The Alamo
Directed by John Wayne
Written by James Edward Grant
1960/USA
Batjack Productions/The Alamo Company
First viewing/Amazon Instant
[box] Jim Bowie: I’d hate to say anything good about that long-winded jackanapes, but he does know the short way to start a war.[/box]
John Wayne’s lone directorial effort is over-long but not half bad.
A vastly outnumbered group of “Texicans” create a fortress from a mission church in San Antonio and prepare to face off with Mexican dictator Santa Ana. They know victory is impossible but hope to buy time as Sam Huston (Richard Boone) works on assembling an army. The Texans are joined by some hard-drinking Tennesee revelers led by Davy Crockett (Wayne). Other key players are Jim Bowie (Richard Widmark) and the humorless and rigid commander of the forces, Col. William Travis (Lawrence Harvey).
We follow the bickering and adventures of the men as they prepare for catastrophe. The battle itself takes up perhaps the last fifteen minutes of the film.
This movie is quite OK but never really sings in any way despite the big bucks invested in it.
The Alamo won the Academy Award for Best Sound, Recording. It was nominated in the categories of Best Picture; Best Supporting Actor (Chill Wills); Best Cinematography, Color; Best Film Editing; Best Music, Original Song (“The Green Leaves of Summer”); and Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture.
Trailer
