The Alamo

The Alamo (1960)

7 corrected entries

(8 votes)

Corrected entry: After the altercation between Bowie and Travis, Davy Crockett informs Travis that he had only fought Indians, except for fighting the British. Nowhere in Crockett's biographies does it indicate he participated in any battles against British troops.

Correction: The Tennessee militia, which Crockett was a member of, was used by Andrew Jackson in 1814 to drive British troops from Spanish Florida and engaged in combat with the British there.

Steve Kozak

Corrected entry: When John Wayne is running about near the chapel with a torch, inside the chapel, you can see a lot of Mexican soldiers just standing there not doing anything.

Correction: Soldiers sometimes find a spot of relative safety and stay there...it's human instinct to stay safe.

Steve Kozak

Corrected entry: It's not likely that the flag with "1824" on it flew over the Alamo at this time. By February 1836, most of the Anglos were fighting for an independent Texas, not for restoring the Mexican Constitution of 1824.

Correction: The 1824 on the flag was a reminder to the Mexican army of the treaty of 1824. Not to return to the Mexican Constitution.

Corrected entry: There is good evidence (though not absolutely certain) that Crockett survived the battle and was executed the next day.

Correction: If there's no certain evidence that Crockett survived, then having him die in the battle isn't a factual error. It is accepted as history that he died in the battle, some say his body was found, mutilated, after the battle in front of the chapel.

Corrected entry: Watch Travis after he is killed in the movie. As the Mexicans run past him, he moves his left hand out of the way.

Correction: Perhaps the actor really did move his hand to avoid having it stepped on by the Mexicans. However, in the context of the film, we don't know for sure that Travis was dead before hitting the ground. It's quite possible that Travis involuntarily moved his left hand just before dying.

Corrected entry: As Susannah and Angelina are escorted between Santa Anna's troops, some grime mysteriously appears on Angelina's cheek, and some of the grime on Susannah's neck disappears.

Correction: Kids touch their faces all the time. It's possible that Angelina had dirt on her hands, perhaps from the saddle where she's resting them, and then touched her cheek. There's time between shots for this to be the case.

Corrected entry: At the cotillion/dance before leaving for Texas, David Crocket and the band are playing "Listen to the Mockingbird" (music familiar to fans of the Three Stooges). The Alamo took place in 1836; "Listen to the Mockingbird" wasn't published until 1855.

Correction: This was in the NEW Alamo, not the John Wayne version.

Factual error: Approximately 2 hours and 10 minutes into the "restored" full-length video version, there's a birthday party for little Lisa Dickinson, and the Alamo defenders sing "Happy Birthday" to her. The Alamo battle happened in 1836. According to David Ewen's "All the Years of American Popular Music," the song "Happy Birthday to You" was composed and copyrighted by sisters Patty and Mildred J. Hill, first as "Good Morning to All," in 1893.

More mistakes in The Alamo

Smitty: So many times every day you stop and give thanks, but mostly I don't catch on what you're thanking the Lord for. I mean, there's nothing special.
Parson: I give thanks for the time and for the place.
Smitty: The time and the place, Parson?
Parson: The time to live and the place to die. That's all any man gets. No more, no less.

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Question: What did Crockett say his men should change their seedlings for?

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