The Hallelujah Trail

Last updated

The Hallelujah Trail
Hallelujah trail32.jpg
Theatrical poster by Robert McGinnis
Directed by John Sturges
Screenplay by John Gay
Based onthe novel by Bill Gulick
Produced by John Sturges
Starring Burt Lancaster
Lee Remick
Jim Hutton
Pamela Tiffin
Donald Pleasence
Brian Keith
Martin Landau
Cinematography Robert Surtees, A.S.C.
Edited by Ferris Webster
Music by Elmer Bernstein
Production
companies
The Mirisch Corporation
A Mirisch-Kappa Production
Distributed by United Artists
Release date
  • June 23, 1965 (1965-06-23)
Running time
  • 165 minutes (70mm version)
  • 155 minutes (35mm version)
  • 148 minutes (General theatrical version)
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$7 million [1] [2]
Box office$4,000,000 [3]

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. [4]

Contents

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. [5] [6] 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. [5] [6]

With a running time of 2 hours, 45 minutes, [6] 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.

Plot

In the year 1867, signs that the approaching winter will be a hard one produce agitation in the burgeoning mining town of Denver, as the hard-drinking citizenry fear a shortage of whiskey. Taking advice from Oracle Jones, a local guide and seer (but only when under the influence of alcohol), the populace arrange for a mass shipment of forty wagons full of whiskey to be delivered by the Wallingham Freighting Company. The whiskey wagon train heads out under the direction of company owner Frank Wallingham, who repeatedly describes himself as "a taxpayer and a good Republican". [7]

This cargo becomes the target for several diverse groups, each with their own leaders and plans. Young Capt. Paul Slater of the United States Cavalry is assigned by Fort Russell commander Col. Thaddeus Gearhart to escort the Wallingham Wagon Train, and merely wishes to carry out his orders. A group of Irish teamsters, hired as wagon drivers, wishes to strike unless whiskey rations are distributed. Twice-widowed, crusading temperance leader Cora Templeton Massingale and her followers, informed of the alcoholic cargo, wish to intercept the train and destroy its contents; the group therefore sets out escorted by a second cavalry division under the command of a reluctant Col. Gearhart.

Gearhart's daughter is engaged to Capt. Slater but entranced by Mrs. Massingale's message. Despite their extremely different personalities and inability to see eye to eye, the weatherbeaten Gearhart and beautiful Cora Massingale fall in love. Beneath her composure and grace, and even her occasional ribbing against him, Cora is infatuated with Gearhart from the moment he rides into the fort and spends much of the film trying subtly to win his affection. [8]

Other interested parties include Sioux Indians, led by chiefs Five Barrels and Walks-Stooped-Over, and a Denver citizens' militia, led by Clayton Howell and guided by Oracle Jones, concerned about obtaining their precious supply of drinkables. Inevitably the various groups converge, and the ensuing property struggle is played out through a series of comic set pieces and several diplomatic overtures by an increasingly weary Gearhart. [9] Highlights include a massive shoot-out between the concerned parties within a blinding sandstorm without a single injury, a hostage situation when the Indians capture the Temperance members in order to reinforce their demands for alcoholic drink, and Massingale tricking Wallingham into riding his entire wagon train into a quicksand bog, where the wagons and their cargo sink into the pits. The participants then disperse, mostly disappointed; however, for Colonel Gearhart and Captain Slater the story ends with a double wedding, for Wallingham and Oracle with a lifetime supply of whiskey when buoyancy causes the barrels to erupt from the quicksand, and for the winter of 1867 to actually become one of the mildest ever.

Cast

Narration

The film is presented in a pseudo-documentary style, with a tongue-in-cheek narrator (unbilled John Dehner) providing historical background and context, and periodically interrupting the story to point out animated charts illustrating strategic positions of various groups.

Opening

"The land at first — mountains… thrust forth from the molten darkness of the earth. Mountain and valley… the virgin West. High plateau… and red rock of sandstone — wilderness West. Prairie land… rolling on and on… to the end of sight. Oh, pioneer West! What fervent dreams lay half-buried in this land of promise — dreams crushed by a cruel nature — or the lance of an Indian warrior.

"Every page in history must have its beginning… and ours takes us to the year eighteen sixty-seven. An Army that had fought in the War Between the States — that had bravely battled in many an Indian campaign — now patrolled the West in a time of peace… with ever-present thoughts of home. The Indian was back on the reservation… where the Peace Commission of eighteen sixty-seven had met with various warlike tribes and secured certain promises from them… in return, papers were given the Indians certifying them to be good citizens who would obey the laws of the land. Many gifts were distributed… beads… pieces of cloth… ammunition… and war surplus rifles. Naturally, these rifles were quite unfamiliar to the Indians… and, of course, it was understood, these weapons were to be used solely for the purpose of hunting game.

"The leaves turned early in that year. It could be a long, hard winter. The signs were everywhere — in the high country, the morning frost would sometimes last until afternoon. Buffalo were feeding ravenously. Beaver were damming and storing with strange vigor. Horses and dogs were becoming shaggy-haired as never before. And it could be sensed in the booming, bustling mining town of Denver. Most historians agree that the events leading to the Battle of Whiskey Hills and the subsequent disaster at Quicksand Bottoms began here in Denver at a miners' meeting. Such meetings were frequent and held, usually, as part of the political fabric of the town. But the meeting of November fourth had a marked air of grim foreboding..."

