The Alamo (1960)

Nominee

Sorry I have been slacking a little on posting! In the lull of summer I find myself either too busy or too lazy but I hope to make up a little ground here today. I watched this film about a week ago and although I do love John Wayne, this one fell short for me. But it provides me an opportunity to discuss a topic that I throw around a lot in these posts, namely pacing. I mention this concept a lot but it has become clear to me that I have not expressed the components that make make up the term. 

Pacing is driven by two sources: the narration, namely the screenplay, and the editing, in particularly how long we linger on a frame before moving on to the next image. These two things, of course, work best when they are closely proportioned to one another. If something is not emphasised in the script than bring it out visually with an establishing shot. If you can't show it have someone say it well in the script without laying it out to blatantly. When this is done right most movies find a rhythm and we are able to witness a story through dialogue and imagery. My problem? I hate when the rhythm is slow. This is very much a personal preference, but when a film is compromised of long shots and dense unconcealed conversations, it loses my attention, and that is very much what happened here.

Between long vast repetitive shots of landscapes and a lot of dialogue revolving around characters with existential crises especially with discussions of faith, slavery, and death in toe, this movie felt like more of a lecture than anything else. This trickled into the narrative structure as well. A lot of the action felt disconnected and at times superfluous.  I will say, however, that there was some endearing characterizations. John Wayne's Davy Crockett brought to life a historical figure with vibrancy. Also Richard Widmark and Lawrence Harvey played nicely against each other presenting a clear battle in philosophy.

Overall: It was just too slow for my taste. Not with out its merits, but it felt like a good idea without the flawless execution. Perhaps go watch a different John Wayne classic.