I've recently watched a biography programme on the Duke over here in England.Where Ron Howard said that the Duke had found a book and he and Howard would play the parts or no one else .Has anyone have any idea what the book may have been.
Thanks

I have read that Duke had a project he wanted to work with Ron Howard on titled "Beau James". He loved working with Ron in The Shootist and was looking for another vehicle for them to work together on and Beau James was it. I am not sure if it was a book or screenplay. I hope this helps. Dukefan1

Hi.

Hello from Wales in the U K. I believe that filming is underway
somewhere in Texas on Disney's new version of " The Alamo ".
I thought it strange as we all know about The Dukes Alamo film
shot in Brackettville on the set he had built in 1959.

In the press over here we are led to believe that Ron Howard is
part of the production team. Is it not strange that they worked
that once an now he is involved in a remake of my favourite
John Wayne film.

Wish I could find out more about the remake and is it called
" The Alamo " again ???????

Best wishes from over here.

Maurice.

Hi fellow Brit, I've just had a quick glance there is a web site
WWW.THEALAMOFILM.COM (http://WWW.THEALAMOFILM.COM)
Telling you about the new Disney film The Alamo.
Hope this helps.
My favorite Duke films were The Shootist and True Grit!

There is a movie in production due to be released on December 12, 2003 in the states (nothing on brit releases). Ron Howard is the prducer. It stars:
Patrick Wislon ....Col. William B. Travis
Jason Patric .... Jim Bowie
Emilio Echevarría .... General Santa Anna
Nick Kokich
Jordi Mollà .... Juan Seguin
Matthew O'Leary.... Daniel Cloud (as Matt O'Leary)
Philip Olivas.... Mexican Army Stunt Team
Dennis Quaid.... General Sam Houston
Billy Bob Thornton.... Davy Crockett

Plot Outline: Based on the 1836 standoff between a group of Texan and Tejano men, led by Davy Crockett and Jim Bowie, and Mexican dictator Santa Anna's forces at the Alamo in San Antonio, Texas

:angry: Just one comment, Billy Bob Thornton is no John Wayne, not even close. How could they put such a person in that picure? I wish they could find someone else.

Hondo

Though this remake of The Alamo is not the project Ron Howard meant when he said he and Duke wanted to do another project, it was to be Directed by Ron Howard. Last I heard, he backed out of The Alamo and they hired a new Director. Something about not being able to do it his way. Too bad, he is a great Director.

:angry: Billy Bob Thornton as Davy Crockett he hasn't the stauture to play someone
Like that. Well i might give this one a miss!
They need some one with a bit more charisma.
Well who do you think my be better at the part? <_<
PS.
Have you any ideas what Beau Jamess was about I can't seem to find any reference?

Hi.

Hello from Wales again. Thank you all for your comments.
What ever the remake turns out like in my book it still will
not come anywhere near Dukes 1960 Alamo.

I just wish they would release the full version on dvd like
they did a few years back on v h s.

Best wishes.

Maurice.

James Arness made a remake of The Alamo some years ago it was a made tv movie. He's also done Red River. ;)

Chance

Nobody will ever be able to do a part that the Duke did and carry it off, especially not for diehard John Wayne fans like us, its just not possible. But as far as current actors go I'd say that the cast of Tombstone were good as cowboys. Sam Elliot is an awesome cowboy, Val Kilmer was fantastic as Doc Holliday but probably not a good fill in for a John Wayne part, and Kurt Russell was also a good cowboy.

Those are really the only current actors out there that I would say could pull off a western effectively, What do you think of those?

Idaho

P.S. Bill Paxton did not belong in a western, he was terrible. Tombstone is probably the only modern western that I genuinely enjoy. You?

Chance & Idaho,

Today's actors are not like the ones in the past. Who can ever compare to John Wayne, James Stewart, Henry Fonda, Humphry Borgart, James Cagney, Cary Grant, just to name a few.

But if I had to pick someone who can play today's Crockett, it would either have to be Mel Gipson, or maybe Tom Hanks. Mel did a great job with "We Were Soldiers" (about the best picture of the Vietnam War next to "The Green Berets") which should have been voted best picture along with Gipson as best actor this year. If you remember Gipson in "Mavrick", even though that was not a great western, he did a pretty good job in it, and played the part well.

Thinking this through, I believe that Gipson would be a "CrackerJack"of a Crockett. I guess Patrick Wayne could have been a good Crockett, but he will be 65 years old in July, and too old to play that part today.

If you recall, Duke played Crockett when he was fifty years old, which was the actual age of Davy Crockett when he perished at the Alamo. Though Gipson is 47 years old, that is pretty close. And Hanks is somewhere around the same age as Gipson. Anyway, that my two cents worth.

Hondo

Well Idaho i think your on the right track i think Sam Elliott would make a good Davy Crockett the only thing about Elliott is i think he needs to put on a bit more beef and i think he would make a passible new John Wayne
i love his voice Brilliant!Yes i like Sam Elliott.
The rest make good cowboys Even Bill Paxton LOOKS! a good.
I'm not quit sure about Hanks or Gibson?
I think it needs someone a bit Grittier.What about Costner or Harrison Ford. :D

I think Tom Selleck could pull off the roll. He has been one of the few who can still pull off the weastern in today's cinema. I could also see Kevin Kline in the part as Crockett. I just loved him in Silverado. Not many to chose from in today's actors, but we have named a few in these postings. Dukefan1

How about Ed Harris think he would make a good Davy Crockett but i think he may be on the small side I'd think he makes a good cowboy.
Good actor! :rolleyes:

My vote would be for Mel Gibson, after seeing him in The Patriot. That man knows how to handle a tomahawk (no offense to our British friends B) )!

