The Alamo: Thirteen Days to Glory (TV 1987)

Against orders and with no help of relief Texas patriots led by William Travis, Jim Bowie, and Davy Crockett defend the Alamo against overwhelming Mexican forces.

Director:

Burt Kennedy

Writers:

Lon Tinkle (book), Clyde Ware,

Stars:

James Arness, Brian Keith, Alec Baldwin

Nominated for 1 Primetime Emmy.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
James Arness	...	Jim Bowie
Brian Keith	...	Col. Davy Crockett
Alec Baldwin	...	Col. William Barrett Travis
David Ogden Stiers	...	Col. Black
Jim Metzler	...	Maj. James Bonham
Tom Schanley	...	Pvt. Danny Cloud
Fernando Allende	...	Col. Alamonte (Santa Anna's nephew)
Kathleen York	...	Mrs. Susannah Dickinson
Isela Vega	...	Senora Cos
Raul Julia	...	Gen. Antonio Lopez de Santa Ana
Gene Evans	...	McGregor
Michael Wren	...	Juan Seguin
Jon Lindstrom	...	Capt. Almeron Dickinson
Hinton Battle	...	Joe (Travis' servant)
David Sheiner	...	Luis

Storyline

The story of the famed siege of the Alamo during the Texas Revolution, in which a small band of soldiers held off an overwhelming army under the Mexican general Santa Anna long enough to allow the Texan army to gather its strength.

---

Plot Keywords:

texas | alamo | siege | davy crockett | soldier | 

---

Genres:

Action | Adventure | Drama | History | War | Western

---

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

26 January 1987 (USA)

Also Known As:

Alamo - 13 Tage bis zum Sieg

Filming Locations:

Alamo Village - Highway 674, Brackettville, Texas, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Briggle, Hennessey, Carrothers & Associates, The Finnegan Company, Fries Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

140 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

No one is quite sure what illness Bowie was suffering from. At the time it was diagnosed as typhoid pneumonia but was likely tuberculosis.

---

Goofs

Although Travis ordered a uniform to be made, it was not ready by the time of the battle.

---

Quotes

Col. William Barrett Travis: What if we fail?
Pvt. Danny Cloud: Well, death in the cause of liberty does not make me shudder, Colonel.

---

Connections

Version of Davy Crockett at the Fall of the Alamo (1926)

User Reviews

Modest But Sincere

This made for television version of the legendary stand against hopeless odds is more objective, more realistic than earlier filmed versions of the events, though the one movie made after this went perhaps too far in humanizing the figures of Sam Houston, Bowie, Travis and Crockett.

The focus here is on Jim Bowie, played with sharp, cynical detachment by James Arness who passed away in 2011 at age 88. Then 65, he made a comeback to acting after years away from the screen to do this part.

Puerto Rican-born Raul Julia humanizes Gen. Santa Ana as no one since J. Carol Naish back in '54 had done. However, the Mexican dictator is portrayed as a lecherous, vainglorious popinjay--gaudier uniforms have never been seen before or since. He receives excellent advice from the European officers he has hired but, convinced of his own infallibility, he does not heed it. He also ignores the warning from one of his own staff officers that it is not "prudente" to divide one's army in the face of the enemy. The result is the disaster of San Jacinto.

Alec Baldwin is the one actor whose age is appropriate to the character he plays: Col. William Travis. His portrayal is earnest. He is almost in awe of the older men who share command with him.

The one jarring note was Brian Keith as Crockett. In a coonskin cap and carrying Ol' Betsy, he stumbles about as if he had wandered in from another movie. With no conviction in the portrayal, the character is reduced to a few stage conventions.

The script reveals some historical facts overlooked or suppressed in earlier film versions. We learn that Jim Bowie was, in the person of Santa Ana, fighting his own brother-in-law. The Mexican soldiers performed poorly in part because they were armed with rifles left over from the Napoleonic Wars a generation earlier. "Santa Ana likes a bargain." Bowie wryly explains. The whole project of defending the former Spanish mission as a fort was courageous but militarily ill- advised--a fact explored in greater depth in the 2004 film "The Alamo".