Customer Reviews

Last Command [VHS]

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I saw this movie by chance in 1955 when I was 14 years old. In the next few years I saw it at least 25 - 30 more times. It sparked an interest in the Alamo than has never waned. I have seen every movie available about the Alamo and I still think the Last Command is tops over them all, including John Wayne's epic with it's great battle scenes. A well-cast movie, with Sterling Hayden as the perfect Jim Bowie. Richard Carlson plays a strong Travis, confrontational with Bowie, yet not as over-the-top obnoxious as he was portrayed by Lawrence Harvey in John Wayne's production. Arthur Hunnicutt is without question the best "movie" Davy Crockett ever. The movie shows both the Texan and Mexican points of view, and J. Carrol Naish does a good job in the role of Santa Anna. The other supporting actors are also well cast - look for Slim Pickins, John Russell and Jim Davis in early minor roles. It is probably the most accurate of the Alamo movies in spite of the fact that there is ALWAYS Hollywood poetic license in EVERY movie based on real people and events. The critics just need to back off that angle - it's just the way it is. A fast-paced film that should satisfy any action-adventure fan. To this day The Last Command is my favorite movie of ALL TIMES - not the best mind you, but still my favorite. I have probably seen it over 200 times and never get bored watching it. This movie should definitely be released on DVD!

'The Last Command' is a film with a better backstory than the film itself! First batted around Republic Pictures as a potential vehicle for John Wayne, the production was put on the back burner when Wayne decided he wanted total creative control, and decided to produce and direct his own version, with a budget Republic couldn't match.

Republic DID, however, have an arsenal of talent available, and a shooting script, and eventually brought in veteran director Frank Lloyd, who had just come off a ten-year hiatus with 'The Shanghai Story', in 1954. Sterling Hayden, fresh from the cult classic 'Johnny Guitar', and a featured role in Fox's lavish 'Prince Valiant', signed to play Jim Bowie ("I needed the money to refit my boat," he joked). Richard Carlson, whose 'Creature from the Black Lagoon' had just been released by Universal (becoming a big hit) was tapped to play Alamo commander William Barret Travis. Ernest Borgnine, whose 'Marty' was garnering rave reviews (and would earn him an Oscar) took on the showy supporting role of Bowie adversary/friend Mike Radin and starlet Anna Maria Alberghetti, in her first non-singing role, became the female lead. Two veteran character actors rounded out the major cast: J. Carrol Naish, as a sympathetic yet decisive Santa Anna, and, in an offbeat but inspired casting move, bearded Arthur Hunnicutt as a rustic Davy Crockett (who would very nearly steal the film!).

The production was very modestly budgeted, so much so that the number of extras serving as the Mexican army was limited, but director Lloyd and cinematographer Jack Marta were old hands at making more out of less, and with some judicious editing by Tony Martinelli, the illusion of thousands of Mexican soldiers was achieved. Set design was minimal, as well, and the famous 'look' of the church/fortress was often achieved through mat paintings.

Scored by the legendary Max Steiner, with a theme sung by Gordon MacRae, 'The Last Command' seemed to teeter at the edge between 'B' movie and 'A' status; ultimately, the pedestrian script, by Sy Bartlett and Warren Duff, did the movie in, as there was too much time spent on an unnecessary love triangle, which slowed much of the film to a crawl. Despite an unforgettable final battle, audiences avoided the film, and it quickly faded from sight.

Unfortunately, John Wayne didn't learn from 'The Last Command', and he added a love story to his 'Alamo', with the same lethargic result; Crockett's explosive demise (historically inaccurate, but rousing!) must have impressed him, as well, as he staged an even bigger version of it in his film.

'The Last Command' is a curio, but is enjoyable, for the most part, and the spectacular final assault makes it a must for any action fan's collection!

The Last Command, which mostly revolves around the story of Jim Bowie is an excellent movie on the Battle of the Alamo.

only 2 flaws to the last command.

1-they never show the alamo ala John Wayne's alamo.
they only show a part of the dome and the front doors.
so kinda stinks.

2-the battle scene is only 5 minutes long. i know cause i counted it. :)

but i will say this, the battle scene from the last command proably might be one of the most popular battle scenes of all the alamo movies. it's battle scenes have been used in The Alamo: Thirteen Days to Glory and in Texas.

excellent movie.
if you are an alamo fan, then you will surley enjoy The Last Command.

Glad to see that some folks do appreciate "The Last Command," a film ignored by critics or derided by them because John Wayne more or less remade it in his epic, "The Alamo." (Wayne, in fact, trashed "The Last Comamnd" when it came out, feeling that Republic boss Herbert Yates had ruined Wayne's chance to make an Alamo film.) However, on its own, it's a terrific film, definitely on of Republic's "A" pictures, and it offers a more realistic depuction of the actual Alamo battle.

Just a few more points in addition to the praise already posted here.

--After watching the whole length of "The Alamo," it still isn't clear that many Mexicans joined the American settlers in the fight for Texas independence. After only about five minutes into "The Last Command," in contrast, the film makes it clear that opposition to Santa Anna was made up of both Americans and Mexicans, in just about equal numbers. This was the only film until recently that gave the brave Mexicans who stood with their American compatriots at the Alamo their due.

