The Alamo (B or 3/4 stars)
John Wayne produces, directs & stars as frontier soldier Davy Crockett in 'The Alamo', a stirring 1960 labor-of-love tribute to the small band of Texans who were fighting for independence from the mighty Mexicans. The year is 1836 when we meet strong-willed Gen. Houston (Richard Boone), who promotes the rigid William Barrett Travis (Laurence Harvey) to a colonel & tells him that his small # of army troops are to defend the titular small Texan fort at all costs against the Mexican General Santa Anna's (Ruben Padilla) 7,000+ troops until Houston can build a sound army.
Also on hand are alcoholic, knife-wielding scout, Jim Bowie (Richard Widmark), married to an aristocratic Mexican woman, & his 100 riffraff volunteers, & former congressman, the coon-skin cap-wearin' adventurer, Davy Crockett (Wayne), & his small band of Tennessee volunteers, who both vie with Travis for leadership of the troubled force. Though all of their reasons vary, these leaders become hell bent on making Texas a republic or go down to the death, fighting. For 13 long days, they bravely held off Santa Anna; but would it last? Much action, heroics & patriotism ensues.
As I mentioned above, this epic film - and boy, is it epic - was a real labor of love for John Wayne. Red-blooded American John Wayne worked for some 10 yrs. on the screenplay with James Edward Grant. And Wayne put up his own $$ to produce, direct {for the 1st time} & star in his highly patriotic, yet fairly inaccurate western. Made for an astoundingly expensive $12 million {for back then}, it DID make $20 million at the box office - which was huge - but success was never a surety. Why was its success never a sure thing? Well, it had several potential stumbling blocks ...
At 3 hours in length, some critics blasted the film as having too many irrelevant, caustic & ponderous scenes; that Wayne was indulgent in this epic endeavor. The film would be cut to be under 3 hours, but some of the damage had been done. And when you make a film for $12 million, you need glowing reviews to ensure that every person possible will pay to see the film to turn a profit. Good thing the production is as good as it is, with top-notch filmmaking {William H. Clothier's fantastic cinematography, big sets, great costumes, walloping sound design, Dmitri Tiomkin's rousing music, etc.}, & good performances from a vast cast. Sure, we had Wayne, Widmark, Boone & Harvey as a core 4, but there were plenty others.
Also onboard was Academy Award-nominated Chill Wills {Wayne's eternal co-star who wasn't particularly great, yet got nominated due to an absolutely insistent campaign}, Patrick Wayne {John's son}, Linda Cristal, Joseph Calleia, Frankie Avalon(!) & many others. But again, the movie is just a bit much; loaded with happenstance & cliches. But I don't want to get too negative. This messy saga is impressively mounted. The performances are spirited. And the climax is thoroughly exciting. The film received 7 Oscar nominations, but failed to get one for John Wayne's direction; perhaps because he received help from John Ford. In the end, though it doesn't attain 'greatness', I still enjoyed this ponderous, but strong entertainment.
Also on hand are alcoholic, knife-wielding scout, Jim Bowie (Richard Widmark), married to an aristocratic Mexican woman, & his 100 riffraff volunteers, & former congressman, the coon-skin cap-wearin' adventurer, Davy Crockett (Wayne), & his small band of Tennessee volunteers, who both vie with Travis for leadership of the troubled force. Though all of their reasons vary, these leaders become hell bent on making Texas a republic or go down to the death, fighting. For 13 long days, they bravely held off Santa Anna; but would it last? Much action, heroics & patriotism ensues.
As I mentioned above, this epic film - and boy, is it epic - was a real labor of love for John Wayne. Red-blooded American John Wayne worked for some 10 yrs. on the screenplay with James Edward Grant. And Wayne put up his own $$ to produce, direct {for the 1st time} & star in his highly patriotic, yet fairly inaccurate western. Made for an astoundingly expensive $12 million {for back then}, it DID make $20 million at the box office - which was huge - but success was never a surety. Why was its success never a sure thing? Well, it had several potential stumbling blocks ...
At 3 hours in length, some critics blasted the film as having too many irrelevant, caustic & ponderous scenes; that Wayne was indulgent in this epic endeavor. The film would be cut to be under 3 hours, but some of the damage had been done. And when you make a film for $12 million, you need glowing reviews to ensure that every person possible will pay to see the film to turn a profit. Good thing the production is as good as it is, with top-notch filmmaking {William H. Clothier's fantastic cinematography, big sets, great costumes, walloping sound design, Dmitri Tiomkin's rousing music, etc.}, & good performances from a vast cast. Sure, we had Wayne, Widmark, Boone & Harvey as a core 4, but there were plenty others.
Also onboard was Academy Award-nominated Chill Wills {Wayne's eternal co-star who wasn't particularly great, yet got nominated due to an absolutely insistent campaign}, Patrick Wayne {John's son}, Linda Cristal, Joseph Calleia, Frankie Avalon(!) & many others. But again, the movie is just a bit much; loaded with happenstance & cliches. But I don't want to get too negative. This messy saga is impressively mounted. The performances are spirited. And the climax is thoroughly exciting. The film received 7 Oscar nominations, but failed to get one for John Wayne's direction; perhaps because he received help from John Ford. In the end, though it doesn't attain 'greatness', I still enjoyed this ponderous, but strong entertainment.