Benedito Dias Rodrigues
In my school's days l was quite often got high grades in History,but reading a lot of books and documentaries later l realize how the winners rigged those facts,just for one reason,the proud!!!They never explain in simple way how all war is awful for many points of view, the Alamo is one of them,what's could change the history if all texans retreat for a while and get help from Sam Houston of US's army to get Texas later???Why so many people had to die for almost nothing,like Col Jim Bowie who had thousands Texans acres and had another purposes to stay,beware with history tranferred to the movies,all them were poisoned by honor and proud,the Texas in that time was a free land who belonged by native indians,invaded by both nations,first by Mexico and later by USA,somehow by nature of power this huge territory will be american soon or later whatever were the result of Alamo's battle,the all men killed in these fight were unreasonable,the picture spoke for itself!!!Resume:
First watch: 1988 / How many: 3 / Source: TV-DVD / Rating: 7
frankwiener
I was born on the 113th anniversary of the Alamo's fall, so this momentous event, not only in local Texas history but in American history, has been of interest to me from the very start of my existence in this world. My brother, Allen Wiener, authored two different, excellent books about the Alamo, so, beyond my noteworthy birth date, the appeal of the subject may run deep within my blood as well.I watched the full 3 hour and 22 minute version on TCM, and my interest in the action here never waned, even having stayed with it after 4 am, which is WAY past my normal bedtime, and having known the ultimate outcome from the very start. Furthermore, I remained wide awake, not an easy fete for a man of my advanced age.Much has been written about historical inaccuracies in this film, but I found many of them to be trivial when balanced against the much more important themes of courage to sacrifice one's life for the cause of freedom, the ability to maintain faith in the face of a brutally violent death, and the personal, final acceptance of the inevitable reality of death itself. As with any work based on an extraordinary historical event, the film motivated me to discover the true historical facts on my own.As the producer, director, and star of this highly engaging film, much of the credit goes to John Wayne. His passion for the subject and for its value to the history of our nation is evident from beginning to end. The replica of the Alamo, painstakingly reconstructed by Alfred Ybarra, has been acclaimed by several knowledgeable historians as to its authenticity. By itself, this accomplishment should never be underestimated, as it has. The musical score of Dimitri Tiomkin ("High Noon", "High and the Mighty") was magnificent. The heartrending tune and lyrics of "The Green Leaves of Summer", the central theme song, emphasized the precious value of the lives that were about to be sacrificed by the defenders for a cause that they believed to be greater than life itself. In addition, the mariachi inspired music that surged whenever the Mexican opponents were present effectively suggested a clash of two cultures, not only two conflicting national interests.I was also impressed by the manner in which the Mexican opponents were portrayed, not as stereotyped, cardboard characters but as men who were courageous in their own right and who believed in their own cause. The presence of their own families, including women and children, on the battlefield depicted them as equal human beings who placed their lives on the line just as bravely as the Texians did.As to the acting, the performance of Laurence Harvey as Lieutenant Colonel William Travis, the commander at the Alamo, was exceptional. Much has already been written about his undeniable South African/British accent. For the first few moments, I was conscious of it, but it faded fast behind the intensity of the character and the action that revolved around him. The expression on Harvey's face when Jim Bowie (Richard Widmark) finally demonstrated his decision to stay and fight by physically standing with Travis was a very special moment in American cinema, at least to me. Until observing Harvey here, I mostly witnessed him typecast as a disagreeable or brooding character ("Room at the Top", "Butterfield 8") or, even worse, as a miserable, brainwashed psychopath ("Manchurian Candidate"). As the psychologically tormented Travis, Harvey exhibited the full range of his acting ability. As to Widmark, I have read that he was very displeased on the set with just about everything, mostly with the director himself, and his obvious annoyance, in an odd way, seemed to contribute substantially to his fine performance as the often irritated and frustrated Bowie. While others have written of the superficiality of Crockett's character, to the contrary, I was impressed by John Wayne's portrayal of a man who outwardly appealed to the masses while also possessing an inner intellectual depth, especially considering all of the other aspects of the film with which Wayne had to contend during its production. No wonder the Duke was seen smoking so much throughout its making. The pressure exerted upon him by the investors alone must have been quite intense, even for a man of the Duke's legendary tough stature. And how does one direct oneself? I always wondered about that. Although I am not an expert of war films, I thought that the battle scenes were very credible, especially the final confrontation in which 257 free spirited, undisciplined Texians were overwhelmed by thousands of trained, uniformed Mexican troops, moved to action by the rousing roll of relentless, military drums."Twas so good to be young then,To be close to the earth,Now the green leaves of summerAre calling me home."
Edgar Allan Pooh
. . . is nowhere to be found in this mendacious John Wayne Vanity Project nearly as fatal to America as was GONE WITH THE WIND. In Real Life, Wayne was never a Black slave. He never even was lashed to a post and flogged. He certainly did not have the front of a foot chopped off to keep him from fleeing Real Life bullies--such as Marion Mitchell Morrison. For a decade or two prior to making THE ALAMO, Wayne risked proving the adage, "Snitches get Stitches," as he betrayed dozens of more talented colleagues who could act and think circles around him to the Fascist Witch Hunters in order to further his own career of being a W.C. Fields-like buffoon pretending to be a straight man. Many of "The Duke's" Real Life victims "mysteriously" died prematurely (such as Jewish actor John Garfield) or had their lives heavily discounted (including master screenwriter Dalton Trumbo). Wayne's flunkies write on THE ALAMO jewel case that "185 exceptional men joined together in a sacred pact (to) willingly give their lives for Freedom." In actuality, these 185 lazy Southerners deemed themselves too prissy to do any Real ranch work, and too cheap to pay their FORMER Black slaves from "Up North" (that is, Tennessee and the other FUTURE Confederate Rebel States) fair wages for a change in Mexico, the Land Where Blacks Were Free.Yup, that's right: David Crockett, James Bowie, William Barrett Travis, and the other VILLAINS of THE ALAMO fought and died in a tragically successful effort to RE-ENSLAVE the Black Man in their Hellish Rebel Republic of Texas. Marion Morrison (the future "John Wayne") himself and all other American school kids of the 1930s and earlier KNEW this sordid story by heart. Without THE ALAMO to "remember," there never would have been the later U.S. Civil War, which murdered 10% of the innocent male population of the Civilized North to correct the sinful slothfulness of Satan's South. Always poor losers, the defeated Rebels boded their time and waited until America was distracted by World War II in the mid-1900s to outlaw the inclusion of TRUTH in any U.S. school textbook or classroom, K - college. Texas bigots have had veto power over each line of all U.S. "American History" texts since then (and now they're branching out into biology, sexuality, economics, and most other subjects with their Anti-Intellectual Inquisition). With THE ALAMO, Wayne is attempting to "Re-Educate" those members of the World War One generation who survived until 1960 that Real Life Freedom Fighter Santa Anna was a Hitler rather than a Grear Emancipator (like Lincoln), which he aimed to be. (Wayne brazenly depicts his own Crockett character waging a Disinformation campaign as one of the many scenes of "padding" crammed into this bloated flick.) If David Crockett and James Bowie had their Druthers, Oprah, O.J., Mariah, Beyonce, Kareem, Martin, and all their kin folk would STILL be toiling in Racist Slavery to this very day! Remember THE ALAMO, indeed!
