Legacy of the Battle of the Alamo on myth. In the early 1950s John Wayne began developing a film based on the Battle of the Alamo. When he left his contract with Republic Pictures he was forced to leave behind a partial script. Republic Pictures had the script finished and developed into the 1955 movie "The Last Command". Although the film had its historical inaccuracies, it was the most detailed of the films on the Texas Revolution. Wayne continued to develop an Alamo movie, resulting in the 1960 film "The Alamo", starring Wayne as Davy Crockett. Although screenwriter James Edward Grant claimed to have done extensive historical
The Alamo (1960 film) a success and Wayne lost his personal investment. He sold his rights to United Artists, which had released it, and it made back its money. Critical response was mixed, from the "New York Herald Tribune"'s four-star "A magnificent job...Visually and dramatically, "The Alamo" is top-flight," to "Time" magazine's "flat as Texas." The film has a score of 50% on Rotten Tomatoes. The film is thought to have been denied awards because Academy voters were alienated by an overblown publicity campaign, particularly one "Variety" ad claiming that the film's cast was praying harder for Chill Wills to win his award than