The Sunday Afternoon Western: The Man from the Alamo (Region 2)
Glenn Ford excelled at playing laid back laconic characters particularly in westerns and this film finds him on familiar ground. Here he’s John Stroud the only survivor of the Alamo and a man branded a coward for it. Of course he had a good reason; he left in the hope of protecting his family and the families of some of the other defenders of the mission. The men drew lots and Stroud “won” but he reaches the families too late, all have been massacred save a Mexican boy who tells him that it wasn’t Mexicans but white men dressed as Mexican soldiers that were responsible.
Ford is the best thing about this fairly average revenge oater, relying on star charisma to fill in for a script that has neither the time (the film only runs 76min) nor the inclination to be anything more than an action packed B western. He gets some decent support from a couple of western regulars; Chill Wills as a newspaper man and Neville Brand playing his standard villain role as one of the men who killed Stroud’s family.
Director Budd Boetticher is most famous for the series of western he made in the 50’s with Randolph Scott. He had a gift for action and here he does a decent job, keeping things moving at a cracking pace. Yet the film lacks any real depth, there’s no meat on its bones. You’re left with the feeling that had a little more time and effort been spent on the script this could have been a classic instead of just an enjoyable time waster that will not linger long in the memory.
