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.

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

This film is a Western about the town of Denver running out of liquor and all the many conflicts that result from their bringing a wagon train to alleviate this need. Temprance movement ladies want the wagons turned back, Indians want to steal the booze and the Irish drivers of the wagons want to go on strike.

The biggest reason I decided to watch this movie was because it starred Burt Lancaster. He was an amazing actor and I frankly try to see every film that he made. This would also hold true for a few other actors (such as Jimmy Stewart, Clark Gable and Bette Davis among others) and so if it hadn't been for this compulsive need to complete his extensive library of films, I would have turned it off soon after it began because it was amazingly flat, unfunny and....well,...stupid.

The story tried very hard to be funny and threw many "kooky" elements into the film. The problems, though, were that the actors weren't particularly adept at comedy (I love Lancaster, but "funny" isn't a word I'd use for his films) and that the script seemed rather smug and pleased with how witty it thought it was! It really needed a very extensive re-write. For example, although many plot elements weren't funny when they were introduced, they were used again and again and again (such as the annoying temperance ladies singing their annoying refrain ad nauseum). Additionally, none of the characters seemed real or had any depth--instead being stereotypical cut-outs. In the movie, the Indians were all drunks, the women were all humorless and unreasonable, the Irish were all unhappy and loud. Unsubtle and without any laughs--this is one of the worst Westerns I have ever watched and sadly, it's among the longest Westerns as well! What a huge waste of talent--it took a lot of effort to accumulate this group of actors and make this bad a film.