The Hallelujah Trail

1965

Action / Comedy / Western

5
Rotten Tomatoes Critics - Rotten 33% · 6 reviews
Rotten Tomatoes Audience - Upright 66% · 1K ratings
IMDb Rating 6.5/10 10 4392 4.4K

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Plot summary

A wagon train heads for Denver with a cargo of whisky for the miners. Chaos ensues as the Temperance League, the US cavalry, the miners and the local Indians all try to take control of the valuable cargo.


Uploaded by: FREEMAN
June 09, 2020 at 03:29 PM

Director

Top cast

Lee Remick as Cora Templeton Massingale
Donald Pleasence as 'Oracle' Jones
Pamela Tiffin as Louise Gearhart
Martin Landau as Chief Walks-Stooped-Over
720p.BLU 1080p.BLU
1.4 GB
1280*544
English 2.0
NR
23.976 fps
2 hr 35 min
Seeds 2
2.59 GB
1920*816
English 2.0
NR
23.976 fps
2 hr 35 min
Seeds 4

Movie Reviews

Reviewed by zardoz-13 10 / 10

Absolutely Brilliant Comic Western

In his well-researched landmark biography of John Sturges, film critic Glenn Lovall points out that the failure of "The Hallelujah Trail" at the box office forced John Sturges back into being a contract director. Unfortunately, this ambitious, $ 7-million dollar, two-hour and forty-five minute western did prove to be Sturges' undoing. Sadly, according to Wikipedia, the film grossed only $4 million during its release. Nevertheless, I've always thought it was an incredibly hilarious and splendidly staged western comedy. The closest that Sturges had come to making a comedy was the Frank Sinatra & Dean Martin western "Sergeants Three," but "The Hallelujah Trail" was far from anything that "The Magnificent Seven" helmer had ever undertaken. Sturges assembled a first-rate cast. Burt Lancaster, who starred in Sturges' first big western "Gunfight at the O.K. Corral,"owed United Artists a picture and took top billing as Colonel Thaddeus Gearhart. Gearhart was a traditional, straight-laced U.S. Calvary commander who is in charge of a frontier fort who has a beautiful daughter, Louise Gearhart (Pamela Tiffin), who is hopelessly in love with an officer, Captain Paul Slater (Jim Hutton of "Major Dundee"), who serves under Gearhart at the fort. At one point, Gearhart finds Slater and his daughter rolling around on his bear skin rug. The hugely funny western takes advantage of the usual elements of most standard-issue oaters. There is the inevitable clash between the U.S. Calvary and the Native Americans. Similarly, the alcoholic frontiersmen clash with the Ladies of the Temperance Movement. This sprawling western brings together all these parties for an incredible finale in a swamp.

John Gay's complex screenplay based on William Gulick's lightweight western novel concerns the efforts of desperate Denver merchants inspired by 'Oracle' Jones (Donald Pleasance of "The Great Escape") to get a wagon train of liquor to them before they exhaust their supplies for the winter. Signs indicate that the winter will be the worst in years and the merchants don't want to run out of suds. Moreover, a citizens' committee shares the merchant's anxiety. Meantime, beer merchant Frank Wallingham (Brian Keith of "The Wind and the Lion") organizes an emergency shipment of booze to Denver, but he must contend with obnoxious Irish teamsters, led by Kevin O'Flaherty (Tom Stern) who feel that he is taking advantage of them. O'Flaherty constantly addresses Wallingham as "your lordship," and Wallingham grumbles about it the entire time. Of course, when the Indians learn about this huge shipment of liquor, they decide to help themselves to it. Walllingham demands that Gearhart provide an escort to safeguard his booze from Chief Walks-Stooped-Over (Martin Landau of "Impossible Impossible") as well as Chief Five Barrels (Robert J. Wilke of "The Magnificent Seven") and they bring along their respective tribes. If contending with Indians armed with Winchester repeating rifles weren't challenging enough, Wallingham faces opposition for a well-known Temperance champion, Cora Templeton Massingale (Lee Remick of "The Omen"), who just happens to be holding meetings at Gearhart's fort. Massingale decides to intercept the shipment of suds and destroy the beer, and Gearhart's daughter joins her. Naturally, an upset Colonel Gearhart decides that he must provide an escort for these dames and Sergeant Buell (John Anderson of "The Satan Bug") to keep them out of harm's way.

