Last Command (1955) [VHS]

Last Command (1955) [VHS]
by Frank Lloyd

Last Command (1955) [VHS]

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Product details

Actor: Anna Maria Alberghetti, Arthur Hunnicutt, Ernest Borgnine, Richard Carlson, Sterling Hayden
Director: Frank Lloyd
Cinematographer: Jack A. Marta
Producer: Frank Lloyd
Editor: Tony Martinelli
Writer: Sy Bartlett
Writer: Warren Duff
Edition: VHS Tape
Audio: English (Original Language), Analog
Format: Color, NTSC
Running Time: 110 minutes
Release Date: 1998-01-01
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Publisher: Republic Pictures
Studio: Republic Pictures

VHS Movie Reviews of Last Command (1955) [VHS]

Movie Review: Rousing tale of the heroes of the Alamo
Summary: 5 Stars

One of Republic's best...

Frank Lloyd's career stretched back to the silent era--he was a major director and made films for the top studios in Hollywood. Winding up at a B studio like Republic would seem to be a step down the career ladder, but this film is actually one of Lloyd's best and one of the best to ever come out of Republic.

The studio didn't often get the services of directors of the calibre of Frank Lloyd--although John Ford and Fritz Lang had occasionally made films there--and it spared no expense on this one. The subject matter demanded a big budget, and Republic didn't stint. Thousands of extras, big sets, spectacular action scenes, robust performances--all combined to make a first-rate action picture. Sterling Hayden makes a good Jim Bowie, the always underrated Arthur Hunnicutt personifies Davy Crockett, and the cast is filled with familiar character actors--Roy Roberts, Slim Pickens, John Russell, Jim Davis--who contribute much to the overall atmosphere of the film. The setpiece of the movie, though, is the final siege of the Alamo itself, and it is spectacular. It compares well to the John Wayne version made five years later, and ranks right up there with the final battle scene in 1964's "Zulu"--expertly edited with top-notch stunt-work and special effects. Very highly recommended.

Movie Review: Olfactory!
Summary: 5 Stars

Anyone who has played Hearts of Iron II - Doomsday knows this is not realistic. Nor a historifal simulation of possible third war outcomes. Expletive deleted.

Movie Review: wayne's "the alamo" is better,but this low budget tale moves fast and is still quite good
Summary: 5 Stars

i found this little gem in a 3 for $10.00 bin at a store nd i'm glad i found it. i had never heard of it before but i must say it is very good and the battle scenes are good. sterling hayden is very good as jim bowie and he's supported by a nice and very talented group of actors. this really needs to be put out on dvd!
this alamo is much smaller in scope so it really draws you into the story.if you can find it get this different take of the alamo,i think you will like it.

Movie Review: what a man jim bowie
Summary: 4 Stars

republic pictures was going to do this with john wayne, but they wouldn't let him direct and didn't want to make it the epic that he wanted. wayne got mad left the studio,after working for them for years and never worked for them again. the studio cast sterling hayden in the role of jim bowie and made the movie their way. not as much fun as wayne's alamo story but this little movie has that epic feel about it and it does have a rousing battle at the end, but like wayne it has a few slow spots . also like wayne's history is changed to fit the filmmakers needs, so it isn't very true to the facts. still this story of the alamo and jim bowie is a fun and exciteing little movie .

Movie Review: One of Republic's Biggest and Best
Summary: 5 Stars

Glad to see that some folks do appreciate "The Last Command," a film ignored by critics or derided by them because John Wayne more or less remade it in his epic, "The Alamo." (Wayne, in fact, trashed "The Last Comamnd" when it came out, feeling that Republic boss Herbert Yates had ruined Wayne's chance to make an Alamo film.) However, on its own, it's a terrific film, definitely on of Republic's "A" pictures, and it offers a more realistic depuction of the actual Alamo battle.

Just a few more points in addition to the praise already posted here.

--After watching the whole length of "The Alamo," it still isn't clear that many Mexicans joined the American settlers in the fight for Texas independence. After only about five minutes into "The Last Command," in contrast, the film makes it clear that opposition to Santa Anna was made up of both Americans and Mexicans, in just about equal numbers. This was the only film until recently that gave the brave Mexicans who stood with their American compatriots at the Alamo their due.

--Movie "experts" have long derided Republic's TrueColor process as vastly inferior to Technicolor. The restored TrueColor print of the film makes it clear that isn't true. TrueColor wasn't as good as Technicolor, true, but I believe it was as good as Eastmancolor at the time, and certainly far better than truly shoddy color processes like CineColor. It looks vibrant in this restored print.

--While the romance-with-the-seniorita angle hurt both "The Alamo" and "The Last Command," at least it made more sense in "The Last Command"--after all, Bowie was just widowed, his former wife was Mexican, and he was well-known and respected by the Mexican population of Texas.

--Veteran charcater actor J. Carrol Naish's portrayl of Santa Anna was three-dimensional--he converyed that Santa Anna had human feelings, that he thought he was right in what he did, and that he could show mercy and conduct himself as a gentleman. Naish's Santa Anna never lost his dignity. The more we learn about the real Santa Anna, the more Naish's performance appears spot on.

--Ironically, the smaller scale of the final assult of the Alamo in Republic's version is probably a more realistic depiction of the actual event than John Wayne's full-blown spectacle in "The Alamo." Despite its smaller scale, it's still a gripping and exiciting battle sequence, worthy of a even major studio effort.

--"The Last Command" also scores another historic accuracy--it shows that women and children were in the Alamo even during the battle--Wayne's film imaccurately depicts the women and children all leaving before the final assault.

Great film, needs to be on DVD and re-apparised by critics and fans.

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Summary of Last Command (1955) [VHS]

nl129 NEW, SEALED!! Original tape and box.

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