O Homem do Destino

The story of the life of Sam Houston certainly would make for a great picture. He was the only person to be governors of two different states (Texas and Tennessee), was the first president of Texas and was ultimately destroyed because he opposed Texas leaving the Union in 1861. A truly interesting man...and "The First Texan" manages to capture SOME of his greatness.

The film only covers the period after Houston quit the governorship of Tennessee to the independence of Texas...just a few years out of Houston's life. So if you're looking for anything before this or after, it's not in the movie. But what bothered me about the film is that it created a fiancee for Houston who simply never existed. In fact, Houston was married multiple times and such a romance with Katherine Delaney never existed. What did exist were some divorces and scandals...none of which are talked about much in the movie. In other words this is no 'warts and all' portrayal of the man.

Overall, the film is rousing and interesting if not 100% accurate. Worth seeing but Houston really deserved better...and probably something longer than just a 90 minute or so film.