and the movie money enabled Swarthout to become a professional writer at last. He was 39 years old.
• A film tie-in song written by Sammy Cahn and Jimmy Van Heusen was recorded by Frank Sinatra and Robert Horton. It was composer Elie Siegmeister’s only Hollywood film score.

Production & Filming Details

• Director: Robert Rossen.
• Producer: William Goetz.
• Screenplay: Ivan Moffat and Robert Rossen.
• Music: Elie Siegmeister.
• Cinematography: Burnett Guffey.
• Editor: William A. Lyon.
• Production: Goetz Pictures and Baroda Productions.
• Distributor: Columbia Pictures.
• Release Date: 21 October 1959 (US).
• Running Time: 123 Minutes.
• Country: US.
• Language: English.

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