MOVIES - March 7, 1988

The historic Alamo in San Antonio, Tex., is again under siege--this time over a new film considered to be insulting to Mexican-Americans. A coalition of Mexican-Americans, led by San Antonio City Councilman Walter Martinez, Friday called for a boycott against Luby’s Cafeterias and Pace Foods, both corporate sponsors of “Alamo--The Price of Freedom.” The 42-minute depiction of the 1836 siege by Mexican Gen. Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna has already been cut by producers several times in response to the coalition’s complaints, but the group remains unhappy with the finished product. Protesters say they also will picket the $2 million movie, which opened Sunday--the 152nd anniversary of the fall of the Alamo--and will be shown daily in a wide-screened IMAX theater one block from the battleground.