A couple of likeable rogues seem to team up as long as it suits each one, but they each have ulterior motives in “Vera Cruz.” Ben Trane (Gary Cooper) meets Joe Erin (Burt Lancaster) who is a toothy fox who leads Trane through the morass of Mexico. From stolen horses to outsmarting the Mexican Army, their bond is tenuous at best. They meet an ersatz countess (Denise Darcel) and impress Emperor Maximilian (George Macready) that they are the best American hired guns he can find. He needs them as his own Marquis (Cesar Romero) is a rogue himself, and all of them want the gold bullion that is hidden in the countess’s carriage. She even decides to throw in with the Americans to steal the gold rather than give it to the revolutionaries. The double-crosses keep everyone off balance and wondering who will shoot whom in the big gunfight ending.