The First Texan

Historic events and great action as well as an acceptable cast . Sam left his mark across the West's thousand toughest miles to escape a scandal back east . From the Red River to the Rio Grande he was hunted and feared ; a restless giant in a violent land . Tall in the saddle, restless of heart , he ranged across a violent land, forging an era with cold steel . However , Houston nowadays justly wants to maintain a low profile . After arriving in Texas , advocate at law Sam Houston (Joel McCrea) wishes to stay out of any political turf . Later on , he gets together with notorious Texan leaders , his compatriots as Jim Bowie (Jeff Morrow) , Davy Crockett (James Griffith) , William Barrett Travis (William Hopper) , Stephen Austin (Dayton Lummis) , he then changes his opinion . After that , President Jackson (Carl Benton Reid) personally orders him to lead the battle for Texan independence, he overcomes his reluctance to become involved and leads his partners to a string of victories over the Mexican army . At the end takes place the famous battle of San Jacinto , in which was imprisoned General Antonio Lopez de Santa Ana (David Silva) .

This exciting picture about Texas fights for independence contains action Western , drama , historical happenings , a love story and is quite entertaining . Interesting writing based on a story and screenplay by Daniel Ullman , a Western expert . Good main cast such as Joel McCrea and Felicia Farr who married Jack Lemmon . Ample support cast formed by notorious secondaries playing brief roles such as Jeff Morrow as Jim Bowie , Wallace Ford as Henry Delaney , Abraham Sofaer as magistrate , Chubby Johnson as Deaf Smith , William Hopper as William Barrett Travis and Jody McCrea , Joel Mcrea'son . Atmospheric as well as thrilling musical score by Roy Webb , RKO's usual . Colorful and evocative cinematography by Wilfred Cline . Medium budget film by Walter Mirisch , being professionally directed by Byron Haskin , though with no originality . Haskin was a good craftsman who worked in Warner Brothers Special Effects department . He returned to filmmaking , and was responsible for Walt Disney's first live-action film , the adventure cult-classic Treasure island (1950). In the mid-1950s Haskin began a rewarding association with producer George Pal, for whom he filmed what is probably his best-known film , the science fiction classic War of the worlds (1953) and a catastrophe movie , The naked jungle (1954). Haskin was expert on Sci-Fi genre , as he would collaborate with Pal on other films , such as Conquest of Space (1955) , Robinson Crusoe on Mars (1964) and The power (1968). He also directed some Western as Denver Rio Grande and Silver City .

The picture is partially based on historical deeds about Texas independence, these are the following : With Mexican permission Stephen Austin (Dayton Lummis) brought the first Anglo-American colonists to Texas, the first of many, their numbers grew and they wanted self-government and this desire led to the revolt of 1835, the Texas war for Independence . General Santa Anna (David Silva) , stormed the Alamo , being defended by Jim Bowie (Jeff Morrow) , Davy Crockett (James Griffith) and William Travis (William Hooper) , and wiped out the garrison on 6 March 1836 . But on 21 April 1836 General Santa Anna suffered a crushing defeat by Sam Houston (Joel McCrea) and was taken prisoner . Texas was declared a Republic in October 1836 and Houston became its first president. In 1845 Texas joined the US, this lead to war with Mexico and disastrous results for that country. Samuel Houston (1793-1863) well performed by Joel McCrea , was a frontiersman and politician , he went to live with the Cherokees and took a Cherokee wife . After the fall of the Alamo , he managed to keep together a small force and launched a furious surprise attack on the Mexican army of 1300 camped on the western bank of the San Jacinto River . With Texas free and independent republic , Houston was elected the first president . When Texas was admitted to the United States in 1845, Houston was a senator to Washington .

I honestly prefered the other westerns from Byron Haskin: SILVER CITY, DENVER AND RIO GRANDE, WARPATH, and Byron Haskin was not a western specialist, not at all, a science fiction film maker, but those previous ones were rather well done. Concerning this one, I don't say it's a bad western but it is too much patriotic oriented for my taste. Good Americans vs evil Mexican. And watching this movie in f...pan and scan doesnt help much to appreciate this so predictable topic. Byron Haskin was not really concerned by this feature, that's what I feel, and I was really bored during the viewing. There is some action, yes, but that doesn't justify to purchase this movie at all costs. I admit that I am French and not American, but biographies on movies have always annoyed, bored me. Even Charles De Gaulle's one...;So, if you want to watch every Byron Haskin's film, watch it.

It's 1832. Sam Houston (Joel McCrea) crosses into Texas for the first time. The Tennessean wants to practice law while remaining neutral with independence. He befriends Jim Bowie (Jeff Morrow) and many of the pro-independence crowd. His old friend Davy Crockett arrives with an invitation to meet President Jackson who asks him to lead the fight for Texan independence and battle the Mexican army.

This is American history told by Americans. It's definitely slanted that way, but that's not unexpected. This is fine. There is limited drama as the history is told in a straight line. Maybe it could be shown in high school history classes. It's barely 80 minutes. That's about the level of this movie.

"The First Texan" despite the obvious lack of a stellar supporting cast (aside from Wallace Ford who does not disappoint), a famous "name" director and a major studio resources and production values, however, this is nonetheless a great and highly entertaining film to watch solely because of the magnetic screen presence of its larger than life star, Joel McCrea. This is a movie after all, and not a documentary on the life and times of Sam Huston. As in virtually every film Hollywood has ever made, they do at times take "poetic license", which in my opinion does not detract one bit from the film or its stunning Technicolor cinematography. This is a gem of a film!

The First Texan is about Sam Houston and his journey from the Governor's Office to the battlefield of Texas to defeat Santa Anna after the loss of the Alamo. Joel Mcrea is featured as Houston and Vic Morrow has a bit part as Jim Bowie. Not the greatest saga ever made, but watchable.