Alamo Village
Encyclopedia
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
set and tourist attraction
Tourist attraction
A tourist attraction is a place of interest where tourists visit, typically for its inherent or exhibited cultural value, historical significance, natural or built beauty, or amusement opportunities....
north of Brackettville, Texas
Brackettville, Texas
Brackettville is a city in Kinney County, Texas, United States. The population was 1,876 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Kinney County...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. It was the first movie location built in Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
, originally constructed for and best known as the setting for The Alamo
The Alamo (1960 film)
The Alamo is a 1960 American historical epic released by United Artists. The film was directed by John Wayne, who also starred as Davy Crockett. The cast also includes Richard Widmark as Jim Bowie and Laurence Harvey as William B...
(1960), directed by John Wayne
John Wayne
Marion Mitchell Morrison , better known by his stage name John Wayne, was an American film actor, director and producer. He epitomized rugged masculinity and became an enduring American icon. He is famous for his distinctive calm voice, walk, and height...
and starring Wayne, Richard Widmark
Richard Widmark
Richard Weedt Widmark was an American film, stage and television actor.He was nominated for an Academy Award for his role as the villainous Tommy Udo in his debut film, Kiss of Death...
, Laurence Harvey
Laurence Harvey
Laurence Harvey was a Lithuanian-born actor who achieved fame in British and American films.- Early life :Harvey maintained throughout his life that his birth name was Laruschka Mischa Skikne. However, his legal name was Zvi Mosheh Skikne. He was the youngest of three boys born to Ber "Boris" and...
and Frankie Avalon
Frankie Avalon
Frankie Avalon is an American actor, singer, playwright, and former teen idol.-Career:By the time he was 12, Avalon was on U.S. television playing his trumpet. As a teenager he played with Bobby Rydell in Rocco and the Saints...
.
History
The set was built by James T. "Happy" Shahan of Brackettville, who in 1995 was named the "Father of the Texas movie industry" by Governor George W. BushGeorge W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
. Shahan began building the set on his ranch in September, 1957 for Wayne, who had tried for years to make a movie about the Battle of the Alamo
Battle of the Alamo
The Battle of the Alamo was a pivotal event in the Texas Revolution. Following a 13-day siege, Mexican troops under President General Antonio López de Santa Anna launched an assault on the Alamo Mission near San Antonio de Béxar . All but two of the Texian defenders were killed...
for Republic Pictures
Republic Pictures
Republic Pictures was an independent film production-distribution corporation with studio facilities, operating from 1934 through 1959, and was best known for specializing in westerns, movie serials and B films emphasizing mystery and action....
, before finally breaking away to form Batjac Productions
Batjac Productions
Batjac Productions is an independent film production company founded by John Wayne in the early 1950s as a vehicle for Wayne to produce as well as star in movies. Its first release was Big Jim McLain with Warner Brothers in 1952, and its final film was also with Warner Brothers, McQ, in 1974...
. Filming began in August, 1959.
Originally the set was to be facade
Facade
A facade or façade is generally one exterior side of a building, usually, but not always, the front. The word comes from the French language, literally meaning "frontage" or "face"....
s of the front and sides of the buildings. However, Wayne ran out of money and called a halt to construction. Shahan agreed to continue working while Wayne raised more money, if Wayne would agree to building full sets with four walls, floor and roofs. Wayne signed on to the deal.
The set includes a full-scale re-creation of the Alamo
Alamo Mission in San Antonio
The Alamo, originally known as Mission San Antonio de Valero, is a former Roman Catholic mission and fortress compound, site of the Battle of the Alamo in 1836, and now a museum, in San Antonio, Texas....
compound as it would have appeared in 1836 (the real Alamo is in the middle of downtown San Antonio, Texas
San Antonio, Texas
San Antonio is the seventh-largest city in the United States of America and the second-largest city within the state of Texas, with a population of 1.33 million. Located in the American Southwest and the south–central part of Texas, the city serves as the seat of Bexar County. In 2011,...
and is surrounded by modern buildings). The set also includes a representation of the village of San Antonio de Béxar of the same time period. The building of the set required over 1.5 million adobe
Adobe
Adobe is a natural building material made from sand, clay, water, and some kind of fibrous or organic material , which the builders shape into bricks using frames and dry in the sun. Adobe buildings are similar to cob and mudbrick buildings. Adobe structures are extremely durable, and account for...
bricks, 14 miles of gravel road and a 4,000-foot runway.
