John Wayne invested his fortune to make this movie and it took him a decade to get his money back. Because it was his money, he could play anyone be wanted and he chose to play Davy Crockett. IMHO he should've stayed behind the scenes and let someone else be Davy. Davy was larger than life, like the Duke but Davy was also story teller-that's not the Duke. There is a lot to like about this flick and the final battle scene makes this movie the definitive version of the battle. As a Texan, you get the story of Texas independence taught and retaught to you. What a lot of the educators fail to stress is that in 1836, Mexico had the best trained army in the world (that Santa Anna foolishly wasted this capital is just a testament to the man's arrogance). That a scrabble group of volunteers beat an army trained by Napoleon's officers speaks volumes., but I digress. For the scholar, this is a must see. Four stars out of five.
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