Forget any adherence to historical facts, directed by Frank Lloyd and with a Warren Duff screenplay, The Last Command is a slow moving piece that uses Jim Bowie as its focal point. Starring Sterling Hayden (Bowie),Richard Carlson (William Travers),Arthur Hunnicutt (Davy Crockett),Ernest Borgnine (Mike Radin),J. Carrol Naish (Santa Ana),and Anna Maria Alberghetti (Consuela),the piece was a project long courted by John Wayne. However, Republic refused to sanction the type of budget the Duke wanted for his vision. So after offering him a nominal fee for a part, he refused and Republic promptly went on to make the film anyway. The final result is an interesting film that finally pays off for those having the patience and tolerance for patriotic flag waving.

The story follows the battle of the Alamo in San Antonio in 1836, where brave Texans gave their life to become free of the Mexican rule, by defending the former mission station against overwhelming odds as the Mexican army of Santa Ana closed in for victory. The final battle is very well staged by Lloyd, and the acting, though not making the earth move, is very competent, particularly Hayden who does a nice line in tortured ruggedness. Max Steiner provides a zippy score and the low budget use of Trucolor doesn't affect the work of cinematographer Jack Marta. Safe and enjoyable as a story telling piece, if ultimately far from being a rousing spectacle fit for that particular part in history. 6/10

This is a version of the Alamo story often overlooked mainly because it focuses on Jim Bowie as opposed to Davy Crockett as the central character. Sterling Hayden in one of the many roles he truly hated before escaping to the seas is a stalwart and heroic Bowie.

As I said though in another review of a film with Bowie as the central character, Jim Bowie was anything but heroic. He was a land swindler, slave dealer, no good con man who very few people had anything nice to say about. He was a tough guy though, no question about that and the famous Bowie knife was made to his specifications.

Bowie was married into the Mexican aristocracy and did suffer the horrible tragedy of having his wife and children taken in an epidemic of the plague. We never see them here or in the John Wayne film or in the new Disney epic.

Possibly the best acting honors do go to Arthur Hunnicutt who was more the backwoods character that Davy Crockett was then John Wayne. Billy Bob Thornton in the 2004 Alamo was probably the best Davy Crockett ever put on film and the most accurate.

Probably too much is now known for the general public to appreciate a film like The Last Command. The principals at the Alamo were three dimensional characters and not the cardboard cutouts they are here.

This film is different from the John Wayne film "The Alamo" because instead of focusing on action, "The Last Command" focuses on the causes of the War for Texan Independence that led up to the Alamo. Because of this, the movie puts a context for the rebellion--something that wasn't all too clear in Wayne's huge epic. While not all the reasons are explored (there were Texans who wanted to bring slavery into the territory--something Mexican law did not allow),the dictatorial policies of President Santa Ana were explored. History does record that Santa Ana was a rather inept leader and he sure did do a lot to encourage the revolution--not just in Texas but in other Mexican states.

Sterling Hayden plays James Bowie--the man who popularized a knife now known after him and one of the leaders at the Alamo. Unlike what I expected, Bowie was played as a very even-tempered man--a man who was initially unsure which side he was on in the war. Slowly, Bowie sees Santa Ana's excesses as justification for independence and I appreciated how he wasn't played as some macho hot-head.

As far as the historical accuracy of the film, it's not easy to do a film on the life of Bowie, as there really isn't a huge amount of information about the man. Oddly, however, what history does record about Bowie is generally not discussed in the film--such as the deaths of his wife and children in the years preceding the Battle of the Alamo. But, there are no major historical flaws, either--a plus.

Earlier I mentioned John Wayne's film, "The Alamo". While I think the Wayne film is better than most give it credit for, it is very odd that he sank so much energy and cash into making this film just five years after "The Last Command". And, both films are nearly equal in quality--though "The Last Command" cost a small fraction of the 1960 film and was a bit less long-winded--giving much more bang for the buck. "The Alamo" is better showing the grandness of the battle. It had a lot of extras playing Mexican soldiers, while "The Last Command" clearly only had a hundred or so extras dressed in Mexican uniforms in order to save money! But, "The Last Command" is also clearly better when it comes to portraying individuals and the reasons for the war--making it a much more personal and enjoyable film for me. The only part of the film I really disliked was the macho bull crap fight between Hayden and Ernest Borgnine near the beginning of the film--wow did that come off as stupid!