The Last Command

The Last Command is a 1955 American Western film directed by Frank Lloyd starring Sterling Hayden, Anna Maria Alberghetti, Richard Carlson, Arthur Hunnicutt, Ernest Borgnine and J. Carrol Naish based on the life of Jim Bowie and the Battle of the Alamo. Plot In 1835, Jim Bowie discovers uneasy disputes between the Mexican government and the American immigrants who've settled in Texas. Dozens of American men, including Stephen F. Austin have been arrested for supposedly igniting rebellions against the Mexican governor Juan Almonte and the Mexican garrisons throughout Texas. Bowie attends a meeting of the Texian malcontents, listens to their arguments but urges calm and patience. Several of the Texians confront Bowie that he is not only a large landowner, but he is married to a daughter of a Mexican Lieutenant Governor. Bowie says these things are true. When faced with accusations he is disloyal to the American settlers, Bowie, who has only recently used his influence to free William Travis from arrest, leaves. After his departure, Mike "the Bull" Radin, a hot head Texian challenges Bowie to a knife fight. Bowie wins the fight and the respect of Mike. On his return home Bowie is arrested by Mexican soldiers and brought to General Santa Anna. Unlike other films depicting the Texas War of Independence, Bowie and Santa Anna are friends and respect each other. Bowie relates the concerns of the Texians and notices Santa Anna has a Napoleon complex. He advises Santa Anna to free the arrested political prisoners and return Mexico to following the terms of the 1824 Constitution of Mexico. The two men agree to disagree but Santa Anna informs Bowie of the real reason his soldiers had brought him to him; Bowie's wife and children have died in a cholera epidemic. Bowie becomes a heavy drinker and a drifter. He eventually sides with the Texians when he meets with Stephen Austin who tells him pacifism is no longer an option. After leading a band of mounted fighters in victory against Mexican dragoons at the Grass Fight, he and his men arrive in San Antonio de Bexar where he remains with his men. With tempers increasing between Travis and Bowie, both colonels in the Army of Texas. Mike suggests the garrison of the Alamo vote for their commander with Bowie winning and Travis becoming his second in command. The command expect reinforcements that never come. When Colonel Davy Crockett arrives, rather than the tales of his one thousand men, Crockett only has 29 fighters.