Lancaster is absolutely brilliant as the Calvary colonel who must supervise everything in this massive sagebrusher. His comic timing is impeccable. Sturges doesn't slight anybody, and he gives some rather unusual parts to actors who had never done anything like these roles. Martin Landau is terrifically amusing as Chief Who Walks Stooped Over and British actor Donald Pleasance, who eventually played villain in "Will Penny," is cast as a barfly trail-blazer. Lee Remick is memorable as Temperance activist Cora Templeton Massingale Crowning all these wonderful performances are Elmer Bernstein's impressive orchestral score and Robert Surtee's radiant widescreen photography. If you enjoy comedies where the performers behave as if they were is a serious dramatic saga, "The Hallelujah Trail" is ideal entertainment.

Reviewed by lawprof 7 / 10

Sprightly, Funny, a Bit Too Long, Definitely Un-PC Western

DISCLOSURE: Lee Remick was one of handful of beautiful and talented actresses I was - safely and at a distance - in love with decades ago. Her early death from cancer was a tragedy-she was a wonderful actress.

*****

Director John Sturges isn't too well known today although many of his action movies are readily available on VHS and DVD and often screen on TV. A retrospective of his films ought to be a priority for every film society.

"The Hallelujah Trail" is a tongue-in-cheek cinemascope comedy about a threatened mega-disaster in the fall of 1867 in Colorado. A mining town is almost out of liquor and beer and approaching winter threatens to leave the thirsty community high and definitely dry. Fortunately entrepreneur Frank Wallingham (Brian Keith) is willing to risk life and limb to bring forty wagons of hooch through Indian country to succor the miners.

Meanwhile, back at your local, friendly cavalry garrison, Cora Templeton Massingale (Lee Remick), twice widowed from husbands whose livers gave out along with, presumably, their libido is holding a rousing temperance rally with the permission of CPT Paul Slater, a young officer besotted with the C.O.'s daughter, Louise (Pamela Tiffin). The commanding officer rides into this fire-and-brimstone event and turns it off. That's COL Thaddeus Gearhart (Burt Lancaster), nineteen years serving the colors and now faced with a sweet but rebellious daughter allied with a sweet but crafty and dedicated temperance campaigner, Colorado's version of Carrie Nation (and far more likable than that harridan).

What follows is the cavalry riding to escort the wagons with the booze, Indians of a decidedly non-homicidal nature attempting to get their share of firewater (all of it, actually), miners formed into a militia to insure the safe delivery of the spirits and - last but not least - a stereotypical Irish teamster arguing for the rights of labor. Collision and clash follow and - for once - nobody, absolutely nobody, dies. Bummer.

With Martin Landau as Chief Walks-Stooped-Over you can't expect any realistic depiction of Native Americans, can you? And you don't get it. What is on the screen is magnificent scenery and a fine score by Elmer Bernstein with the title tune guaranteed to bury itself in your brain for frequent and uncalled for replays.

Burt Lancaster is very funny as a colonel trying to deal with his command, whose enlisted personnel seem to be temperance-prone (talk about distortion of the reality of frontier Army service!), his daughter, Indians, miners and the alluring, funny Lee Remick.

About 15-20 minutes could have been shaved from the movie but, overall, it's a politically very incorrect funny story about a West that never existed.

The DVD transfer is excellent but the magnificent scenery reflects how great it would be to see "The Hallelujah Trail" again on a big, big screen.

7/10

Reviewed by bkoganbing 8 / 10

A Taxpayer and a Good Republican

And that was Brian Keith's reason as to why he expected to get good service from the U.S. Cavalry. Ironically enough in post Civil War America that's about all it took.

Poor Burt Lancaster in one of his few ventures into comedy, as commander of a frontier army post, he's expected to provide good order between the conflicting demands of drunken townsman, Republican businessmen, temperance women, and a tribe of Indians looking to get their hands on white man's firewater.

Lancaster overacts outrageously, sort of a Sergeant Warden now an officer and hating every minute of it. Comedy is a little strange for the intense Mr. Lancaster. He's good, but I think Robert Mitchum would have been a natural fit for the lead.

Lee Remick is leader of the temperance workers and in our time they can certainly be made an object of fun. Their efforts led to Prohibition ultimately which produced far more evils than demon rum. But it should never be forgotten that with the second class position of women in the 19th century as homemakers and little more else, keeping the male breadwinner sober and working was not a humorous thing. The roots of the temperance movement are very real.

But this is a comedy and Lee Remick as a liberated woman of her time is expanding a bit on the part she played in Wheeler Dealers. Lots of similarity between this role as Cora Massingale and her part in Wheeler Dealers as Molly Thatcher, a pioneer woman stockbroker.

The rest of the cast is fine, I would single out Brian Keith as the choleric taxpayer and good Republican and Donald Pleasance the psychic and alcoholic scout.

John Sturges made some of the best action films of the 50s and 60s and this is certainly a good one. Also Elmer Bernstein's score is a winner.

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