They're Davy--Davy Crockett


"One of the primary reasons that assures the continuance of Davy Crockett as a quintessential American hero is his ability to be nearly all things to all people. So great a quantity of primary material from the popular press and media exists that when eager readers or critics delve into the various 'autobiographies,' tall tales in newspapers and especially almanacs, dime novels, plays, movies, and television shows, they invariably manage to discover a good deal of evidence to support the virtues or vices, the significance or lack of it, that they think or hope they might find in his character."
-- Michael A. Lofaro, "Davy Crockett, the Man, the Legend, the Legacy, 1786-1986"


Crockett in Films

   David Crockett has a long (if not distinguished) history in the cinema. The most famous interpretations remain those by Fess Parker and John Wayne, but nobody should forget the underrated Arthur Hunnicutt. But in the later years of the Twentieth Century, Crockett had been suffering in film. (Brian Keith? John Schneider? It makes you want to root for Santa Anna!)
   Finally, in 2004, there came a David that we could all be proud of, in John Lee Hancock's The Alamo. Billy Bob is seen in the photo at right during the film's premiere in San Antonio, in April of 2004, posing with some of the real-life Crocketts. (Way to dress up for the occasion, Billy-Bob -- even Crockett had formal wear!) Looking at Miss Crockett on Billy Bob's right, we can say that Davy should be thanked for handing down yet one more magnificent work.
   The various portrayals of Crockett in film tend to tell you more about the period the film was made in than about the real David: A.D. Sears was an Isolationist Crockett in pre-World War I America; Fess Parker was a New Frontier Crockett in 1954; John Wayne was a Cold War Crockett in 1960; Billy Bob Thornton was a Celebrity Crockett for the star-obsessed Twenty-first Century.
   Here is a list of films that feature Crockett as a character. The name of the actor playing David is listed after the title.

SILENT FILMS:

Davy Crockett -- In Hearts United (Charles K. French, 1909): The earliest known Davy Crockett movie, wherein the Alamo does not appear (which is good, because it was shot in Fort Lee, New Jersey). It's a reworking of a play by Frank Mayo (see "Theater," below), starring and written by Charles K. French. The rough-hewn Davy meets Anna when he mends a saddle girth for her and her intended husband Blake, a city smoothie. While Davy mends the girth, Anna reads the poem about Lochinvar aloud to him. Later, Davy reenacts the Lochinvar story by rescuing Anna from her nuptials to Blake. NEW YORK MOTION PICTURE CO.

Davy Crockett (Hobart Bosworth, 1910): Another reworking of the play by Mayo. Mary, promised by her mother to another, loves Davy, and ends up riding off with him--who is playing Lochinvar again--rather than marry her mother's choice. Features the famous legend of Crockett barring the door against wolves with his own arm. SELIG POLYSCOPE CO

The Immortal Alamo (Francis Ford, 1911) The familiar Alamo story filmed on location in San Antonio, starring, according to most accounts, Francis Ford (brother of John Ford) as Davy Crockett, although it is now believed he played a different role in the film. It has Houston and his men arrive moments after the fall of the Alamo to wreak vengeance on Santa Anna. STAR FILM CO/GASTON MELIES

Davy Crockett Up-To-Date (W.E. Browning, 1915): A slapstick farce, sending up the Mayo play, released by UNITED FILM SERVICE

The Martyrs of the Alamo (A.D. Sears, 1915): This may be the most involving of all the Alamo films, but for all of the wrong reasons. David is a genial white trash bad-ass, saving the white women from the Mexicans in a very racist DW Griffith-produced film extravaganza. (In fact, Allan "A.D." Sears was promoted to the co-star role of Crockett after playing an uncredited Klansman in Birth of a Nation.) The entire revolution is started because a Mexican soldier looks the wrong way at Mrs. Dickinson. Then Mr. Dickinson hears about this and heads to downtown San Antonio, to shoot the soldier in cold blood. Dickinson is (rightly) jailed, but the outraged Texians decide it's time to kill every Mexican in sight for this grave injustice. If that sensibility isn't backward enough, Bowie's slave is actually a white actor in minstrel makeup who always sits at Bowie's feet. By the middle of the film, you actually start rooting for the Mexican forces! But beyond those problems (if you can get beyond those problems), the battle scenes are still pretty impressive, and the film has the greatest Alamo plot contrivance of all time: A trap door hatch in the back of the mission that Santa Anna's forces sneak through to overpower the Texans -- 5,000 men outside the gates, and the only way they can get in after 13 days is to sneak in through the back door! FINE ARTS/TRIANGLE FILM CORP