I recently acquired a copy of The Undefeated, and there was a documentary about the movie at the beginning of the tape. Patrick appears in it, to make some commentary. He is 64 years old now. I'm not sure when the documentary was made, but Patrick Wayne looked older there than John Wayne looked at 62 (his age in True Grit) and even at 68 (his age in Rooster Cogburn). Patrick Wayne definitely looks too old to play Davy Crockett.

Chester

When you talk of Crockett remember he was more than likely under 5'10"......
He was played by Arthur Hunnicutt ( Bull from El Dorado)in the Last Command....
and Ed Harris would be giving anti -war speeches.

AND

Patrick more than likely hasn't had plastic surguery :ph34r:

REASR said:

<<<Patrick more than likely hasn't had plastic surgery >>>

I'm sure that's true. John Wayne never had plastic surgery, did he? He just looked real good in his sixties.

Chester

What are your thoughts on this cast for the Alamo

Col. William B. Travis---- Ed Harris or Mel Gibson
Jim Bowie--------------------Tom Selleck
Davy Crocket-------------- Sam Elliot
Gen Sam Houston---------Patrick Wayne

Brian
Tulalip Wa

Pretty good choice there brian couldn't have picked better. :rolleyes:

There is a buzz in the Internet about The Alamo ever since Disney went public with the project. They even took a look at the old Brackettville location but decided to build their own "Alamo". It was then that Ron Howard backed out because, as he himself said, Disney is looking for a family version (maybe they want to duplicate the Crockett craze from the Fifties), and Howard wanted to make a blood'n'guts film, true to the original battle. They got a Disney regular director (I think it's the guy who directed "The Kid" with Bruce Willis, nothing to get crazy about).
There are many many Alamo buffs out there and early on they discussed the casting. Ethan Hawk was announced to play Travis. I had the oppurtunity to ask him if there was any truth in that (when he was reading from his new book in Zurich, a great performance), and he said: I'll have to see about that. Told him that, for a born Texan, it should be great to do that line-in-the-sand-scene but he wasn't at all sure if he would want to tackle this role. And now he doesn't. It was splashed all over the Internet that he would be Travis - so you see, an actor makes up his own mind. I think he could have been very good in it, the very intelligent young actor (and writer, for that matter) he is.

The casting of Billy Bob Thornton in the role of Crockett I for one find very interesting. Disney is not out to remake JW's The Alamo (they would fail trying) but to bring a new perspective to that story, and so far Thornton has proved he is capable of playing just any role.

By the way, Ethan Wayne played one of the Tennesseans in Burt Kennedy's Alamo-film from the Seventies. For further reading about all the different Alamo movies, get the book "Alamo movies".

Of course, I'd have loved to see Howard direct The Alamo because I like what he does as a director. Want to share this little story with you: I had the great oppurtunity to interview him. We were supposed to talk about A Beautiful Mind (after all, that's why they set up press junkets like that, to get free advertising for their movie) yet I couldn't resist to get him in another direction: At the AFI salute for Henry Fonda he thanked Fonda for looking at the 8mm-films he "directed" and really was convinced by Fonda that film is the medium of the director - so he became one eventually. So my question was if his style as director was influenced by what he learned from working as an actor with the greats, and you know, this guy is really down to earth, he gave JW and Fonda credit. And he was kind of surprised anyone still knew about his acting days and his AFI tribute (he was mixed up in which AFI tribute he took part because he remembered sitting at JW's table that night and had to ask me if this was the AFI tribute to JW - sadly, he never got the AFI Life Time Achievement Award). But anyway, Howard liked to talk about this time and was even asking me questions what I knew about - long after they stopped recording the interview he was talking - they had to drag me out of this room in the end.

Howard was to go from A Beautiful Mind to The Alamo - but that just wasn't to be. "Beau John", the script JW was talking about to the very end and had Howard in mind for it was never made - or at least not under that title. I've read somewhere that it remained a property of Batjac.

itdo,

That was very interesting about your interview with Ron Howard. I've heard that he was down to earth, and easy to talk to. I really enjoyed what you wrote in the post above. Thanks for the info. I would really love to hear what else he said. You seemed to really give us a brief part of the time you spent with Howard.

I would also love to hear about his thoughts of Duke, especially the last few years. This is really good. Sorry, as well that he will not be doing the latest version of the Alamo. He'd be good in this movie.

Cheers, Hondo B)

Y'know those bloody press junkets ARE short. You're fighting for minutes. There's an idiot standig behind the celebrity counting down with his fingers for you to see. Most interviews that are set up like that are anywhere from 6 - 8 minutes. That way you can send in lots of journalists in one day - minimum input, maximum world wide effect. Most often, they're set up in London and Paris - if it's there you know you won't get more than 6. If they tour around Europe and happen to include Switzerland, then I can count on 8 - 10 minutes, such was the case with Howard. My "private" conversation happened after the cameras stopped recording (my official interview time run out) so unfortunately I don't have it on tape. They didn't dare to throw me out (this time) because HOWARD was asking questions at that point, not me, haha. One should be cool and professional in those moments cause there's a job at hand but in the end I always turn out to be a fan and have a picture signed (which tortures the people standing around with their schedule on their mind even more). So, besides talking about Beautiful Mind, that's pretty much what Howard told me about Fonda and JW, he gave Fonda credit for his wish to become a director, got some misty eyes when I handed over my lobby card from Shootist. He asked where I got the boots I was wearing, told me his father had worn a jacket from Switzerland for years. He was fun enough to do a Station ID for me - in Swiss German. And there go my 8 minutes.