The Alamo

Mexican province is standing at the top of fight for freedom against Mexico. While General Houston is preparing his army for a hard fight against the Mexican soldiers, 185 volunteers commanded by William Travis, who wasn’t very popular among the defenders of Alamo, and Jim Bowie, who was pictured as the weaker of these two men who shared authority during the Siege of the Alamo. Commanding the 185 brave men was offered to the folk hero from Tennessee, Davy Crockett, but he refused it. As it comes to the battle the men protected by the walls of this old fort but had no chance against the hundreds of gun-armed and well trained Mexican soldiers. The Texan men laid down their lives for freedom and patriotism.
This is the abbreviated story of the movie Alamo (1960, director John Wayne) which gathered seven Oscar nominations and an Academy Award for sound. The music and the fact that some of the actors are talking Spanish makes the viewer feel the atmosphere of the south west in the time it was fighting for its freedom. Even though some of the actors’ performances were convincing the viewer can ask the question how truthful was the information in the movie. John Wayne had to make the story dramatic to catch the attention of people and of course he didn’t want to support the legend about all the brave men who died in Alamo. It’s hard to believe that men who were used to hard work and fighting would use soft words and hit the sawdust trail. There are some scenes in the movie where the men are drinking and fighting, but they still know what they are fighting for. It’s amazing that the people from the Southern states who believed in slavery could work together with some Mexicans to set freedom for all. This movie doesn’t show the fact that this was a “war” between the Texans and Mexicans and the opponent sides usually don’t like each other.
In reality Jim Bowie suffered from pneumonia and so he wasn’t able to fight as hard as he fought in the movie. Did he really carry a seven barred rifle? Probably he didn’t. The disease exhausted him. That was also the reason why the Mexican soldiers found and killed him in his bed. The fact most of the people are interested in is, how Davie Crockett died. In the movie he fights till the end and when he sees there’s no way he could survive, he blows up the storage with the gun-powder to avoid the Mexicans to get it. Probably he was shot by the soldiers like the most of these freedom-loving Americans.

Thanks to this movie the quote “Remember the Alamo” isn’t just an empty sentence. This message is carried to the next generations and the historical accuracy doesn’t necessary matter.