The First Texan (1956)

★ 6.3 1h 22m IMDb

War History Western

After arriving in Texas to escape a scandal back east, lawyer Sam Houston just wants to hang out his shingle, keep a low profile, and stay out of any political intrigue. However, when President Jackson personally orders him to lead the fight for Texan independence, he overcomes his reluctance to become involved and leads his compatriots to a string of victories over the Mexican army.

Where to Watch

Netflix

Amazon Prime Video

Disney Plus

Max

HBO Max

Hulu

Paramount Plus

Apple TV Plus

Peacock

Showtime

Starz

Paramount+ with Showtime

Rent / Buy

Rent

Apple TV

Google Play Movies

Amazon Video

YouTube

Vudu

Fandango at Home

Buy

Apple TV

Google Play Movies

Amazon Video

YouTube

Vudu

Fandango at Home

Cast

Joel McCrea as Sam Houston Died 1990 · South Pasadena, California, USA Joel Albert McCrea (November 5, 1905 – October 20, 1990) was an American actor whose career spanned a wide variety of genres over almost five decades, including comedy, drama, romance, thrillers, adve...

Felicia Farr as Katherine Delaney Age 93 · Westchester County, New York, USA Felicia Farr (born October 4, 1932) is a former American actress and model. Description above from the Wikipedia article Felicia Farr, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia....

Jeff Morrow as Jim Bowie Died 1993 · New York City, New York, USA New York-born Morrow developed an interest in the theater as a result of his studies at art school. As "Irving Morrow," he was acting on stage (in Pennsylvania) as early as 1927; he later appeared in...

Wallace Ford as Henry Delaney Died 1966 · Bolton, Lancashire, England, UK Wallace Ford (12 February 1898 – 11 June 1966) was an English-born naturalized American stage and screen actor. Usually playing wise-cracking characters, he combined a tough but friendly-faced demeano...

Abraham Sofaer as Don Carlos - magistrate Died 1988 · Rangoon, Burma. [now Yangôn, Myanmar] From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Abraham Sofaer (October 1, 1896 – January 21, 1988) was a stage actor of Burmese-Jewish descent who became a familiar supporting player on film and televisio...

Jody McCrea as Lt. Baker Died 2009 · Los Angeles, California, USA

Director Byron Haskin

Cast Joel McCrea, Felicia Farr, Jeff Morrow, Wallace Ford, Abraham Sofaer, Jody McCrea, Chubby Johnson, William Hopper, Dayton Lummis, Rodolfo Hoyos Jr.

John Chard 7/10 Jun 08, 2014

You are foolish Señor, but not lacking in courage.

The First Texan is directed by Byron Haskin and written by Daniel B. Ullman. It stars Joel McCrea, Felicia Farr, Jeff Morrow, Wallace Ford and Rodolfo Hoyos. A Technicolor/CinemaScope production, cinematography is by Wilfrid Cline and music by Roy Webb.

McCrea plays Sam Houston, who after travelling from Tennessee to San Antonio, Texas, starts to shape Texas history in spite of his initial reluctance.

OK! So it's no Sam Houston biography of considerable substance or big bucks production values, I mean how was it ever going to be so when it only runs at just over 82 minutes? Yet this is still a very colourful and engaging picture, with the core essence of the Sam Houston story firmly put forward. We are basically watching what Huston was doing as elsewhere The Alamo was playing its part in historical legend. This means that the narrative is given to mostly talky passages as political machinations and power hungry posturings come to the fore. Thankfully, in McCrea's hands Houston comes off as a fascinating and inspiring man, which in the grand scheme of things is objective achieved.

There is, perhaps inevitably, a romantic sub-plot, which explains why the gorgeous Felicia Farr is in the movie, sadly it's not only a token characterisation, but also historically suspect to say the least. But again, take it with a pinch of salt and buy into Houston the man and it never hurts the story. It all builds towards the battle of San Jacinto, where spurred on by famous chants about remembering The Alamo, Houston led his forces to victory over General Antonio López de Santa Anna's Mexican army. Financial restraints mean we don't get the big and bold battle that history deserves, but what is on offer is deftly staged regardless, as stunt-men flail about and cannons do roar.

Nothing approaching educational class standards here, but with McCrea a strong and rugged presence, and Haskin rising above budget limitations to tell a literary story, The First Texan is as solid as a San Antonio mission built with limestone that has been cemented by a stucco layer. 7/10