Davy Crockett (Dustin Farnum, 1916) Yet another film based on the Frank Mayo stage characterization, a non-Alamo romance in which Davy (played by Farnham, at right) once again saves the girl by barring the door against wolves with his own arm. Farnham was a pretty successful leading man until his death from kidney disease in 1929. According to Dustin Hoffman's April 1975 Playboy Magazine interview, he was named after Dustin Farnum by his mother. PALLAS PICTURES/PARAMOUNT

Davy Crockett at the Fall of the Alamo (Cullen Landis, 1926) Early scenes set in Tennessee show Crockett as top-hatted gentleman. He only puts on buckskin & coonskin hat when he goes west to the Alamo. It also may be the only Crockett film to show him as a slave owner. It features such enduring characters as the champion spitter in Teneessee, who doesn't kill many Mexicans in the final battle, but boy are they gooey and wet before they finally get him. John Wayne was possibly influenced by this film, thus sowing the seed for his Alamo obsession. Star Bob Steele, son of the director Robert N. Bradbury, was a friend of Duke’s, and Bradbury directed Wayne in some of his early films. SUNSET PRODUCTIONS

Davy Crockett (Fred Thomson, 1927): Comments: Announced as "coming" in June 1927. Film may not have been made. PARAMOUNT

TALKIES

The Miracle Rider (Bud Geary, 1935)
This last film by former silent great Tom Mix. Davy is only in the prologue. MASCOT PICRES CORP.

Heroes of the Alamo (Lane Chandler, 1937) The battle scenes are lifted from Davy Crockett at the Fall of the Alamo, resulting in a slightly sped up quality to the action, as some silent films were shot at slower shutter speeds SUNSET PRODUCTIONS

The Painted Stallion (Jack Perrin, 1937) Serial featuring Crockett, Jim Bowie, Kit Carson and others. A wagon train crosses the West to Santa Fe, as an evil "lieutenant governor" of Santa Fe attempts to prevent a U.S. agent from completing a trade deal with Mexico. REPUBLIC PICTURES

Man of Conquest (Robert Barrat, 1939) Story of Sam Houston, consorter-with-Cherokees and fierce warrior, with a number of scenes involving Andy Jackson. One scene shows Houston arriving on Texas soil just in time to help Davy Crockett and Jim Bowie defend a cabin against an Indian attack! Huh? REPUBLIC PICTURES

The Son of Davy Crockett (Not David - Bill Elliott plays his son, "Dave," 1941) Tagline: "THE SON OF A HERO..AND A TWO-FISTED, HARD-FIGHTIN' SON-OF-A-GUN! Spreadin' the glory of Uncle Sam in the wildest part of the West!" Young Dave Crockett (Bill Elliott) and his sidekick Cannonball (Dub Taylor) find themselves on the trail of water-hole poisoners in an untamed territory known as The Yucca Strip. Crockett and Cannonball side with the ranchers and townspeople against bad guy King Canfield (Kenneth MacDonald), self-appointed ruler of the strip, and his legion of henchmen to establish the strip as part of Texas. COLUMBIA PICTURES CORPORATION

Davy Crockett, Indian Scout (Not David - George Montgomery plays a cousin, 1950) Yet another film where Davy is just a relative of the real Davy. UNITED ARTISTS

Man From the Alamo (Trevor Bardette, 1953): A conventional Western, though it begins at the end of the Davy Crockett legend. UNIVERSAL-INTERNATIONAL

Davy Crockett, King of the Wild Frontier (Fess Parker, 1955): Culled from three TV shows, this is the Davy everybody thinks of first....then confuses with Daniel Boone, also played by Fess Parker. WALT DISNEY/BUENA VISTA

Last Command (Arthur Hunnicutt, 1955): Hunnicutt does a good job portraying an eccentric backwoodsman, but who would have voted this guy into Congress??? Some of this footage was incorporated into The Alamo: 13 Days to Glory and again in Texas REPUBLIC PICTURES