Western (genre)
The Western is a genre of various visual arts, such as film, television, radio, literature, painting and others. Westerns are devoted to telling stories set primarily in the latter half of the 19th century in the American Old West, hence the name. Some Westerns are set as early as the Battle of...
as well as documentaries
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
, music video
Music video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
s and commercials
Advertising
Advertising is a form of communication used to persuade an audience to take some action with respect to products, ideas, or services. Most commonly, the desired result is to drive consumer behavior with respect to a commercial offering, although political and ideological advertising is also common...
have been shot using various parts of the set. (The 2004 Disney
The Walt Disney Company
The Walt Disney Company is the largest media conglomerate in the world in terms of revenue. Founded on October 16, 1923, by Walt and Roy Disney as the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio, Walt Disney Productions established itself as a leader in the American animation industry before diversifying into...
movie about the Alamo was not shot on this set, but in a new set built in Dripping Springs, Texas
Dripping Springs, Texas
Dripping Springs is a city in Hays County, Texas, United States. The population was 1,548 at the 2000 census; it was 1,828 in the 2008 census estimate....
.) Frank Thompson, a film historian, noted that each production changed the set in some way, big or small, and that the changes appear in each new movie about the Alamo, documenting the current view of authenticity over time.
After the filming of the 1960 version of The Alamo, the village has served primarily as a tourist attraction. For several decades, it served as a significant local employer and element of the economy of Brackettville. In addition to the replica of The Alamo, the village included a cantina and restaurant, a trading post, an Indian store, a church, a jail, a blacksmith
Blacksmith
A blacksmith is a person who creates objects from wrought iron or steel by forging the metal; that is, by using tools to hammer, bend, and cut...
shop, the John Wayne
John Wayne
Marion Mitchell Morrison , better known by his stage name John Wayne, was an American film actor, director and producer. He epitomized rugged masculinity and became an enduring American icon. He is famous for his distinctive calm voice, walk, and height...
Western Museum, several museums, and a celebrity gallery. Alamo Village also maintained a collection of antique tools, vehicles and other period props, as well as a herd of longhorn
Texas longhorn (cattle)
The Texas Longhorn is a breed of cattle known for its characteristic horns, which can extend to tip to tip for steers and exceptional cows, and tip to tip for bulls. Horns can have a slight upward turn at their tips or even triple twist. Texas Longhorns are known for their diverse coloring...
cattle. During the summer, live music and stage shows performed frequently, and over Labor Day
Labor Day
Labor Day is a United States federal holiday observed on the first Monday in September that celebrates the economic and social contributions of workers.-History:...
weekend the Labor Day Horse Races brought crowds to the village. Alamo Village was open to visitors year round except for December 21-26.
In 2004, the set was put up for sale by its owner, Virginia Shahan, Happy Shahan's widow, for $3.0 million. Virginia Shahan died on June 23, 2009 at the age of 93. Alamo Village was closed to the public while her estate evaluated the feasibility of the Village's continued operation in the midst of the late-2000s recession. Alamo Village temporarily re-opened after the death of Virginia Shahan but on September 28, 2009, Tulisha Shahan Wardlaw, Happy and Virginia's daughter died at the age of 67. Alamo Village then closed its doors and removed its website, ending an era.
Alamo Village reopened for the summer in 2010 with limited hours and no shows, stores or restaurants.
Selected filmography
- The AlamoThe Alamo (1960 film)The Alamo is a 1960 American historical epic released by United Artists. The film was directed by John Wayne, who also starred as Davy Crockett. The cast also includes Richard Widmark as Jim Bowie and Laurence Harvey as William B...
