Where John Wayne Filmed 'The Alamo'
Another production came to Brackettville for the filming of Republic Pictures’ “The Last Command” (1955), an earlier depiction of the Battle of the Alamo starring Sterling Hayden as Jim Bowie. However, no permanent, elaborate sets were built for “The Last Command” as they were a few years later for John Wayne’s “The Alamo.” Herbert Yates, the head of Republic Pictures, had promised Wayne he would produce a film about the Alamo, and his reluctance to give it the go-ahead was one of the reasons Wayne left Republic Pictures. But Yates made the film anyway while Wayne was proceeding with plans for his own production.
Happy Shahan brought to Brackettville another western, “Five Bold Women,” released in 1959. It was produced by the flamboyant Texas oilman Glenn H. McCarthy who is regarded as the model for the character Jett Rink in Edna Ferber’s novel “Giant.” Rink was portrayed in the movie “Giant” by James Dean in his last screen appearance before a car wreck took his life. “Five Bold Women” was the only film ever produced by McCarthy, and his involvement stands as the only thing remarkable or memorable about the moderately budgeted western.
When he heard John Wayne was planning a big-budget production about the Alamo, Happy Shahan began working to get him to film it in the Brackettville area. At first, Wayne’s response was a flat refusal. He reportedly was considering locations in Mexico or Panama where labor, including thousands of extras portraying Mexican soldiers, would be less expensive. Finally, after Wayne was convinced rich Texans could help finance his venture, he agreed to build his Alamo set on Shahan’s ranch. Wayne’s company began construction in December 1957 and built a full-size replica of the Alamo as it looked in 1836 and a small town to resemble San Antonio of the era. All of the buildings were permanent structures with none of the false fronts common on Hollywood sets for westerns.
During construction of the set, a workforce that sometimes numbered as many as 400 men erected 200,000 square feet of buildings. Artisans brought over from Mexico made more than a million adobe bricks used on the project. Electric and phone wires were laid in underground conduits. After almost two years of work, the set was completed in September 1959. With Wayne serving as producer, director and star, location filming was completed in less than three months. When released in 1960, the $12 million
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