Davy Crockett and the River Pirates (Fess Parker, 1956): More TV shows cut into a theatrical film. By the time it was released, the Crockett Craze of the Fifties was practically over. WALT DISNEY/BUENA VISTA

The First Texan (James Griffith, 1956) Biography of Sam Houston, the renegade Tennesseean, shot entirely in California. ALLIED ARTISTS

Frontier Woman: Daughter of Davy Crockett (Cindy Carson as Polly Crockett, 1956): "The Violent Frontier's Strangest Triangle! White Girl against Indian Girl in the strange love story that set the Tennessee frontier ablaze with a thunder of bullets that left a path of blood! TOP PICTURES CORPORATION

Alias Jesse James (Fess Parker, 1959): A Bob Hope spoof in which he plays an incompetent insurance salesman who sells a policy to Jesse James. Fess Parker shows up as Davy for a sight gag, with Buddy Ebsen returning as Georgie Russell. HOPE ENTERPRISES

The Alamo (John Wayne, 1960): The Duke plays Davy as a mythic legend -- basically by playing Davy as John Wayne. This Crockett is the first to be aware of his own celebrity, and the first to use his celebrity to get what he wants. He's never called "Davy Crockett" in this film -- he's called "THE Davy Crockett." Still, he's the first Davy that you can buy both in Congress and leading a battle in the frontier, but he talks too much to be a good grizzly bear hunter. Still, this is the best Alamo movie up to that time. The battle scenes are indeed epic, even if the Cold War-inspired speeches are not. It has many similarities to "The Last Command" -- mainly because Wayne started to make the film for Republic Studios, but after he left the company, they made a bastardized version of Wayne's script, featuring Jim Bowie instead of Crockett. BATJAC PRODUCTION/UNITED ARTISTS

Alamo: The Price of Freedom (Merrill Connally, 1988) An IMAX movie that only shows near the Alamo in San Antonio, Texas. Made partially with state funding, Crockett is played by the much-too-old brother of the then-Governor of Texas. Gosh, I wonder how he got the part? IMAX

Davy Crockett After the Alamo (unproduced): A spoof of the Disney Crockett series, by the comedy writing team of Pat Proft and Neal Israel, using Davy and Georgie Russell from that work, along with a send-up of the Davy Crockett theme. It starts off as a social commentary, meditating on the nature of heroism and celebrity, but quickly turns into an Airplane-like spoof of Crockett and the Alamo films, and westerns in general. Crockett survives the Alamo, but finds that nobody wants him to be alive -- Andrew Jackson is using his martyrdom to push expansionism, and his wife is remarried and putting on "Davy Crockett" shows (and is much happier now with a new husband who plays Davy and stays home instead of leaving for months to explore). Davy decides that if he captures Santa Anna, people will accept him as a hero again. When that doesn't work, he tries to start a new life under an assumed name, and scouts for a wagon train out west, only to face Santa Anna again. Vanquishing the former Mexican ruler, the story ends with Davy about to be recognized by President Lincoln, who says, "Davy, I want you to know that after the play this evening, I intend on making a speech to the people here and tell them the wonderful thing you have done for our country. Mr. Crockett, you are a true American hero." Of course, they're sittin in the balcony of Ford's Theatre. Crockett exits the balcony to get popcorns for everybody and lets John Wilkes Booth into the box. We follow Davy to the snack bar and hear a gunshot in the background as a scroll announces that Lincoln actually survived the assassination, which will be detailed in the next film, "Abraham Lincoln...After the Show." ROCKET FILMS.

Naked Gun 2 1/2: The Smell of Fear (1991): Not a Crockett film at all, but director David Zucker plays Crockett in a cameo. PARAMOUNT. Which leads to......

Crockett (Alternate: Sunrise in His Pocket) (Robin Williams or Tom Hanks, unproduced): Williams was being considered, at any rate, to play Davy Crockett in this biography based on historian Paul Hutton's writing, among a long list of A-list Hollywood screenwriters who each took a shot. This was to be the most historically accurate portrayal of Crockett ever (although the script uses fictional characters like Georgie Russell from the Disney series). Until...

