The Hallelujah Trail (1965)

Directed by

John Sturges

Genre

comedy film, Western film

Country

United States

Runtime

2h 29m

Rated

NR

Rating

6.1 of 10 from 99 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

In the Old West, a businessman tries to deliver whiskey to Denver by wagon train. He faces interference from striking teamsters, a militia of thirsty locals, temperance women out to destroy the booze, Native Americans who want to steal it, and the U.S. Cavalry trying to keep order.

broadslapsticklightheartedchaoticsatiricalsprawlinggoofynostalgicenergetic

What happens

The Hallelujah Trail is a 1965 American Western epic mockumentary spoof directed by John Sturges, with top-billed stars Burt Lancaster, Lee Remick, Jim Hutton and Pamela Tiffin. It was based on the book of the same title (originally released as "The Hallelujah Train") by Bill Gulick in 1963. The film is a parody of the sweeping epic Western films of the era, with grand western vistas, a huge all-star cast, and stunt-filled action scenes—matched to a broad array of satire and slapstick comedy. It depicts a struggle between a businessman trying to deliver whiskey to Denver by wagon train, his striking Irish teamsters, a barfly militia from Denver eager to ensure that the liquid cargo reaches its destination, temperance women campaigners determined to destroy the booze, a swarm of Native Americans determined to hijack it, and—most essentially—a unit of the U.S. Cavalry trying to control the whole chaotic mess. With a running time of 2 hours, 45 minutes, The film was one of several large-scale widescreen, long-form "epic" comedies produced in the 1960s, much like The Great Race and It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, combined with the epic grandeur of the Western genre. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

Trailer

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