The Alamo (1960)

This movie is the proof that the world is becoming a sick and dumb place

Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

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

John Wayne was not born to be a Director. and it shows. I don't know if and why he did not proposed this to his friend John Ford. Maybe he did, and Ford rejected. John Wayne projected himself as the Gallant hero in some scenes with a beautiful Mexican widow. He then sends her to safety, without even a kiss. This love story ends there. For the major part the plot is faithful to History. But at the end, the horror actions that Santa Ana's troops committed, is not shown. War is rarely pictured in Hollywood movies. But in this case John Wayne did it as he wanted. After all, he was also the Producer. The music is also Romantic. This movie should have been directed by Sam Peckinpah.

In a seminal part of the history of the USA and Texas in particular, a small number of resistance fighters hold off the vast invading Mexican army at the derelict Alamo mission in San Antonio.In the 50-odd years since John Wayne's The Alamo was made, thousands upon thousands of movies have reached the public, ranging from the classic to the dreadful. Those regarded as classic have pushed the boundaries of cinema, and it must be accepted that this version of The Alamo doesn't stand up up too well when judged by present-day criteria.But back in 1960, The Alamo was an Event. Wayne was at the height of his popularity (he was box office number 1 for many years),this was a pet project of his, and it was an epic (and, unusually, a western one rather than biblical).Hindsight shows it to be somewhat bloated, rather slow paced at times, and over loaded with right wing polemic. On the other hand, it is undoubtedly sincere, the action sequences with their large casts are well marshalled, and it is a good looking film.For me, it passes muster. I wish I still had the commemorative programme which accompanied on its first cinema run!

Just for the record I like John Wayne and his films, I love The Searchers, The Quiet Man, El Dorado, The Shootist, Fort Apache and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, and quite like Red River and Rio Bravo. The Alamo is not Wayne's worst movie, not even close, that dishonour to me is still The Conqueror, but again it's not among his best either.Before I point out what I didn't like very much about The Alamo, I noticed several things I liked and admired. The Alamo is a beautifully made film with great colour, magnificent scenery and strong cinematography. Dmitri Tiomkin has penned some wonderful scores, such as It's a Wonderful Life, Red River and The High and the Mighty, and the score for The Alamo was no exception, with its melodious and rousing themes.Some assets showed some good and bad things. One was the script, the second half in written quality is actually stirring stuff. I wish I could say the same for the first half, sadly I found it rather leaden. Another was the direction, in the second half it shows signs of brilliance however in the first it is somewhat self-indulgent with scenes going on too long. This paragraph especially applies to the cast. John Wayne is charismatic enough and does a better job at acting here I feel than directing and Richard Widmark once again gives a solid performance. One of the most disappointing things of this picture is the performance of Laurence Harvey, who's very stiff with an accent that is both inconsistent and obvious.There are also some assets that didn't do much for me. In terms of story, the second half is much better than the first. The second half has some good writing and picks up the pace, the first half on the other hand is in my opinion unexciting and pedestrian with too many overlong scenes that could've been trimmed easily. The Alamo is perhaps 15 minutes too long, the pace is often dull particularly at the start and for a lengthy movie you'd expect more character development than this. Widmark's is probably the most well developed, Harvey's character is very awkward and perhaps even out of place throughout.Overall, too uneven and just didn't engage me. 5/10 Bethany Cox