The Alamo: Shrine of Texas Liberty is a 1938

1938 in film

The year 1938 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*January — MGM announces that Judy Garland would be cast in the role of "Dorothy" in the upcoming Wizard of Oz motion picture. Ray Bolger is cast as the "Tinman" and Buddy Ebsen is cast as the "Scarecrow". At Bolger's insistence,...

 American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 black-and-white

Black-and-white

Black-and-white, often abbreviated B/W or B&W, is a term referring to a number of monochrome forms in visual arts.Black-and-white as a description is also something of a misnomer, for in addition to black and white, most of these media included varying shades of gray...

 war film

War film

War films are a film genre concerned with warfare, usually about naval, air or land battles, sometimes focusing instead on prisoners of war, covert operations, military training or other related subjects. At times war films focus on daily military or civilian life in wartime without depicting battles...

 directed by Stuart Paton and produced by H. W. Kier

H. W. Kier

Harley William Kier , was an American film producer who produced many low-budget short films and a few feature films almost exclusively in and around San Antonio, Texas....

 and Norman Sheldon

Norman Sheldon

Norman Sheldon was a Scottish soccer player and hall of famer who played on Team Canada in the early half of 1900s.-Early life:Norman Sheldon immigrated to Canada, more specifically Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, in 1907 after an junior football career in Scotland...

. The film was a two-reel short produced in a couple of weeks San Antonio, Texas

San Antonio, Texas

San Antonio is the seventh-largest city in the United States of America and the second-largest city within the state of Texas, with a population of 1.33 million. Located in the American Southwest and the south–central part of Texas, the city serves as the seat of Bexar County. In 2011,...

. The film was done in pantomime

Mime artist

A mime artist is someone who uses mime as a theatrical medium or as a performance art, involving miming, or the acting out a story through body motions, without use of speech. In earlier times, in English, such a performer was referred to as a mummer...

 and audio was done by narration and organ

Organ (music)

The organ , is a keyboard instrument of one or more divisions, each played with its own keyboard operated either with the hands or with the feet. The organ is a relatively old musical instrument in the Western musical tradition, dating from the time of Ctesibius of Alexandria who is credited with...

 music.

The film starred Coates Gwynne, Sterling Waters and Mrs. Florence Griffith. The film is an educational reenactment of the siege at the Alamo

Battle of the Alamo

The Battle of the Alamo was a pivotal event in the Texas Revolution. Following a 13-day siege, Mexican troops under President General Antonio López de Santa Anna launched an assault on the Alamo Mission near San Antonio de Béxar . All but two of the Texian defenders were killed...

, but the filming location was actually Mission San José. The film was released soon after the centennial of the Alamo.