One of the most legendary moments in film for set designers is in episode 2 in San Antonio. The magnificent and accurate facade of the Alamo wass recreated at great expense and loving detail. Woodrow and Gus ride by twice without so much as a GLANCE and not even a comment on the mythical facade. That was GUTSY!
shareActually Gus does comment on it, he says well Call I guess they forgot us like they forgot the Alamo. Or at least I know he said it in the novel, can't remember if he said it in the mini series too.
Strangely this is actually historically accurate, in the late 1800's the Alamo was largely forgotten by many people in large part because of many carpetbagger regimes from the North taking over in Texas who didn't care about it. I even read a story about it being used as a warehouse at one point which many people from the old republic of Texas felt was akin to crooked merchants using the holy temple in Jerusalem, they felt it was a sacrilege. It wasn't until later on that it became iconic again.
The Reconstruction Era in the years after the Civil War was not a good time for Texas, to many corrupt regimes friendly to the Union and hostile to anyone having anything to do with the Confederacy took over. It took quite a few years to get back to normal. I would say in 1877 when Lonesome Dove took place this was still very much the case, it in fact was one of the themes of this part of the mini series, Call and Augustus realized their courageous deeds to keep Texas safe in the past had been largely forgotten because of so many new people moving to Texas from the north who weren't around to appreciate what they did.
You are right that the comment is in the book but NOT in the movie. Like Woodrow says about Montana - "I would like to see one more wild place before the bankers and lawyers get to it." The irony is that taming the frontier they made themselves obsolete!
shareThat's John Wayne's Alamo. It's the 1960 set that the Duke built to great expense in Brackettville, Texas for his Oscar-hunting, pet project- "The Alamo."
After the Duke's production company pulled-up stakes, the set remained. Dubbed "Alamo Village," it was turned into a tacky tourist attraction. However, it has been used over the years for films and TV productions such as "Lonesome Dove." Thus, there was nothing especially "gutsy" about Duvall's and Jones' characters not paying much attention to a set design that was built nearly 30 years prior by a different production company.
Alamo Village closed its doors in 2009. With the Duke long dead and his Alamo film relatively forgotten, what's the point of seeing a faux Alamo in the 21st century? The real one is still standing for people who have an interest in the historical event.
Interesting! Nevertheless it is STILL gutsy to have the Alamo itself and not even have the main characters remark on it.
shareNot gutsy for the times. The Alamo wasn't as famous then, I think, as it is today. It was hardly a tourist attraction. And Gus and Call had seen many famous places, I'm sure. They were famous themselves.
I lived in San Antonio, off and on, for about 15 years. The real "Alamo" can be a bit of a shock to people seeing it for the first time. It is surrounded by the downtown city -- tall buildings and such, including The Crockett Hotel. Sidewalks and streets with traffic. Right around the corner from a big shopping center, The Rivercenter Mall. It is actually only the chapel of the mission complex, The Mission San Antonio de Valero. One of the long barracks is still there, with lots of items on display. Much of the area of the Alamo complex has long been covered with concrete; but I'm glad the chapel is still there. I visited it many times, and could not help running my fingers over the huge, bullet-scarred doors.
There are actually lots of other missions there, and people can get a more accurate view of what these missions looked like on the "Mission Trail."