Heroes of the Alamo (1937)

Information from IMDb

Plot Summary
In early spring of 1833, the smoldering resentment of American settlers in Texas
against their oppression by Mexico dictator General Santa Anna/Ana coming to a head.
When a decree is issued that no more Americans may enter Texas, William H. Wharton,
fiery head of a faction determined on independence or nothing, warns Stephen F. Austin
that the time for half-measures is past. Austin, responsible for bringing the Americans
to Texas as colonists, reminds Wharton that a settler's revolt against Mexico would dishonor
his name and the arrangements he had with the Mexican government.
He gets the "Whartonites" to agree to a general convention of all colonists. Almerian Dickinson,
biggest land owner in the settlement of Gonzales, deeply in love with his wife Anne,
warns Wharton that a bloody revolt would endanger every wife and mother in the colony.
He proposes they send Austin to Mexico City to ask Santa Anna to grant Texans
a voice in their own government.
Written by Les Adams

Full Cast
Earle Hodgins ... Stephen F. Austin
Lane Chandler ... Davy Crockett
Roger Williams ... Colonel Jim Bowie
Rex Lease ... Colonel William B. Travis
Jack C. Smith ... William H. Wharton (as Jack Smith)
Bruce Warren ... Captain Almerian Dickinson
Ruth Findlay ... Anne Dickinson
Lee Valanios ... Colonel James Bonham (as Lee Valianos)
Edward Peil Sr. ... General Sam Houston (as Edward Piel)
Julian Rivero ... General Santa Anna
Willy Castello ... General Cos
Paul Ellis ... General Castillion
Jim Corey ... Hank Hunter
Steve Clark ... Frank Hunter
Marilyn Haslett ... Angelina Dickinson
Lafe McKee ... Lafe (Storekeeper) (as Lafayette McKee)
Victor Adamson ... Citizen (uncredited)
Dick Botiller ... Mexican Spy (uncredited)
Budd Buster ... Rabble-Rouser (uncredited)
Tex Cooper ... Delegate (uncredited)
Ben Corbett ... Alamo Defender (uncredited)
Richard Cramer ... Delgate (uncredited)
Rube Dalroy ... Alamo Defender (uncredited)
Curley Dresden ... Alamo Defender (uncredited)
Frank Ellis ... Messenger Fred (uncredited)
Jack Evans ... Alamo Defender (uncredited)
Oscar Gahan ... Fiddle Player (uncredited)
Hoot Gibson ... Express Rider (uncredited) (archive footage)
Allen Greer ... Alamo Defender (uncredited)
Herman Hack ... Alamo Defender (uncredited)
Carl Mathews ... Mexican Captain (uncredited)
William McCall ... Kibitzer (uncredited)
Clyde McClary ... Townsman (uncredited)
Merrill McCormick ... Alamo Defender (uncredited)
Milburn Morante ... Citizen (uncredited)
George Morrell ... Kibitzer (uncredited)
Tex Phelps ... Alamo Defender (uncredited)
Hal Price ... Bennett (uncredited)
Bob Roper ... Alamo Defender (uncredited)
James Sheridan ... Citizen (uncredited)
F.R. Smith ... Citizen (uncredited)
Tom Smith ... Spy / Alamo defender (uncredited)
Rudy Sooter ... Musician (uncredited)
Al Taylor ... Alamo Defender (uncredited)
Fred 'Snowflake' Toones ... Luke (uncredited)
Dorothy Vernon ... Midwife Mary Hunter (uncredited)
Francis Walker ... Ben Taylor (uncredited)
Wes Warner ... Townsman (uncredited)
Slim Whitaker ... Warning Rider (uncredited)

Writing Credits
Roby Wentz

Cinematography
Robert E. Cline

Trivia
This film was first released through the indie exchanges on August 6,1937.
Columbia Pictures purchased the film in late 1937, re-did all of the advertising,
posters and other related printed material and sent it out via their own distribution
as a Columbia film on 17 February 1938.
They also changed the billing order from that on the original print.

Heroes of the Alamo (1937) is a low-budget retelling of the events of the Texas Revolution
and the Battle of the Alamo.
It was produced by Anthony J. Xydias and reuses the battle scenes of his 1926 silent film
Davy Crockett at the Fall of the Alamo.
About 35 minutes of the latter film is available on the DVD of Heroes of the Alamo, all that remains of the silent film.

User Review

Quote

28 February 2006 | by Bilwick1 (United States)

I have a certain fondness for this movie. Granted it's a "Poverty Row" production, with most of the Texians dressed like cowboys in a Grade C Saturday-matinée western and the Texian settlements obviously standard back-lot western-town sets, but it tries, and it means well. The Alamo set is laughable compared to the huge, detailed, more-or-less accurate recreations of the mission-fort in John Wayne's THE ALAMO and the more recent version with Billy Bob Thornton; but given the low budget they had to work with, the Alamo set in "HEROES" is better than expected, and it's more accurate than the Alamo set in the Disney version. (At least it has the palisade.) (If you get the DVD version of HEROES OF THE ALAMO you can see parts of one of these silents, WITH DAVY CROCKETT AT THE FALL OF THE ALAMO, the surviving fragments of which are the DVD's bonus feature.) The story of the growing rift between Mexico and the American settlers in Texas is reduced to cartoon simplicity, but at least it tries to give you some idea of the reasons for the conflict. It's interesting to me that the Mexican officer at the beginning is shown not as a monster but as a reasonable man doing an unpleasant job. Compare him to the bestial subhuman "greasers" of the silent MARTYRS OF THE ALAMO. As Alamo expert Frank Thompson states in his prologue on the DVD version, "HEROES" is unusual among Alamo movies in that the main characters are not the larger-than-life "trinity" of heroes--Bowie, Travis and Crockett--but Almaron Dickinson and his wife Susanna. The Bowie in this movie is a weird, rednecky guy who looks like he might gut and skin hoboes just to keep his knife sharp. The Travis in this movie is kind of bland compared to the more dramatic and romantic Travises of the screen, but he grew on me. (The production values were so cheap, however, that apparently they couldn't get him a sword and he has to draw the famous line in the dust with a rifle butt!) The Crockett is an unusual and somewhat oafish geek, and his death scene is probably the weirdest Crockett Death Scene of any Alamo movie, ever. His strange last line always makes me chuckle.