The First Texan

Cashing in on the popularity of TV's Davy Crockett and the jukebox favorite "Yellow Rose of Texas," Allied Artists came up with the CinemaScope biopic The First Texan. The title character is Sam Houston, played with rugged assuredness by Joel McCrea. The film begins when Houston leaves Tennessee for Texas, where at first he keeps to himself and avoids politics. As events overwhelm him, however, Houston evolves into the territory's most conspicuous patriot. His efforts to thwart Mexican gene...