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Made the same year as Juarez with Bette Davis and Paul Muni, this version of Archduke Maximilian’s doomed reign as a French-supported emperor of Mexico is far inferior. The acting is stiff, even for 1939. Honestly, there is little reason for anyone to watch this movie, unless they feel compelled to see every movie on the Franco-Mexican War. Read More…
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Gone To Texas is an astonishing faithful presentation of Sam Houston’s life, although the fictional version is a more dynamic individual than the real man. Sadly, while the script is surprisingly accurate, the acting is mediocre. Still, the miniseries is worth watching as a moderately entertaining history lesson, which is more than can be said about most of the movies on the Texan Revolution. Read More…
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The miniseries presents the history of Texas from the establishment of Stephen Austin’s first colony in 1823 to the annexation of Texas by the United States in 1846. Lacking the budget required to receate the battle of the Alamo, the producers simply re-used footage from John Wayne’s movie The Alamo. While the script deserves credit for showing the reaction of the native Tejanos to the American colonists, the acting makes the miniseries hard viewing. Read More…
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As the title says, the film examines the thirteen-day-long siege of the Alamo during the Texan Revolution. The best thing that I can say is that Raul Julia clearly had fun playing Santa Anna, more fun than I had watching the movie. At least, this version dreamed up some new inaccuracies. Honestly, it is better than several versions in the 1940 and 50s. Please do not misunderstand, I am not saying that it is good but there are worse. Read More…
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Initially, three episodes that were shown as the Disney television miniseries Davy Crockett, the movie presents Crockett as a frontiersman, congressman and one of the defenders of the Alamo. Honestly, I was surprised, it’s not bad. Better than most movies on the Alamo, and it shows the full scope of Crockett’s eventful life. Read More…
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Although the film covers the entire Texan Revolution, it is presented as a chapter in the life of Sam Houston, so viewers will actually learn little about the revolution, especially since the script is a giant mess of inaccuracies. Oddly enough for a film about a revolution, the endless talk about freedom means there is little time for battles. Read More…
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After a superposse is formed with the sole purpose of hunting them down, famous train robbers Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid relocate to Bolivia and have a thriving career as bank robbers. Admittedly, the movie does not tell the full story of the Hole in the Wall Gang, but it sure is fun. The humor in the movie is due to the actors’ decision to play their irritation at each other’s screw-ups straight, never winking at the camera. Even though it was their first time working together, Paul Newman and Robert Redford have an amazing bond. Read More…
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Heroes of the Alamo presents the growing tension between the American immigrants in Mexico and the Mexican government that eventually led to the Texan Revolution. Unlike most films on the Alamo, it focuses on the Dickinson family, rather than Davy Crockett or Jim Bowie. Made in 1937, the acting is stilted, as if the actors have not adapted to sound. Even for the time, this is horrible, almost incompetent. Read More…
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Hoping to start over in Texas, Sam Houston is drawn into the movement to secede from Mexico. The general chronology of the Texan Revolution is correct, at least the dates are correct, but everything else is inaccurate. The movie is so lacking in energy, I wonder why they bothered. Read More…
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The Last Command examines the origins of the Texan Revolution and presents the siege of the Alamo, placing Jim Bowie firmly in the hero’s role. Unbelievably lame, it is more historically accurate than John Wayne’s version but it is also much less fun. Read More…
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The story of the sack of Lawrence, Kansas led by guerrilla leader William Quantrill during the American Civil War, it is very silly and a little boring. A perfect example of the mediocrity of far too many B-movies, it sets a new standard in changing the facts.
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A completely fanciful account of Billy the Kid that treats the historical record like a buffet. Boring, strange and pretentious, The Left-Handed Gun (1958) is silly, as if it was made for children. Read More…
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Near the end of the American Civil War, the commander of a Union prison recruits a mix of civilians, Confederate prisoners and Union troops to hunt down a band of Apache, pursuing them into Mexico, which was occupied by a French army struggling to place an Austrian prince on the throne. As the search extends into weeks and then months, the men gradually shed all traces of civilization.
Described as Moby Dick on horseback, the film became famous for director Sam Peckinpah’s mix of self-destructive behavior and brilliance. Clashing with the executives who ran the studio, the film was taken away from Peckinpah in the editing stage and a drastically shorter version was released, which was ridiculed by critics and ignored by movie-goers. Although no one knew it at the time, it was a dress rehearsal for The Wild Bunch, but it is still an impressive accomplishment on its own. Major Dundee is one of those movies where a film of the behind-the-scenes action would probably be as interesting as the final result. A restored version, based on a cut made by producer Jerry Bresler, was made in 2005, which provides a more coherent story, while revealing the movie’s flaws. Despite the flaws, it bursts with passion and brilliance. Read More…
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Balancing the conflicting needs of the radical and conservative factions of the Republican Party, President Abraham Lincoln struggles to convince enough Democrats to vote for the Thirteenth Amendment, which will abolish slavery. The war is almost over, so Lincoln must deal with Confederate negotiators, who hope to win peace and keep slavery, aware that the North is weary of war. Determined to see that the Thirteenth Amendment passes, Lincoln insists that all means short of the exchange of money be employed to persuade Democrats to vote for the amendment. The film is a stunning recreation of the real Lincoln’s world. While this is not the definitive movie about the long road to freedom for blacks in the United States, it is the definitive movie about Abraham Lincoln.