(1960) - Produced, directed and starring John Wayne - Two Rode TogetherTwo Rode TogetherTwo Rode Together is a western film directed by John Ford, and starring James Stewart, Richard Widmark, and Shirley Jones. The supporting cast includes Linda Cristal, Andy Devine, and John McIntire...
(1961) - starring James StewartJames Stewart (actor)James Maitland Stewart was an American film and stage actor, known for his distinctive voice and his everyman persona. Over the course of his career, he starred in many films widely considered classics and was nominated for five Academy Awards, winning one in competition and receiving one Lifetime... - Bandolero!Bandolero!Bandolero! is a 1968 western directed by Andrew V. McLaglen starring James Stewart, Dean Martin, Raquel Welch and George Kennedy.-Plot:Posing as a hangman, Mace Bishop arrives in town with the intention of freeing his brother Dee from the gallows. Dee and his gang have been arrested for a bank...
(1968) - starring James Stewart, Raquel WelchRaquel WelchJo Raquel Tejada , better known as Raquel Welch, is an American actress, author and sex symbol. Welch came to attention as a "new-star" on the 20th Century-Fox lot in the mid-1960s. She posed iconically in a animal skin bikini for the British-release One Million Years B.C. , for which she may be...
and Dean MartinDean MartinDean Martin was an American singer, film actor, television star and comedian. Martin's hit singles included "Memories Are Made of This", "That's Amore", "Everybody Loves Somebody", "You're Nobody till Somebody Loves You", "Sway", "Volare" and "Ain't That a Kick in the Head?"... - BarbarosaBarbarosaBarbarosa is a 1982 motion picture starring Willie Nelson and Gary Busey, about a young cowboy on the run from the law who hooks up with a famous bandito and learns about life from him...
(1982) - starring Willie NelsonWillie NelsonWillie Hugh Nelson is an American country music singer-songwriter, as well as an author, poet, actor, and activist. The critical success of the album Shotgun Willie , combined with the critical and commercial success of Red Headed Stranger and Stardust , made Nelson one of the most recognized... - Good As Gold (1983 music video) by Red RockersRed RockersRed Rockers were a musical band from New Orleans, Louisiana, active from 1979 to 1985. They are best known for their 1983 hit single "China".-Origins:...
- Uphill All the WayUphill All the WayUphill All The Way is a 1986 motion picture starring Roy Clark, Mel Tillis, Glen Campbell, Burl Ives and Trish Van Devere....
(1986) - Alamo: The Price of Freedom (1988) - Imax
- Lonesome DoveLonesome DoveLonesome Dove is a 1985 Pulitzer Prize–winning western novel written by Larry McMurtry. It is the first published book of the Lonesome Dove series, but the third installment in the series chronologically...
(1988) (TV) - starring Robert DuvallRobert DuvallRobert Selden Duvall is an American actor and director. He has won an Academy Award, two Emmy Awards, four Golden Globe Awards and a BAFTA over the course of his career.... - Bad GirlsBad Girls (film)Bad Girls is a 1994 western film starring Madeleine Stowe, Mary Stuart Masterson, Andie MacDowell and Drew Barrymore. It was directed by Jonathan Kaplan from a screenplay by Ken Friedman and Yolande Turner.-Plot:...
(1994) - Once Upon a Time in China and AmericaOnce Upon a Time in China and AmericaOnce Upon a Time in China and America, also known as Once Upon a Time in China VI, is a 1997 Hong Kong martial arts action film co-written and produced by Tsui Hark and directed by Sammo Hung, who also worked on the film's fight choreography. The film is the sixth and final installment in the Once...
(1997) - a Chinese martial arts western - Bullfighter (2000)
- JerichoJericho (2001 film)Jericho is a 2001 western film starring Mark Valley and directed by Merlin Miller.-Cast:*Mark Valley as Jericho*Leon Coffee as Joshua*R. Lee Ermey as Marshall*Lisa Stewart as Mary*Mark Collie as Johnny 'O*Morgana Shaw as Mildred Flynn...
(2000)
External links
- Alamo Village - official Alamo Village site
- Unofficial Alamo Village site
- Toy Soldiers of San Diego - Alamo Village photos and review