The Alamo (Billy Bob Thornton, 2004): Billy Bob succeeds in making the myth a man again, and in the process David becomes MORE heroic. David is now a brave, courageous, intelligent man trapped by his own fame, and forced to act out his own myth. You buy this David as a backwoodsman AND as a Congressman, and most importantly as a real man. He was a simple man who became a congressman -- only to have to pretend to be simple again, as not to disappoint the voters. Trapped by his outlandish reputation, David finally outdoes his own legend, demanding the surrender of the entire Mexican army at the moment of his execution. Despite lackluster box office, all film incarnations of Davy will now be measured against Thornton's performance, which is the high point of the first theatrical Alamo movie that's actually....pretty good! (Assuming there will ever be another Alamo movie, after this film tanked.) Read a cool scene from the First Draft here. TOUCHSTONE PICTURES / IMAGINE ENTERTAINMENT

   Author's Note: A lot of Alamo purists are arguing that the 2004 movie isn't completely accurate. UH... NO KIDDING!!! Movies are FICTION, or else they're called DOCUMENTARIES. Unless you can get an audience to sit for thirteen actual days in their theater seats, they aren't going to see a completely factual account. Events are re-sequenced, eliminated, combined, or changed to INTERPRET the facts. The real difference is that this film is a fiction based on REAL PEOPLE, while the other films listed above are fictions based on LEGENDS. Which is FINE! Enjoy them all!!!

   Speaking of which, the following FICTIONAL film -- based on the legend of Crockett -- is my all-time favorite (okay, it was a 3-part TV miniseries, which was released later in theaters):

Television

Disneyland: "Davy Crockett, Indian Fighter" (Fess Parker, 1954): This show made Davy Crockett the most popular man in the country again, a hundred and twenty years after his death. Despite being aimed at kids, it's actually more historically accurate than a lot of the films that are SUPPOSED to be "historically accurate." It also succeeds better than any other Crockett film in marrying man and myth. The history and folklore are seamlessly interwoven. It was followed by...

Disneyland: "Davy Crockett Goes to Congress" (Fess Parker, 1955): The one kids watched while waiting for the episode they REALLY wanted to see...

Disneyland: "Davy Crockett at the Alamo" (Fess Parker, 1955): Instead of being a disgraced Congressman who left the US to buy land in Mexico, Davy is a noble adventurer fighting for freedom. In fact, you'd never know Texas was in Mexico in this film. You'd think the Mexicans had invaded OUR country! But this is Disney myth-making at its finest.

Disneyland: "Davy Crockett and the Great Riverboat Race" (Fess Parker, 1955): Oops, did we kill off Davy in the last episode? Never mind...

Disneyland: "Davy Crockett and the River Pirates" (Fess Parker, 1955): Paired with "Riverboat Race," this second series of Crockett shows by Disney was not as successful as the first series. Kids were probably less excited after having just watched Davy die at the Alamo a few months earlier. Kinda' takes the fun out of a whacky river race...

Davy Crockett On the Mississippi (Animated, 1976): Haven't see it, but I assume it leaves out wandering Nashville naked after the boat crash and getting drunk...

Amazing Stories: "Alamo Jobe" (Richard Young, 1985) Alamo Jobe fights alongside Colonel Travis, Jim Bowie, and Davy Crockett for the glory of Texas - and the entertainment of tourists. Story by Steven Speilberg; Directed by Michael Moore.

   The Alamo: 13 Days to Glory (Brian Keith, 1987): And 13 minutes to changing the channel. Brian Keith (star of TV's Family Affair) neither looks like a backwoodsman OR a congressman. And he wears a cowboy hat! (It beats looking at his comb-over, anyway.) All the more intense battle footage was taken from the film, The Last Command. Unfortunately they left out the rest of the movie and shot this instead. To quote Brian Keith's Davy, "Every now and then, when I'm right in the middle of speechifyin', I can hear myself sayin' somethin' that makes a whole lot of sense." Not often enough to save this movie, unfortunately. They did shoot some connecting battle footage on the set of John Wayne's film in Bracketville, Texas. NBC TELEVISION

The Magical World of Disney: "Davy Crockett" (Tim Dunagin, 1989) Disney created a new Crockett for the eighties -- a back-to-nature, peace-loving Davy that preferred to talk to the animals rather than hunt them. Even worse than it sounds, the show lasted five episodes. Gary Grubbs takes over the role of Georgie Russel from Buddy Ebsen. The episodes:

Davy Crockett: A Letter To Polly
Davy Crockett: A Natural Man
Davy Crockett: Guardian Spirit
Davy Crockett: Rainbow In The Thunder
Davy Crockett: Warrior's Farewell

Rainbow featured Johnny Cash as the older Col. David Crockett remembering his youth. A reunion between Crockett and President Jackson spurs memories of an Indian uprising 25 years before as they argue over Indian removal. WONDERFUL WORLD OF DISNEY/NBC-TV

Shelley Duvall's Tall Tales and Legends - Davy Crockett (198?) A young boy studying the Old West finds himself back in the 1800's with Mr. David Crockett himself. Mac Davis plays Davy. Baby, baby don't get hooked on him.

