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The Alamo was released in 1960 by United Artists. It stars John Wayne as Davy Crockett, Richard Widmark as Jim Bowie, Laurence Harvey as William B. Travis, Frankie Avalon, Chill Wills, Patrick Wayne, Linda Cristal, Joseph Calleia as Juan Seguin, Ruben Padilla as Santa Anna and Richard Boone as Sam Houston.
The movie was written by James Edward Grant and directed by John Wayne (and, uncredited, John Ford). It was shot largely on an extensive full-scale replica of the mission near Brackettville, Texas constructed for specifically for the movie. The set, now called Alamo Village, has since been used in over 100 other westerns, including depictions of the 1836 battle. Wayne had lobbied the Republic studio, previously known mostly for B-grade westerns, to make a full-budget epic about the Battle of the Alamo. During production, Wayne's office was inside the reconstructed mission.
The film tells a highly romanticized, hagiographic version of events, in which the defenders are all portrayed as larger-than-life martyrs, and none of the Mexican characters is developed in depth. Critic Leonard Maltin has described the script as being "full of historical name-dropping and speechifying," but notes that the climactic battle scene is spectacular.
The film was considered a success and a vindication of Wayne's gamble with Republic Pictures. The Alamo won the Academy Award for Sound and was nominated for Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Chill Wills), Best Cinematography, Color, Best Film Editing, Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture, Best Music, Song (Dimitri Tiomkin and Paul Francis Webster for The Green Leaves of Summer) and Best Picture.
The film is thought to have been denied winning more awards than the one it got due to an overblown campaign that alienated Academy voters, including one Variety ad that stated, in effect, that the film's producers were praying as hard for Chill Wills to win his award as the defenders of the Alamo themselves prayed the night before the battle.
For several years, the Alamo Theater in San Antonio, Texas played The Alamo repeatedly.
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