Is New ‘Alamo’ Film History or Is It an Insult to Latinos?

In 1960, John Wayne brought his Academy Award-nominated epic “The Alamo” to the silver screen. Now, “Alamo . . . the Price of Freedom,” the latest of at least a dozen movies about Mexican Gen. Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna’s storming of the Alamo, is readying for its screen premiere in March.

But producers of this 45-minute depiction of the siege of the small Southern fort where 187 Texans holed up in their fight for independence from Mexico are themselves gearing for potential battle.

On Monday, a San Antonio city councilman who charges that the movie insults Latinos and is not a true portrayal of what actually happened Feb. 23-March 6, 1836, will preview a rough cut of the film to see if there are any problems with it “from historic and cultural perspectives; in terms of community impact and with regard to its effect upon children.”

Councilman Walter Martinez said that “if we are unhappy with the film in any way, we will ask producers to remove objectionable scenes. The bottom line is, if we cannot come to an agreement on objectionable scenes, we plan to boycott the film.”

For co-producers George A. McAlister and Kieth Merrill, who plan to show the film several times a day “for several decades” on a six-story, 85-foot-wide screen in the 450-seat IMAX Rivercenter Theater currently under construction across the street from the Alamo, trouble began in November.

It was then that Martinez called a press conference--after having been furnished a script of the film--and charged that the script portrayed Tejanos--nine Mexicans born in Texas who fought and died inside the Alamo with the defenders--in a “demeaning and degrading” fashion. “The Tejanos are portrayed as subservient, of loose morals and less heroic than their non-Hispanic counterparts,” Martinez said.

He maintains that Davy Crockett “did not die swinging his rifle, Old Betsy, at Mexican soldiers as shown in the film. History tells us that he was executed by Santa Anna. And, Mexican soldiers did not parade around the room inside the Alamo with Jim Bowie’s body held high and pierced by the ends of a dozen soldiers’ bayonets, as shown in another scene.”

Martinez also objected to a love scene in the church belfry between a Mexican woman and an Alamo defender as degrading. He met with producer McAlister shortly thereafter to express his objections.

“Mr. Martinez’s criticism about the scene between the young Mexican girl and the soldier is justified,” said McAlister. “To Mr. Martinez’s credit, that scene has been eliminated.

“But what must be remembered is there were no survivors among the Alamo defenders. There are no chronicles of what happened. You can read the diaries of Gen. Santa Anna, of his personal secretary and of Col. de la Pena and Col. Almonte, and none agree on what happened.

“History is debatable on what occurred at the Alamo. There are several versions of the way Bowie and Crockett died. We tried to reflect the entire event as accurately as possible. The film, a docudrama, is not degrading to Hispanics or to anyone.

“We treat Santa Anna soldiers and the Tejanos with great sensitivity.”

McAlister invited Martinez and 30 others representing various community organizations to view the rough cut of “Alamo . . . the Price of Freedom,” insisting that “I am certain we will work out our differences.”

Bernice Strong, 60, archivist at the Daughters of the Republic of Texas Library at the Alamo, hired by the producers to guarantee the film’s accuracy, believes that “Alamo . . . the Price of Freedom” will be the most accurate portrayal of the historic event ever made for the screen.

(The Daughters of the Republic of Texas, descendants of those who lived here before 1846 when Texas became a state, are the official caretakers of the Alamo.)

“We went over and over the 12 different shooting scripts from George McAlister and Kieth Merrill with a fine-toothed comb to make certain everything was historically correct,” Strong said in an interview. “ Only after I was completely satisfied did I sign the final script and release it for shooting.”

(Plans call for the Texas Cavalcade Corp. IMAX film to also be shown from time to time in the 56 other IMAX theaters throughout the United States, including Los Angeles, and worldwide.)

What also distinguishes this “Alamo” from its predecessors is that the movie largely uses reenactors, with only the lead roles featuring professional actors, none of them big-name stars.

Reenactors are history buffs who reenact historic events using the military equipment and costumes of the day.

There are more than 500 in “Alamo . . . the Price of Freedom” who came to Brackettville from as far away as Maine and California, from Texas to the Canadian border, the vast majority being paid $50 per person per day. They have more than one role, portraying both Mexicans and Texans. They came, obviously, not for the money but for their love of history. They slept in tents, took cold showers and used portable toilets all through the five weeks that the film was in production last summer.

