Texana Thursday: Remembering the Alamo on the Silver Screen

Alamo Village, north of Brackettville, is where John Wayne filmed the 1960 movie The Alamo (Creative Commons license attribution, photo courtesy travelswiss)

On February 8, 1836—181 years ago yesterday—Davy Crockett and his men arrived at the Alamo. The rest, of course, is history, and has been told on the silver screen more than once.

The first film about the Alamo story came out during the silent films era. Davy Crockett and the Fall of the Alamo (1926) lasted 60 minutes and starred Cullin Landis as Crockett.

The second film, The Last Command (1955), focused on the story of Jim Bowie, inventor of the Bowie Knife and one of the Alamo’s commanders. It was filmed on a ranch near Brackettville, which lies 123 miles west of San Antonio. Sterling Hayden played Bowie. Arthur Hunnicutt played Crockett. Richard Carlson played Lt. Col. William B. Travis, who along with Bowie was a co-commander of the Texas garrison charged with defending the Alamo.

The third film is perhaps the most noteworthy. The actor John Wayne had been fascinated by the Alamo story, and wanted to make a movie about it. He had a movie set built just north of Brackettville for the filming. (The set today, known as Alamo Village, is a tourist attraction.) Wayne played Crockett in The Alamo (1960). Richard Widmark played Bowie. Lawrence Harvey played Travis.

The most recent film, The Alamo (2004), was filmed near Dripping Springs, near Austin. Unlike Wayne’s version, this film included the Battle of San Jacinto, which took place just over a month following the Alamo siege. Billy Bob Thornton played Crockett. Jason Patric played Bowie. Patrick Wilson played Travis. Dennis Quaid played General Sam Houston, who led the Texans at San Jacinto.

As might be expected, the 1960 and 2004 films have different takes on how Crockett died. In the Wayne film, Crockett was stabbed to death during the battle in the Alamo chapel doorway. In the 2004 film, Crockett was the last Texas survivor. He was on his knees, surrounded by Mexican General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna and the Mexican Army. Urged to surrender, Crockett said if the Mexicans would surrender he would negotiate with Houston to spare most of the Mexicans’ lives. Santa Anna ordered Crockett killed by bayonet.

One can see the 1960 and 2004 films on television every now and then, and they are available on DVD.

In between these films was another, which was made for television. The Alamo: Thirteen Days to Glory (1987). The film features Brian Keith as Crockett, James Arness as Bowie, and Alec Baldwin as Travis.

The Alamo story is also told in IMAX. The Rivercenter Mall in San Antonio has an IMAX theater that has continually played Alamo: The Price of Freedom (1988). The film lasts only 37 minutes, but is well worth viewing before making the short walk to visit the Alamo itself.

In this film, Merrill Connally—brother of Governor John Connally and state Senator Wayne Connally—played Crockett. Steve Sandor played Bowie. Casey Biggs played Travis.

Interesting though these movies are, they don’t quite measure up to seeing the Alamo itself. USA Today lists the Alamo as one of the top tourist attractions in the state. The singer Phil Collins, who has a fascination with the Alamo story, had collected Alamo artifacts over the years. He published a book about his collection and donated it to the Alamo for display.

Fair to say, people will always remember the Alamo.