10 War Films That Were Basically Just Propaganda

On its face, this is a film about the Battle of the Alamo. The Alamo was a Spanish church, turned fort, near San Antonio, Texas. In 1836, a small group of the fort’s defenders was wiped out by the Mexican Army.

In the aftermath, the Alamo became legendary in American folklore and history. The battle was viewed as a noble defeat where brave men died defending their freedom. All that aside, it’s not what John Wayne’s 1960 film is really about.

In what would be a trend for Wayne, The Alamo was a film made to support his staunchly anti-communist views.

While making the film Wayne said that Americans were living in “perilous times.” He stated, “the eyes of the world are on us,” and “we must sell America to countries threatened with Communist domination.”

In depicting the bloody massacre of the Alamo, Wayne hoped to show Americans his belief that freedom is costly. And that sometimes Americans need to invade southeast Asian countries to defend freedom.

It's a tortured metaphor, but if you look for it - it's there.