LAST NIGHT AT THE ALAMO
Year: 1983
Country:
United States
Run Time:
80 minutes
Born and raised in Texas, independent filmmaker Eagle Pennell wanted to record a fast disappearing essence of Western character typified by the macho cowboys who hang out in neighborhood bars, threatened by the changing times. Some of the characteristics of this Texan breed were epitomized in "The Whole Shootin' Match," Pennell's first feature, which he wrote and directed in 1979. The film won a special jury award from the Utah Film Festival and was a hit in both the N.Y. New Directors/New Films series and European festivals. LAST NIGHT AT THE ALAMO echoes "Shootin' Match's" naturalistic style, with comic dialogue that invites the viewer the probe beneath its surface truths. The action takes place almost solely in the Alamo, a dingy Houston bar on its last night before the wrecker's ball is to clear the way for a highrise condo construction. The regulars gathered for the swansong voice their pipe dreams and gripes in crudely realistic language while awaiting their hero, Cowboy (Sonny Carl Davis), who has a plan to save the Alamo. Cowboy, an attractive smoothie full of empty boasts, feeds the illusions of his admiring cronies, especially the marriage-hating Claude (Louis Perryman) and Ichabod (Steven Matilla), an angry brawler. Both technically and artistically, this personal, honest film belies its low budget.
"Its simultaneously funny and bleak, sweet and unsentimental. . .the one current film that most accurately reflects what a certain kind of American life is like today." -Vincent Canby, THe New York Times
Screenplay
Kim Henkel
Producer
Kim Henkel, Eagle Pennell
Cinematography
Brian Huberman, Eric A. Edwards
Editing
Eagle Pennell, Kim Henkel
Principal Cast
Sonny Carl Davis, Louis Perryman, Steven Matilla, Tina-Bess Hubbard
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