Davy Crockett, King of the Wild Frontier (1955)

User Rating:

7.2/10   

Director:

Norman Foster

Writer:

Thomas W. Blackburn (writer)

Release Date:

25 May 1955 (USA)

Genre:

Family | Western | Adventure | Drama

Tagline:

NOW...on the MOTION PICTURE SCREEN!

Plot Keywords:

Companion | Frontier | Alamo | Lost Cause | James Bowie

Cast

Fess Parker	...	Davy Crockett (archive footage)
Buddy Ebsen	...	George Russel (archive footage)
Basil Ruysdael	...	Gen. / President Andrew Jackson (archive footage)
Hans Conried	...	Thimblerig (archive footage)
William Bakewell	...	Maj. Tobias Norton (archive footage)
Kenneth Tobey	...	Col. Jim Bowie (archive footage) (as Ken Tobey)
Pat Hogan	...	Chief Red Stick (archive footage)
Helene Stanley	...	Polly Crockett (archive footage)
Nick Cravat	...	Busted Luck (archive footage)
Don Megowan	...	Col. William Travis (archive footage)
Mike Mazurki	...	Bigfoot Mason (archive footage)
Jeff Thompson	...	Charlie Two Shirts (archive footage)
Henry Joyner	...	Swaney (archive footage)
Campbell Brown	...	Bruno (Bigfoot henchman) (archive footage) (as Colonel Campbell Brown)

Runtime:

93 min | USA:150 min (TV version) (3 parts)

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Spanish

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound Recording)

Certification:

Iceland:L | Australia:G | USA:G (re-rating) (1978) | USA:PG (re-rating) (1992) | Finland:K-12 | Sweden:Btl | UK:U | West Germany:12

Filming Locations:

Great Smoky Mountains National Park - 107 Park Headquarters Road, Gatlinburg, Tennessee, USA

Company:

Walt Disney Productions

Trivia:

This originally premiered in three parts, broadcast over several weeks, on Disney's television program "Disneyland". The three segments were each given different titles: "Davy Crockett, Indian Fighter", "Davy Crockett Goes To Congress", and "Davy Crockett at the Alamo".

Goofs:

Anachronisms: In his speech to the House of Representatives arguing against Jackson's expansion policies, Crockett uses the term "scalawags" twice. The term "scalawag" was not introduced until the 1840s, and was not widely used until after the Civil War, yet Crockett's speech was ostensibly between the years 1827 to 1835.

Quotes:

Davy Crockett: Well, me and Russel are figuring on heading down Texas way. That ain't no place these days for a riverboat gambler with wobbly legs.
Thimblerig: There are times when cowardice is a virtue, my dear Colonel. It makes choosing a cause so very simple. Now, I know nothing about Texas of which you speak, but I do know of the fury of the outraged minions of the law. And as a consequence, I fear what lies behind me far more than the unknown that lies ahead.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Disney Sing-Along-Songs: Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah (1986) (V)

A 50's Classic that created a craze.

The mid fifties television production of Walt Disney's "Davy Crockett" struck a nerve in the physic of American children. This three part TV mini-series launched the "Davy Crockett Craze", a phenomena that swept the Nation for some time.

Davy Crockett collecting cards, coonskin caps, toys, other assorted memorabilia, and the ever popular recording of the "Ballad of Davy Crockett", were only some of the outward signs of it's vast popularity. Actors, Fess Parker, as Davy Crockett, and Buddy Ebson as his sidekick, Georgie Russell became popular with almost most every child in America, practically over night. The show was so successful that the original three part series was clipped together and released to theaters as a full length movie. Then the Disney Studio produced a two part TV sequel the following year.

There is little doubt that by today's standards there was nothing special about it's plot, or dialog, or the acting, etc. Some critics might go as far to say it was rather silly, childish, and a mediocre production at best.

Perhaps that's all true, but it would miss the most important point. Seldom has any TV production cause so many young people to love a couple of screen characters so deeply, and with such spontaneous joy. In this regard it is a Classic and holds a special place in the history of television art.