--Movie "experts" have long derided Republic's TrueColor process as vastly inferior to Technicolor. The restored TrueColor print of the film makes it clear that isn't true. TrueColor wasn't as good as Technicolor, true, but I believe it was as good as Eastmancolor at the time, and certainly far better than truly shoddy color processes like CineColor. It looks vibrant in this restored print.

--While the romance-with-the-seniorita angle hurt both "The Alamo" and "The Last Command," at least it made more sense in "The Last Command"--after all, Bowie was just widowed, his former wife was Mexican, and he was well-known and respected by the Mexican population of Texas.

--Veteran charcater actor J. Carrol Naish's portrayl of Santa Anna was three-dimensional--he converyed that Santa Anna had human feelings, that he thought he was right in what he did, and that he could show mercy and conduct himself as a gentleman. Naish's Santa Anna never lost his dignity. The more we learn about the real Santa Anna, the more Naish's performance appears spot on.

--Ironically, the smaller scale of the final assult of the Alamo in Republic's version is probably a more realistic depiction of the actual event than John Wayne's full-blown spectacle in "The Alamo." Despite its smaller scale, it's still a gripping and exiciting battle sequence, worthy of a even major studio effort.

--"The Last Command" also scores another historic accuracy--it shows that women and children were in the Alamo even during the battle--Wayne's film imaccurately depicts the women and children all leaving before the final assault.

Great film, needs to be on DVD and re-apparised by critics and fans.

I hadn't watched this movie since I saw it on the big screen as a child, but I've remembered it fondly all these years and was delighted to find it on Amazon. Sterling Hayden, never a favorite actor of mine, is fine as Jim Bowie, historically a complex man and that's the way Hayden plays him. This is the only Alamo movie I've seen that realistically depicts the physical suffering Bowie endured during the last days of the Alamo siege. Arthur Hunnicut is delightful as Davy Crockett, but Travis, also a complicated historical character, is a nonentity in this version. I'd forgotten the sweeping, beautiful score composed by Max Steinman, and while I remembered every somewhat pedestrian word of the "Jim Bowie" song, I'd forgotten how beautifully the glorious Gordon MacRae sings it. The battle scenes are stirring, and though the movie depicts some scenes the truth and details of which history will probably never reveal - Travis' line in the sand, the deaths of Crockett and Bowie - historically the film is pretty accurate, except for the dumb romance Alamo movies always have to insert for the hero. (In this case, it's a lovestruck Mexican young lady for Bowie, a recent widower, and in "The Alamo," a beautiful Mexican widow for John Wayne as Crockett.) Maybe the movie is of primary interest to diehard Alamo buffs like me, but I enjoyed it just as much today as I did over 40 years ago. It looks a little faded and fuzzy, but I'm amazed the quality of the video has endured as well as this. I'll watch it again and again.

Historically MORE accurate than "The Alamo" though not completely true. Good recreation of battle and characters. Arthur Hunnicutt's Crockett a refreshing change from handsome Fess Parker and tall John Wayne. I love this movie for its sweeping "Texasness."

One of the best tellings of the Alamo story. Sterling Haden is perfect as 6"6' Jim Bowie. And Arthur Hunnicutt as Davy Crockett is a joy to watch. He chews the senery better than anyone I have ever seen in the role, even if it is adobe. Battle sequences are some of the best I have ever seen, and I have seen alot. And is almost potically correct for this day and age, which is amazing for the time in which it was made. It doesn't tell the whole story, but alot of what it tells is historical, not just Hollywood. The most expensive Republic Picture ever made and it shows.

The Last Command is a movie about Jim Bowie and the months leading up to the siege of the Alamo. Sterling Hayden portrays the famous knife fighter with Richard Carlson as Colonel Travis and Arthur Hunnicutt as Davy Crockett. Also with mentionable roles is Ernest Borgnine, J. Carroll Naish, and Slim Pickens. While it is a low-budget film, The Last Command is still a very good film. Good battle scenes although it is obvious only a section of the Alamo mission was actually built. Probably one of the more accurate Alamo movies. If you watch John Wayne's The Alamo, one of my favorites, you can see that they are very similar in dealing with the siege with some scenes being almost identical. Not of the best picture quality, but still a very interesting movie.

One of Republic's best...

Frank Lloyd's career stretched back to the silent era--he was a major director and made films for the top studios in Hollywood. Winding up at a B studio like Republic would seem to be a step down the career ladder, but this film is actually one of Lloyd's best and one of the best to ever come out of Republic.

The studio didn't often get the services of directors of the calibre of Frank Lloyd--although John Ford and Fritz Lang had occasionally made films there--and it spared no expense on this one. The subject matter demanded a big budget, and Republic didn't stint. Thousands of extras, big sets, spectacular action scenes, robust performances--all combined to make a first-rate action picture. Sterling Hayden makes a good Jim Bowie, the always underrated Arthur Hunnicutt personifies Davy Crockett, and the cast is filled with familiar character actors--Roy Roberts, Slim Pickens, John Russell, Jim Davis--who contribute much to the overall atmosphere of the film. The setpiece of the movie, though, is the final siege of the Alamo itself, and it is spectacular. It compares well to the John Wayne version made five years later, and ranks right up there with the final battle scene in 1964's "Zulu"--expertly edited with top-notch stunt-work and special effects. Very highly recommended.

Slow to start, but final battle makes up for it. Really conveys feeling of terror and heroism which Alamo defenders must have felt. Hunnicutt and Carlson make believable Crockett and Travis.