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The Outlaw (1943) presents the rivalry between Billy the Kid and Doc Holliday, which was a figment of the screenwriter’s imagination. The lack of historical accuracy did not trouble producer/director Howard Hughes, since he was far more interested in co-star Jane Russell’s remarkable bosom. Hughes wanted a movie with sex and he made one. The first movie to defy the Production Code, it took two years of cuts and revisions to satisfy the censors. Even so, the film attracted so much attention that the censors banned it after a week in 1943, and it only returned to theatres three years later, where it was a huge success. For those interested in cinema history, the movie is worth watching. Read More…
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A solid introduction to the French Intervention in Mexico, a relatively unknown episode in history when France tried to turn Mexico into a puppet state, Juarez presents the basic chronology, but is limited by the decision to have Paul Muni’s Juarez single-handedly evict the invaders. Read More…
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Adopting an episodic approach to the life of Abraham Lincoln, the movie turns a shrewd, intelligent man into a saint-like figure, who leads the government to win a war and free the slaves, without actually showing any black people, presumably to avoid offending white audiences in the south. Made in a different era, when actors and directors had not fully adjusted to the switch from silent movies to sound, the film is honestly hard to watch. Infamous for the racist Birth of a Nation (1915), where the Klu Klux Klan save the South from an alliance of blacks and northern whites, director D.W. Griffith hoped that Abraham Lincoln would salvage his reputation and his career. It did neither. Read More…
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The movie presents Abraham Lincoln’s first major case as a young lawyer in Springfield, Illinois, where he defends two young strangers accused of murdering a popular deputy. Director John Ford’s first collaboration with Henry Fonda, they would work together again on Drums Along the Mohawk and Grapes of Wrath. A touching movie with excellent court-room scenes, Fonda’s Lincoln employs a simple manner and sharp wit to win the sympathy of the jury, and proves to be a formidable cross-examiner. Despite a slow start, Fonda captures the real Lincoln’s mix of self-depreciating humor and belief in people’s better nature. Read More…
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Unbelievably boring, the movie follows the correct sequence of events but drastically changes Abraham Lincoln’s character to fit the needs of the script, while its plodding pacing makes watching it an unpleasant experience that should never be repeated.
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Combining a great mystery with superb historical accuracy, The Tall Target (1951) uses the Baltimore Plot, a suspected conspiracy to assassinate President-elect Abraham Lincoln during a stop in Baltimore, to illustrate the tension in the United States as the nation found itself on the verge of civil war. Read More…
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One of the handful of movies set during the War of 1812, Mutiny (1952) is simply a movie about a mutiny with better-than-average scheming. Read More…
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More of a love story than a war movie, the Buccaneer (1938) is an entertaining and relatively accurate look at the New Orleans campaign during the War of 1812. Read More…
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Silly, inaccurate and boring, weighed down by plodding direction and lame dialogue, Kansas Raiders (1950), a movie about Jesse James riding with William Quantrill during the American Civil War, is just bad, one of those movies that you simply want to end. Read More…
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Two Mules for Sister Sara (1970), the story of a gunfighter and a nun who team up to help the Juaristas during the French Intervention in Mexico is relatively accurate but extremely entertaining. Read More…
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Using the French Intervention in Mexico as a backdrop, The Undefeated (1969) shows the reconciliation between former Union and Confederate soldiers, but does not extend that reconciliation to the former slaves. Read More…
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Vera Cruz (1954) may not be the most accurate portrayal of the French Intervention in Mexico, but Burt Lancaster’s proudly amoral character, gorgeous scenery, and relentless scheming make it worth watching. Read More…
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Santa Fe Trail (1940) covers Bleeding Kansas and John Brown’s raid on Harper’s Ferry, which helped start the American Civil War, but not even Errol Flynn’s limitless charm can redeem a movie that shows black people preferring the peace and security of slavery to freedom. Read More…
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I Shot Jesse James (1949) is a noirish take on the fate of Bob Ford after he kills his best friend to win a pardon and marry his girlfriend. Focused more on showing that it was impossible for Ford to live with the guilt, historical accuracy fades in and out of the film. Read More…
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More of a caper film than a traditional Western, The Great Northfield Minnesota Raid (1972) is an interesting and enjoyable, if not entirely accurate, look at the James-Younger Gang’s final raid. Read More…
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The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2010) is a painfully long film and not for the faint-hearted. While it is visually amazing, its historical accuracy is only superficial. Read More…