The Alamo (1960) on Netflix
NR19603h 22mAdventureHistoryWarWestern
Sam Houston needs time to build an army, so William Travis holds the Alamo. Jim Bowie brings volunteers and Davy Crockett arrives with Tennesseans. Santa Anna's army surrounds the fort.
- Netflix3.1/5
- IMDb6.8/1019,868 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes55%
Trailer
Plot summary
Sam Houston needs time to raise troops for Texas, and Santa Anna's Mexican army is larger and better armed. Lieutenant Colonel William Travis takes charge of defending the Alamo, an old mission in San Antonio. Jim Bowie arrives with reinforcements, and the defenders get ready. Davy Crockett reaches the fort with a group of Tennesseans. Santa Anna's army surrounds the Alamo and the siege starts. Travis holds authority over the regular soldiers and Bowie over his volunteers, and the two clash over command. When Mexican officers come to demand surrender, Travis answers with a cannon shot. The Texans sabotage a super-sized Mexican cannon in a nighttime raid.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about The Alamo (1960)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- John Wayne put $1.5 million of his own money into The Alamo, taking out second mortgages on his houses and using his vehicles as collateral for loans. He called it a good investment.
- Chill Wills's Oscar campaign for Best Supporting Actor was considered tasteless by many, including John Wayne, who publicly apologized for him. Wills had taken out an ad in The Hollywood Reporter saying the Alamo cast was praying harder "than the real Texans prayed for their lives in the Alamo" for him to win.
- Sammy Davis Jr. asked John Wayne for the part of a slave in The Alamo, wanting to break out of song-and-dance roles, but producers blocked the move, apparently because he was dating white actress May Britt.
- Laurence Harvey forgot that a firing cannon recoils; during the scene where, as Travis, he fires in response to a surrender demand, the cannon came down on his foot and broke it. He did not scream until after Wayne had called "Cut", which Wayne praised as professionalism.
- John Ford, Wayne's mentor, showed up uninvited on The Alamo and tried to influence the production. Wayne sent him off to shoot unnecessary second-unit footage to keep his own authority, and almost none of it was used, though Ford is wrongly called an uncredited co-director.
- Richard Widmark complained days into filming that he had been miscast and tried to leave The Alamo, since the diminutive actor was playing the reportedly 6 ft Jim Bowie. After threats of legal action he agreed to finish, and had Burt Kennedy rewrite his lines.
- The Alamo set built near Brackettville, Texas, took almost two years to construct, with over a million-and-a-quarter adobe bricks formed by hand for a three-quarter-scale replica of the mission. It was later reused in other Westerns and television series.
- John Wayne meant to play Sam Houston, a bit part that would have freed him to concentrate on directing, but investors insisted he take a leading role. He played Davy Crockett instead, giving Houston to Richard Boone.
