The Alamo is a 2004 film about the Battle of the Alamo during the Texas Revolution. It is the second major studio film about the battle, following John Wayne's 1960 film of the same name. The film was directed by Texan director John Lee Hancock, and produced by Ron Howard, Brian Grazer, and Mark Johnson. It was produced and distributed by Touchstone Pictures.
The screenplay is credited to John Lee Hancock, John Sayles, Stephen Gaghan and Leslie Bohem. In contrast to the earlier 1960 film, the 2003 script makes an effort to depict the political points of view of both the Mexican and Texan sides; Santa Anna is a more prominent character.
Production
The film was originally set up with Imagine Entertainment with Ron Howard in the director's chair and producing partner Brian Grazer as producer. Russell Crowe was originally cast as Sam Houston, Ethan Hawke as William Barret Travis and Billy Bob Thornton as Davy Crockett. But there were financial and creative disagreements between Imagine and Disney, particularly with Howard wanting a $200 million budget. Disney rejected Imagine's proposal for the film, and Howard, Grazer, Crowe and Hawke left the project. Disney opted to go with director John Lee Hancock instead with a budget of $95 million. Thornton was the only member of the original team to remain throughout the project.
The film was shot near Austin, Texas between January and June 2003, mostly on a local property named Reimers Ranch. The film's art direction focused on historical accuracy and verisimilitude; for instance, the mission's facade does not feature the well-known "hump" at the top, a detail that was actually added years after the battle during a restoration.
The film was shot in 2003 and scheduled for release in December of that year, but was then rescheduled for release in April 2004.
Controversies
This latest version of the Battle of the Alamo was the first to show Davey Crockett being killed as a prisoner of war. All others had depicted his death as occurring during the battle, rather than him having been captured then executed along with six others. This sparked debate and critisism from many Alamo enthusiasts and some historians. [1] This version of his death came from memoirs written by former Mexican officer José Enrique de la Peña, who was an officer in Santa Anna's army and who fought in the battle. It is controversial in that de la Peña also described the death of Col. William Travis, the garrisons commander, in his book With Santa Anna in Texas, during which he describes Travis bravely facing his charging attackers.
The problem with this, is that Travis was one of the first Alamo defenders to fall, dying before the Mexican Army breeched the Alamo walls, and before sunrise, thus meaning that de la Peña would have not been in a position to have witnessed what he later described, in addition to it being dark when Travis was actually killed. This called into question his claim that Crockett was captured and executed. It is generally believed by many historians that de la Peña may have heard of or even saw seven prisoners executed, but that he in fact did not know who they were by name, and embellished his story by including Crockett.
Susannah Dickinson, the wife of artillery officer Almaron Dickinson, stated that Crockett was killed near the chapel, during the battle, and that she saw his body. This was supported by Enrique Esparza, who was 8 years old at the time, and the son to Alamo defender Gregorio Esparza. Enrique Esparza stated Crockett fell just after the Mexican Army breeched the walls, and that he died by the entrance to the chapel.
The film also depicts Col. Travis in a somewhat disrespectful manner, in that he makes several strategic mistakes, but somehow earns his soldiers respect anyway. In fact, the historical accounts about Travis reflect just the opposite, indicating he was a competent commander, and that he did a remarkable job in commanding the garrison, despite an ongoing feud with frontiersman Jim Bowie over who was in actual command at the Alamo.
While generally accurate in the main events, it was the film's deviation away from certain aspects of the lives of the historical figures portrayed that drew the most critisism. While eye witness Enrique Esparza did give accounts of Crockett often encouraging the other soldiers, there are no accounts indicating that Travis was anything less than competent, nor did he give the dramatic speech depicted in the film, when giving the soldiers an opportunity to stay and fight or to leave. The only soldier who did choose to leave, in real life, was Moses Rose, since known as the Coward of the Alamo. Rose gave many verbal accounts of those events, and a word for word account of what Travis said that day.
Cast
Crew members film a battle scene
The set of the Alamo used during filming
Many of the extras that took part in the film were actual descendants of the Alamo defenders.
Box office
The film was highly unsuccessful at the box office, opening on Easter weekend to mostly middling reviews and a low box office turnout. In its first weekend, it was defeated in box office numbers by a resurgent The Passion of the Christ. It cost over $140 million USD to make and market the film but earned only $9.1 million USD in its first weekend. By its second month of release, the film had yet to muster $30 million USD in domestic earnings. It ended its theatrical run with a worldwide gross of slightly less than $26 million.[1]
See also
References
External links
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