Davy Crockett: Rabbit Ears (Voice of Nicolas Cage, 1992) Half-alligator and half-snappping turtle, with a touch of earthquake thrown in, Davy Crockett is the ultimate American backwoods legend. This animated tale follows the original ring-tailed roarer of the western woods through a series of outlandish adventures, including the Battle of the Alamo, where he literally brags himself into American history. Told by Nicolas Cage. Music by David Bromberg.

Texas (John Schneider, 1995): Davy is played by one of the Dukes of Hazzard. Sorry, couldn't get through this OR the book it was based on.

Dear America: A Line in the Sand (Scott Wickware, 2000): A teenage girl from a family of Texas pioneers experiences loss around the time of the battle of the Alamo. Scholastic Films Short

Mayo Act 1 Set

Davy in Theater:

   Crockett became a theatrical figure in his own time, with The Lion of the West. But after his death he was featured in many plays, but as more of a heroic, even romantic figure. Today there are several touring one-man shows and several revisionist plays in rep.

The Lion of the West; Retitled The Kentuckian or A Trip To New York: A Farce in Two Acts(1831): Revised by John Augustus Stone and William Bayle Bernard. A play based on Crockett's life, starring James Hackett. He performed scenes for the real Crockett in Washington. It ran for decades, playing in Chicago as late as 1858.

The National Drama of the Fall of the Alamo, or the Death of Col. Crockett (1845): Played around the country for years after first being "patriotically revived" in Houston.

Michael Bonham: Or, The Fall of Bexar (1852): A play by William Gilmore Simms.

Davy Crockett: Or, Be Sure You're Right, Then Go Ahead (1872): A melodrama by Frank Murdock and Frank Mayo. The plot involves Crockett's love for a girl above his station, his protection of her from a pack of wolves in a blizzard, and his rescue of her during her wedding from villains. In one especially melodramatic scene, Crockett saves settlers by using his arm as a door latch while reciting Sir Walter Scott's "Lochinvar." Mayo (at right) played the lead role throughout the United States and England until his death in 1896. Alamo survivor Susanna Dickinson even attended a performance in Austin, Texas, in 1878.

Davy Crockett is an unfinished 1938 musical by by the legendary Kurt Weill.

Searching for Davy Crockett - pdf file.

"Davy Crockett: Hero of the Frontier." In Schafer, Liza, ed. Famous Americans: Twenty-two Short Plays for the Classroom. New York: Scholastic Professional Books, 1994. 199 p. For grades 4-8.

The Trial of Davy Crockett speculates on the last confrontation between David and Santa Ana. The real conversation was a lot shorter.

Dinner with Davy Crockett: Jeff Bearden does a first person presentation in the character of Crockett. Mr. Bearden has been doing Davy Crockett for several years and has presented this program to various schools and historic organizations throughout Texas. He has also portrayed Davy for both the Discovery and History Channel’s documentaries on the Alamo.

The San Antonio Living History Association is an educational non-profit organization dedicated to creating artistic interpretive presentations of historical programs and interactive cultural demonstrations that inform, entertain, and enlighten audiences of all ages. Living history interpretation is an art form that incorporates many arts including drama, fashions, storytelling, music and dance. The Purpose of our interpretive stories is to relate to, reveal, inspire, and provoke people to broaden their horizons. Our goal is to promote greater understanding of San Antonio's multi-cultured heritage through the use of the skills and the art of living history interpretation in schools and at historic sites in San Antonio and Texas.

Mayo Act 1 Set
The information contained in these pages is intended for educational purposes.
Copyrights held by various and respective owners.

Music: "Overture," from "The Alamo" (1960) by Dimitri Tiomkin.