poster on linen John Wayne THE ALAMO '60 British Quad 30x40 LINENBACKED HTF Rare

Description

Original 1960 Theatrical BRITISH QUAD 30x40 on LINEN, GOOD+ Condition, nicely backed and restored. Hard to find style and size. Natural edgewear and fold wear with a few visible pinholes. See photos. Linen border is one to two inches outside poster border. FAST & SAFE DELIVERY.
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1960. TAGLINES : "They stood firing until they could stand no longer...156 MEN AGAINST A RAGING ARMY OF 7000!" "The Mission That Became a Fortress, The Fortress That Became a Shrine!" - PLOT SUMMARY : In 1836 General Santa Anna and the Mexican army is sweeping across Texas. To be able to stop him, General Sam Huston needs time to get his main force into shape. To buy that time he orders Colonel William Travis to defend a small mission on the Mexicans' route at all costs. Travis' small troop is swelled by groups accompanying Jim Bowie and Davy Crockett, but as the situation becomes ever more desperate Travis makes it clear there will be no shame if they leave while they can. Nominated for 7 Academy Awards including BEST PICTURE and Best Supporting Actor (Chill Wills). BEHIND THE SCENES TRIVIA : Chill Wills vigorously campaigned for his own Academy Award nomination and win - a dubious one at best - and had hired a publicist for his campaign. He put an ad in the trade papers declaring to all Academy members: "Win, lose, or draw, you're still all my cousins, and I love you," and signed it "Your cousin, Chill Wills." Another of Wills' ads suggested that the film's cast was praying for Wills to win his award "harder than the real Texans prayed for their lives at the Alamo." Wills' aggressive campaign to win the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor received immense backlash, as most people singled out his ads, particularly the one about the film's cast praying harder for Wills to win, as a display of vanity and poor judgment. John Wayne himself was appalled by the tastelessness of that ad and was forced to take out an ad himself, countering it and deploring Wills' tastelessness. In response to one of Wills' ad, claiming that all the voters were his "Alamo Cousins," Groucho Marx took out a small ad which simply said, "Dear Mr. Wills, I am delighted to be your cousin, but I voted for Sal Mineo," (Wills' rival nominee for Exodus (1960)). Wills' tactics seemingly backfired, as he lost the award to Peter Ustinov for Spartacus (1960). John Wayne formed a close friendship with Laurence Harvey during filming. He later said Harvey should have received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor instead of Chill Wills. John Wayne originally wanted to cast James Arness as Sam Houston. However Arness did not turn up for an interview with Wayne, so Richard Boone was cast instead. Wayne never really forgave Arness for not showing up. John Wayne partially financed this film himself. During shooting, the film was delayed due to various production problems. Wayne was under so much pressure because of the stress of producing, directing and starring in a major epic film John Wayne's smoking habit increased from his usual 60 cigarettes a day to more than 100 cigarettes a day. John Wayne lobbied hard for Republic Pictures to fund a big-budget epic about the Alamo. Republic, which specialized in low-budget B-movies, turned him down, so Wayne was forced to finance much of the film himself. He took out a second mortgage on his houses, and secured loans on his cars and yacht. Despite being a top-ten money maker for 1960, and its popularity in Europe and Japan, the film could not recoup its massive budget in its initial release. John Wayne assumed huge personal debt to get the film finished after United Artists refused to pay for cost overruns during production. It wasn't until the television rights sale in 1971 that Wayne's personal debts were finally paid off. It premiered on NBC in September 1971. Originally to save on expenses, director John Wayne planned to shoot the film in Mexico. The Daughters of the Republic of Texas (the custodians of the real Alamo) sent him a letter that if he pursued that course of action, he had better not show the film in Texas. Consequently Wayne found an amenable landowner, Happy Shahan, who allowed the production to film on his 20,000-acre ranch in Bracketville, Texas. When Wayne asked to meet the builder, he was introduced to a Mexican immigrant. A rather dubious Wayne asked him, "Do you think you can build the Alamo?" to which the Mexican replied, "Do you think you can make a picture, Mr. Wayne?" Although considered a flop at the time of its release, the film was the 5th highest grossing film of 1960, and has a large enduring fan base, even today. Dimitri Tiomkin's soundtrack for the film has been in continuous print for over 60 years.
CAST INCLUDES : John Wayne, Richard Widmark, Laurence Harvey, Frankie Avalon, Richard Boone, Linda Cristal, Patrick Wayne, Chill Wills, Ken Curtis, Denver Pyle, Joseph Calleia, Ken Curtis, John Dierkes, Veda Ann Borg