Attaque à l'aube

One of my favorite characters in American history has always been Sam Houston. I've tried to read everything I could about the man and his life and work. It's a story that has its protagonist at the center of all kinds of events in our history from the Indian Wars of the South serving with Andrew Jackson even before The Battle of New Orleans right up to his heroic fight to keep Texas in the United States before the Civil War. His is the story of America during her growing years.

We've never really had an adequate biographical film of Houston. Sam Elliott did a very good job covering a period between his abrupt resignation as Governor of Tennessee right up to the events of San Jacinto in a made for TV film, J.D. Cannon in an acclaimed episode for the Profiles in Courage series did a wonderful job dramatizing those events as Governor of Texas as he led the losing battle for the union. Houston has been played on the screen by such people as Richard Dix, Richard Boone, Stacy Keach, and here by Joel McCrea.

Had this film been given a really top production by a major studio like Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, 20th Century Fox, Paramount, etc. this could have been one epic film. Joel McCrea is superb casting in the role, Houston was a big man, well over six feet tall and McCrea certainly is impressive physically that way. The problem is that this was done by Allied Artists, Monogram Pictures dressed up so to speak. If The First Texan had a decent budget, someone like John Ford or Raoul Walsh to direct it, Houston might have had a biographical film worthy of the man.

The facts as to the Battle of San Jacinto are pretty accurately set down. The romance McCrea is given with Felicia Farr is something else. Houston was divorced from his first wife Eliza Allen and did not marry Margaret Lea until the middle of the 1840s after Eliza died. Divorce was mighty rare in those days.

Joel McCrea is always a favorite of mine as a cowboy hero, it's with great reluctance I give The First Texan a less than stellar review, but the subject deserves a lot better than a B western from Allied Artists.

Maybe Sam Houston will one day get either a film or a mini-series worthy of him. Until then I suggest one read Marquis James's biography of him. James is one great writer his prose is practically lyrical and you'll get a great feel for the subject in reading him.

The story of the life of Sam Houston certainly would make for a great picture. He was the only person to be governors of two different states (Texas and Tennessee), was the first president of Texas and was ultimately destroyed because he opposed Texas leaving the Union in 1861. A truly interesting man...and "The First Texan" manages to capture SOME of his greatness.

The film only covers the period after Houston quit the governorship of Tennessee to the independence of Texas...just a few years out of Houston's life. So if you're looking for anything before this or after, it's not in the movie. But what bothered me about the film is that it created a fiancee for Houston who simply never existed. In fact, Houston was married multiple times and such a romance with Katherine Delaney never existed. What did exist were some divorces and scandals...none of which are talked about much in the movie. In other words this is no 'warts and all' portrayal of the man.

Overall, the film is rousing and interesting if not 100% accurate. Worth seeing but Houston really deserved better...and probably something longer than just a 90 minute or so film.

"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!

While watching this movie, I can feel the drive behind these men and their fight for Texas independence.

Told from the perspective of Gen. Sam Houston, this movie begins as Houston has just moved to the Mexican territory which is now Texas. We then witness his growing thirst for Texas independence and his subsequent call to arms by President Andrew Jackson.

We see his genius as a military commander in the fight against Mexican General Santa Ana, in what at first appears to be a cowardly retreat against Santa Ana's superior forces.

A wonderful classic for those who like westerns or war movies and for film buffs in general.

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.