Cheap The Man from the Alamo [Region 2] (DVD) (Budd Boetticher) Price

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Customer Reviews of The Man from the Alamo [Region 2]

Poor beginnings drag down an otherwise excellent B-Western
The siege of the Alamo took place in early 1836 some 200 or so men defended the old crumbling adobe mission for 13 days against the might of the Mexican Army, apart from a small group of women and young children there were no known survivors. From a novel by Niven Busch and Oliver Crawford THE MAN FROM THE ALAMO (1953) is a B-Western directed by Bud Boetticher and starring Glenn Ford in the title role. <
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>John Stroud (Ford) with a small group of locals from his home town secretly draw lots to decide which of them will leave the fort to protect their families. Stroud draws the black bean and prepares to leave the fort to the dismay of the other defenders. Riding hell-for-leather he arrives home too late, discovering from Carlos (sole surviving Mexican boy) that his family had been massacred by a band of renegades posing as Mexicans led by Jess Wade (Victor Jory). Taking Carlos into the nearest town of Franklin he leaves him in the care of Beth Anders (Julie Adams). A messenger from the Alamo Lt Tom Lamar (Hugh O'Brian) recognises Stroud and denounces him to the townsfolk. In an effort to infiltrate Wade's gang and with all the local townspeople against him Stroud gets himself thrown into jail, which is already occupied by Dawes (Neville Brand) a gang member. The townsfolk are busy packing and loading a wagon train to escape the expected arrival of the Mexican Army at this point they are attacked by Wade's gang who spring Dawes along with Stroud from jail. Later Stroud learns that the gang are planning to attack the town's wagon train having found out that the town's bankroll is onboard. He sets out to warn the wagon train of pending disaster and to help in organising its defence for the final showdown! <
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>This is really a film of two parts first the scenes at the Alamo which presumably due to budget restraints are all low key and unworthy of this momentous event in American history. The second and by far the largest part, starts from the moment Stroud leaves the fort and moves into more normal B-Western territory. Boettcher has the excellent Glenn Ford portraying the stoic hero who had reluctantly left his comrades (as it turned out) to die at the Alamo, leaving Stroud a man alone against all the odds to clear his name and his conscience a theme Boetticher would return to in a series of seven superior B-Westerns with Randolph Scott 1956 - 1960. Others elsewhere have complained about historical inaccuracies in this film with the use of six guns in 1836 some years before they were introduced, although there is plenty of evidence of mussel-loading going on with muskets, ably demonstrated by the womenfolk defended the wagons in the final scenes. <
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>1953 was fine year for Westerns. The Golden Globe Award for Most Promising Newcomer - Male 1953 went to Hugh O'Brian for this film and other work. Finally a word about Chill Wills who played a crusty one-armed town elder, seven years later he appeared in John Wayne's big budget film THE ALAMO (1960) for which he was nominated for an Oscar for Best Actor in a Supporting Role! <
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I'LL DO IT MY WAY. PERIOD.
Budd Boetticher was responsible for a few great westerns such as [[ASIN:B000BDH6DU Seven Men From Now (Special Collector's Edition)]] or [[ASIN:6304092024 Comanche Station]] in the fifties and is considered as a director with a style or even an author in Europe. However, THE MAN FROM THE ALAMO, shot in 1953, is not one of his best efforts as though some of the themes handled later by Budd Boetticher are already present in this film. <
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>The main problem of THE MAN FROM THE ALAMO is precisely The Alamo and its battle. The production design of the fort is rather laughable and the actors who play such heroic characters as Davy Crockett, Jim Bowie and Colonel Travis are, to be nice, wrongly casted. Incidentally, during an interview he gave some 15 years later, Budd Boetticher only remembered the comic side of THE MAN FROM THE ALAMO. These first twenty minutes literally shoot down the film. The second part, focused on the character played by Glenn Ford, is far more interesting with its non-stop action. Ford is a taciturn man who doesn't care what people think of him. He knows he's right and that's enough for him. Vengeance is his only motto, he doesn't have time to take care of his reputation, good or bad. <
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>A DVD zone Boetticher fans only.

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Great Glenn Ford Western
While many reviewers criticize the accuracy of the portrayal of the Alamo battle, this is a great film that deals with the hardships endured by a man who does the right thing even though it causes him to be exposed to hardship and ridicule. <
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>Ford plays John Stroud, a freedom fighter at the Alamo, and one of a group of men whose families are threatened by Yankee renegades who fight with the Mexicans in exchange for land. Knowing that this bunch of renegades is getting ready to attack their homes, they have a drawing to see who will leave the Alamo to protect their families. The loser will undoubtedly be branded a coward. Ford loses the draw and leaves, only to find his wife and son already dead at the hands of the renegades. <
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>He proceeds to infiltrate and track down the gang. Regardless of the possible inaccuracies about the battle (and who can say for sure because no video or pictures were taken), this is a great film with great performance by Ford, Victor Jory, and ably supported by Julie Adams and Chill Wills