The comment below was taken from the IMDB. If you have seen this Movie and have a comment then please feel free to add it. Majestic and poignant, a glorious and mighty epic that will last down through the ages. Mr. Wayne never intended to make a documentary, but rather as he said in many interviews at the time, that he considered it one of the greatest stories of heroic American "folklore". Of course it is based on one of the valiant battles ever fought on this planet, but of course all that remains of that horrible slaughter, are letters, accounts of survivors from both armies ( and yes, diaries that are very likely accurate, if not totally honest, by participants). The point is - anyone that makes a movie, book, article based on history - had better have videotape or audio, to prove their accounts, or they will be torn to shreds by the nitpickers, that weren't there but love to complain, and not create. John Wayne wanted to preserve a moment of human dignity and ferocious battle action, between 2 forces that were destined to crash in this massacre. 1 side, the Alamo defenders, were the vanguard of democracy that was spreading across the West, first with mountain men and trappers, then the fighting pioneers that were determined to continue to the Pacific, in the spirit of Daniel Boone and Lewis and Clark. And the Mexican Army was defending it's land against what it came to think, were pirates and invaders. Santa Anna was a monstrous leader who lost so much that the young Mexican Republic, barely had a chance to start, after getting the Spanish out after hundreds of years. John Wayne bet everything on his values, American values - instilled in him on the prairies of Iowa, where he still heard cavalrymen and Union Army veterans, tell of a country they helped build, and passed it on to young Marion Morrison, before his family migrated to California, and his destiny to become one of the great symbols of America. By getting into the movie business, and studying at the elbow of the great rugged directors of the early years - Walsh, Wellman, Hathaway, Hawks and the great poet of the Western movie - John Ford. Who passed onto Duke the great motto - When the legend becomes fact, film the legend. Which Wayne did in a gigantic fashion, with "The Alamo". By hiring the very best composer of huge western themes, mixed with stirring and heartfelt emotion -- Dimitri Tiomkin, he assured audiences of rousing background to his great cameraman, Bill Clothier's fabulous and stunning cinematography -- like dropping back into history at such a pivotal moment. And if John Wayne's effort was not flawless, step up and invest millions into your own version of that timeless story. To say he had a ton of courage, is an understatement, for those who can appreciate greatness, now luckily available to us in DVD and tape forms, to pass on to our ancestors, the work of a man dedicated, come hell or high water, to preserve his big, bold monumental vision, for all generations to come. And for Americans, and all freedom loving peoples - to respect and forever "REMEMBER THE ALAMO".
One of my all time most favorite of Dukes movies. No other movie about the Alamo made to date--comes close to being as good as this one is. However, The Last Command was pretty good for a "B: movie version of the famed fight. Id love to see this out on DvD someday. Also, I have a number of color and B7W stills and 8x10s from this movie. Not sure how many? probably about 40???????
