The Last Command (1955)

Overrated

The movie's only flaw is also a virtue: It's jammed with characters, stories, warmth and laughs.

The acting is good, and the firecracker script has some excellent ideas.

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

Much has been said about the apparent argument between Republic Pictures owner Herbert J. Yates and John Wayne over the filming of a story based on the siege of the Alamo. Evidently Yates didn't see Wayne as Davy Crockett and the two never agreed on the film.Republic's version centers around the character of Jim Bowie (Sterling Hayden) and the days leading up to the famous battle. President Santa Anna (J.Carroll Naish) has become a ruthless ruler of Mexico and of Texas. The Texicans are pushing for self government but are being denied their independence.On his way to his Mexican home, Bowie is taken to Santa Ana by force even though the two men had become friends while fighting together for Mexican independence. Bowie learns that his family has succumbed to a plague. Bowie negotiates the release of Texas patriot Stephen Austin (Otto Kruger) while there.Bowie rides around aimlessly following his family's death trying to make sense of all of the political problems. Eventually, he decides to side with the Texicans. He joins together with Colonel William Travis (Richard Carlson) and Davy Crockett (Arthur Hunnicutt) to mount a defence against Santa Anna and his army at an old mission known as the Alamo. They expect to receive reinforcements from Sam Houston (Hugh Sanders) but they never come. Santa Anna attacks the Alamo and............................Republic Pictures was a minor studio but did excel in making westerns. There are many who consider this version of the Alamo to be as good or better than John Wayne version, which is twice as long, and was filmed five years later. You can decide.Sterling Hayden makes a strong hero in Bowie. His knife fight with Mike Radin (Ernest Borgnine, just on the verge of stardom) is a highlight of the picture. Anna Maria Alberghetti was being groomed for stardom by Republic and plays the female lead Consuela who has her eye on the much older Bowie. Ben Cooper plays Jeb Lacey who is in love with Consuela. Others in the large cast includes John Russell, Virginia Grey, Jim Davis, Slim Pickens, Eduard Franz, Russell Simpson, Roy Roberts, Morris Ankrum, Charlie Stevens and Harry Woods.The battle scenes as directed by Frank Lloyd are spectacular and well choreographed. Each of the principles gets to perish in a heroic fashion. Max Steiner's score adds to the excitement.Whether or not Yates made his version of the story to spite Wayne, we'll never know.

Max Steiners stirring melodic score gives the already wonderful script and superb acting the icing on the cake to this tale of more truth than fiction. Outlining both sides of the confrontation before the final outcome. Giving reason and substance to the characters not just lifeless figureheads fighting against ghosts as in the later production. Some of the finest action sequences ever filmed in a western are in the final scenes, while the story and action keeps your attention all thru' the film, not just a wait for the end battle. The principal actors were made for the part.This film deserves a better place in noteriaty and film history.I rate this in my top ten westerns, yes maybe top five.

I always liked this Alamo epic better than Wayne's because it moved faster and Sterling Hayden and Arthur Hunnicutt looked like Jim Bowie and Davy Crockett might have been. Hunnicutt's death scene influenced Wayne's in his epic but I'll rate Hunnicutt's an A+ for less "operatic" posing and a more real "I'll take you to hell with me realism. The teeny bopper love angle could've of been dropped though.

'The Last Command' is a film with a better backstory than the film itself! First batted around Republic Pictures as a potential vehicle for John Wayne, the production was put on the back burner when Wayne decided he wanted total creative control, and decided to produce and direct his own version, with a budget Republic couldn't match.Republic DID, however, have an arsenal of talent available, and a shooting script, and eventually brought in veteran director Frank Lloyd, who had just come off a ten-year hiatus with 'The Shanghai Story', in 1954. Sterling Hayden, fresh from the cult classic 'Johnny Guitar', and a featured role in Fox's lavish 'Prince Valiant', signed to play Jim Bowie ("I needed the money to refit my boat," he joked). Richard Carlson, whose 'Creature from the Black Lagoon' had just been released by Universal (becoming a big hit) was tapped to play Alamo commander William Barret Travis. Ernest Borgnine, whose 'Marty' was garnering rave reviews (and would earn him an Oscar) took on the showy supporting role of Bowie adversary/friend Mike Radin and starlet Anna Maria Alberghetti, in her first non-singing role, became the female lead. Two veteran character actors rounded out the major cast: J. Carrol Naish, as a sympathetic yet decisive Santa Anna, and, in an offbeat but inspired casting move, bearded Arthur Hunnicutt as a rustic Davy Crockett (who would very nearly steal the film!).The production was very modestly budgeted, so much so that the number of extras serving as the Mexican army was limited, but director Lloyd and cinematographer Jack Marta were old hands at making more out of less, and with some judicious editing by Tony Martinelli, the illusion of thousands of Mexican soldiers was achieved. Set design was minimal, as well, and the famous 'look' of the church/fortress was often achieved through mat paintings.Scored by the legendary Max Steiner, with a theme sung by Gordon MacRae, 'The Last Command' seemed to teeter at the edge between 'B' movie and 'A' status; ultimately, the pedestrian script, by Sy Bartlett and Warren Duff, did the movie in, as there was too much time spent on an unnecessary love triangle, which slowed much of the film to a crawl. Despite an unforgettable final battle, audiences avoided the film, and it quickly faded from sight.Unfortunately, John Wayne didn't learn from 'The Last Command', and he added a love story to his 'Alamo', with the same lethargic result; Crockett's explosive demise (historically inaccurate, but rousing!) must have impressed him, as well, as he staged an even bigger version of it in his film.'The Last Command' is a curio, but is enjoyable, for the most part, and the spectacular final assault makes it a must for any action fan's collection!