The Alamo - Fin

What to make of this film?

It starts off slow and we think the first 35-45 minutes are pointless, as is the entire Crockett-Flacca relationship. She leaves after the first act and should have been made a nurse in the Alamo. The film suffers from a lack of things to do, which is why the defenders have not one but two capers against the Mexican army.

Dimitry Tiomokin wrote an excellent score with just a touch of Russian in it. Viewers will hear what we mean.

As noted previously, John Wayne was miscast (by the studio) and should have played Sam Houston. Laurence Harvey chews the scenery until settling down in the 3rd act. Richard Widmark is meh. There are many excellent character actors, not Chill Willis.

The Alamo is a good looking movie set in the Texas prairie with a splendidly appointed cast, especially the Mexicans.

The final assault remains one of the best combat sequences we've ever scene, well acted, directed, and edited. Well done.

Over all 2.5 out of 4 stars.

The Alamo Forever

John Wayne had an excellent director's eye.

Shot in luscious technicolor The Alamo is a good looking movie. The Texas prairie pops off the screen for the viewer, but is also well set in the background, almost as if it swallows up the characters.

Those characters are well costumed, especially the Mexican Army. Tell us again how the Duke didn't like Mexicans.

There's a bit of John Ford in Wayne's direction, which makes a lot of sense. Look at the scope in this shot:

One see's three layers of Alamo defenders and the Mexican Army in the background.

While the 2004 version of the Alamo, interesting on its own terms, is already receded, John Wayne's Alamo was filmed to last, to be viewed over and over again, and to be appreciated.

John Wayne's Alamo: The Mexicans

Without looking we're sure leftist film critics have slammed The Alamo for portraying Mexicans badly.

These fucktards have not watched The Alamo.

There's not one bandoleer wearing, gold tooth sporting, tequila swilling Mexican in this entire film. A Clint Eastwood movie this ain't.

Early on Jim Bowie tells Davey Crocket why he likes the Mexicans so much. A little later a Mexican rancher, splendidly costumed we might add, tries to tell Colonel Travis that Santa Anna's army has crossed the Rio Grande. After the first battle the Texans look at the field of Mexican army corpses, one talks about how proud he was of them.

At no point is the Mexican Army portrayed as cowardly or blood thirsty. In fact they look professional and brave. We love this screen cap from the end of the final battle. We think the pic speaks for itself:

You know who comes off looking bad in John Wayne's The Alamo? - The Tennesseans. According to the Duke, Davey Crocket gathered a bunch of whisky swilling, road kill eating, backwoods talking twang-boys* and brought them down to Texas to swill whisky and twang. We enjoyed Chill Willis' death. The Texans don't come off much better. Wayne is practically begging the viewer to think they're stupid.

Of course John Wayne was married to a Mexican woman at the time.

[Peruvian-Ed]

Whatever.

*[What the fuck is  a 'twang-boy' -Ed]

John Wayne's Alamo: The Casting

The Alamo was John Wayne's project. He wisely wanted to play the bit role of Sam Houston, but the studio, understandably, wanted the Duke in a staring role. So Davey Crocket he was, much to the detriment of the film. John Wayne is bigger than The Alamo.

Richard Boone, who plays Houston, would have made a fine Crocket.

Richard Widmark is ok and unremarkable as Jim Bowie.

Playing William Travis, British actor Laurence Harvey spends the first half of The Alamo chewing the scenery. Once he settles down he gives a fine performance of a genteel southerner.

Chill Willis damn near won an Oscar for his role as a whisky swilling Tennessean. We found him mostly annoying. The rest of the Tennesseans and Texans are played by television actors who add a bit of character to thier roles. These are well done.

Linda Cristal's Flacca is....well...oh my....muy caliente.

John Wayne's Alamo

Last week, for the first time in a couple of decades we watched John Wayne's The Alamo.

The Alamo was one of the films of our childhood. One night in 1980 it aired and our dad taped it for us. We must have watched that tape fifty times. We loved the movie. 

It seemed long, with this seven-year old having to sit through a bunch of dull stuff to get to the action, which doesn't really begin till at least halfway through.

We knew a lot of movies about last stands and this influenced our thinking greatly when playing with soldiers or designing scenarios in The Ancient Art of War.  The Alamo was the first such film.

Having re-watched The Alamo we found some of it tedious, some of it hokey, some of it tropey, and some of it cringe-worthy. We also saw four or five really great things about the film, and will spend the week talking about it.

Sands of Iwo Jima in Time

So over the weekend I caught Sands of Iwo Jima on Amazon.

A bit of background. I first saw this movie when I was 7 years old, 1980, maybe 1981, and we taped it right off TV. Younger reader (s) ask your parents. I must have watched it a hundred times. The film was part of the texture of my childhood. So were the commercials. I still remember snippets of those, a detergent commercial where detergent bottles are making a rainbow, another detergent commercial where kids are tying old newspapers together and kid says, 'Mom, we got a ton. Our school's gonna win.'

Anyhoo, watching this weekend I was stunned how I could recall the rhythm and cadence of the dialogue, like an actor remember lines from years before. I was in high school and college drama clubs, so I do that too, 'I wonder why London cannot keep its fools at home...', or 'You are causing an economic revolution on this island...'

Now one of the aspects of Sands of Iwo Jima that most impressed me was the writer's and actors' ability to get across strong characters. There must be a dozen of them. John Wayne's Sgt. Stryiker of course but there are many others. The two brothers from Philly who are always fighting. Thomas, the skeptical marine who served in China with Stryker. Bass, the old friend of and straight man to Stryker, Rigazzi, the quick talking player. Choynski the 'all thumbs' recruit. The tall, handsome Shiply. And of course Conway, the reluctant marine who resents the corps and Stryker who served with his father on Guadalcanal.

Conway has a romance angle, meeting Kiwi girl and a marine social, played by Adel Mara, and man is she a hottie.

Also interesting was the portrayal of the Tarawa landing. Lots of action, as the amtracs hit the beach, explosions, water geysers, wrecked vehicles, dead marines. Hollywood's version fits seamlessly with combat footage, so much so that a few months ago one of the magazines I write for accidentally illustrated an article on Tarawa with a publicity photo from Sands of Iwo Jima. The same is true for the Iwo Jima scenes. The movie bits fit pretty well with historical footage. They even recreate the landing with a nice, grand visual scope.

While its dated (obviously) Sands of Iwo Jima holds up as a period war movie, probably the Pacific version of the classic 'Battleground'. Its excellent characters and human drama make Sands of Iwo Jima timeless.