To have a special theater to showcase his film was the longtime dream of Texas rancher, educator, businessman and writer McAlister, 64, of Big Spring. McAlister, a World War II and Korean conflict Marine, is former dean of men, chairman of the math department and track coach at Howard County Junior College in Big Spring.

He spent 12 years gathering information for two books he wrote about the Alamo, “A Time to Love, a Time to Die” and “Alamo . . . the Price of Freedom.” The screenplay is based on the books. McAlister, a major investor in the project, raised $7 million from San Antonio-area firms and individuals. The movie is costing about $2.9 million, the theater $4.1 million.

About “Alamo,” his first film, McAlister says:

“All the films about the Alamo are as varied as horses on a carrousel. I wanted to do an accurate portrayal, as close to the way it actually happened as possible.

“I have a lifelong love affair with the Alamo, the cradle of Texas liberty. The two great symbols of freedom in America are the Statue of Liberty and the Alamo. I am committed to Texas history. I wanted to do something for Texas.”

Merrill, 42, a Southern Californian, is co-writer, director and co-producer of the film. He also wrote, directed and co-produced “Miracles, Myths and Magic,” an IMAX film about Niagara Falls, and “Grand Canyon, the Hidden Secrets,” also an IMAX film. He won an Oscar in 1974 for his documentary “The Great American Cowboy.”

According to Merrill: “McAlister and I have been talking about doing this film for eight years. This is the first wholly dramatic IMAX film to be made. (Of the 55 IMAX films made to date, most are scientific and educational.) In all 20 years of film making I have never followed a script so closely.”

Filming took place near the tiny remote town of Brackettville, this southwestern corner of Texas, 40 miles west of Uvalde, the late Vice President John Garner’s hometown, and 35 miles east of Del Rio and the Mexican border.

Vultures flying over the narrow two-lane country road leading to the Alamo Village feasted on jack rabbits killed night and day by film crews and trucks going back and forth to Brackettville.

Dust and frying-pan weather with soaring humidity and temperatures climbing to 104 degrees made things difficult at times. Like the time a large moon was rigged with 48,000 watts of light for a night scene and seemingly attracted millions of crickets to its light, melting and shorting-out circuits.

One afternoon, as preparations were being made to film a scene inside the Alamo where a cannon wheel was to be blown apart by a cannonball fired by the Mexicans, the haunting music of the recorder, a popular instrument of the 1830s, could be heard.

Charles Davis, 35, of Lubbock, music director for the film, was playing the instrument as he sat in the shade nearby, surrounded by Mexican and Texas soldiers clad in heavy uniforms.

Davis, who is completing his Ph.D. in history at Texas Tech, is a reenactor, as was almost everyone on the set that particular day: wardrobe, special effects, props, the stunt team, the art department. Exceptions were cameraman David Douglas, 33, of Santa Monica; silver-haired Texas rancher Merrill Connally, 65, brother of former Texas Gov. John Connally, who plays the part of Davy Crockett; Steve Sandor, 42, a Southern California who plays Jim Bowie; Casey Biggs, who plays William Travis, and a few locals hired for the project.

This was the first film for the Solis brothers, Eddie, 33, and Alex, 23, Mexican-Americans who live in Spofford, 20 miles south of Brackettville. They both have speaking lines. Eddie, a roofer by trade, plays Gregorio Esparza, who fought with the Texans inside the Alamo. Alex, who works on a ranch, portrays Francisco Esparza, one of Santa Anna’s men who assaulted the Alamo.

“I make $7 an hour as a roofer,” said Eddie Solis. “When I speak in the movie, I’m paid $379 for that day. Otherwise I get $50. It sure beats being a roofer, if only for a short time.”

Director Merrill, emphasizing his constant search for realism, told of shooting the final siege of the Alamo in the pre-dawn darkness--as the event actually occurred.

“It gives it a much more dramatic effect at night--muskets firing, the shouting, the screams and moans of the wounded, all the sounds filling in the darkness,” he said. “The only thing missing is the smell of the battle. You could imagine the effect when it is shown on a screen 10 times the size of a screen in the traditional theater.”