Closing

"Companies A and B of the Cavalry escorted the ex-temperance marchers back to their husbands and hungry children at Fort Russell. It is to be assumed, some time passed before the Indians were able to regain their customary composure. But it is known that the exploits of their journey became tribal legend…to be told over and over again, from generation to generation… with slight revisions. The Denver free militia dissolved… never to march again. And of course, the strike of the Irish teamsters failed…and the Wallingham freighting company went bankrupt, having no visible assets....

"So ended the great disaster at Quicksand Bottoms. Oh, yes…Mrs. Massingale…Cora Templeton Massingale retired from all active participation in temperance movements. A military wedding was held at Fort Russell. As it turned out…it was a double wedding. A homestead claim was filed by Mister Jones and Mister Wallingham on a piece of land encompassing the entire Quicksand Bottoms area.

"It's not to be denied that there were occasional re-emergences of whisky kegs, which kept Mister Jones and Mister Wallingham…eeh…eeeh…quite…content for a number of years… and, in spite of all predictions, shaggy hair and busy beaver to the contrary, the winter of eighteen sixty-seven turned out to be the driest and warmest on record. Such was the year…oh, pioneer West…and the days of the Hallelujah Trail."

Production and distribution

The film is part of a group, which were filmed in Ultra Panavision 70 and presented in selected theaters via the oversized Super Cinerama process. [10]

Originally budgeted at around $4.5 million, the budget reportedly ballooned to $7 million—an estimated $1.5 million over final budget, with an additional $3.5 million planned for prints and advertising. [11]

The film was primarily shot on location in and around Gallup, New Mexico from July to November, 1964. But during heavy rains there, some shots were filmed in Hollywood, California, with interior shots at Paramount and Goldwyn studios. [11]

Veteran stuntman Bill Williams was killed on November 13, 1964, while performing a stunt involving a wagon going over a cliff. [12] [13] The scene was kept in the movie.

Actor John Moya was to have his feature film acting debut in the film, and was announced as a cast member in July, 1964. But on his first day in front of the camera, a scorpion bit him, and he had to be hospitalized. [11]

Conceived as a comic epic that would be long enough to need an intermission, [14] the film was originally 181 minutes long, but audience responses from initial screenings in Minneapolis, Minnesota and Detroit, Michigan triggered a cut to 165 minutes. Even so, some subsequent critics would pan it as too long. [11]

A premiere was screened in June 11, 1965, at the Warner Cinerama Theatre, with public showings starting there June 23. The next week, June 30, 1965, a premiere was held at New York City's Capitol Theatre. [11] [6]

On October 19, 1968, three years and four months after its release, the film had its television premiere in a three-hour timeslot on NBC Saturday Night at the Movies . [15] [16]

Reception

Initial reception

New York Times critic Bosley Crowther panned the "plush Cinerama-size extravagance," as a "slow and tedious" "slapstick" film because of being 45 minutes longer than would have been successful—adding that, had it been only 2 hours, it could have been "fairly funny" and conceivably "even [a] classic spoof" of traditional "cavalry-and-Indian" films. He complimented the Western scenery, "especially in vista shots," despite the illogical images of mountains lining a route across Nebraska to Denver. [6]

Variety, on the other hand, praised it as among "the nuttiest cinematic mishmashes" ever seen, thoroughly spoofing the Western genre and "beautifully packaged." Variety admired the way actors "played it straight," as if their characters were quite earnestly serious about their actions. They particularly credited Burt Lancaster's performance as the "harassed cavalry colonel," and Martin Landau's "deadpan" act as an Indian chief, performing comedy "mostly with his eyes." [5]

The Los Angeles Times and Daily Variety praised the film, also. [11]

Evaluation in film guides

Leonard Maltin's Movie Guide (2013 edition) gives The Hallelujah Trail 2½ stars (out of 4) describing Lee Remick's character as a "rambunctious temperance leader" and concluding the write-up with "amiable but lumbering Western satire goes on and on". The capsule review also mentions that the film "includes an overture, intermission/entr'acte, exit music".

Steven H. Scheuer's Movies on TV (1972–73 edition) had a much lower opinion, giving it its lowest rating of 1 star (out of 4) and deciding that there is "[V]ery little to cheer about in this muddled western saga, as director John Sturges and the stars stumble down a long — almost three hours — and banal path that has been explored much more satisfactorily by countless film makers in the past". Describing the plot as "clumsy" and singling out "thirsty Hollywood-caricature Indians", the review concludes that "Lancaster looks understandably bored to death, and Lee Remick is miscast and wasted". By the time of the 1986–87 edition, Scheuer slightly ups the rating to 1½ stars and shortens the capsule to a single sentence which calls it a "clumsy comedy" and mentions the "thirsty Indians".

The Motion Picture Guide (1987 edition) assigned 2½ stars (out of 5), concluding that "[B]asically, this is one-joke plot with a few vignettes and gags strung on along the way. The whole thing is held together by an understated narration by Dehner, which itself is fairly clever. Still, the depiction of the Indians in this film is more than a little unsettling."

Two additional guides rank the production slightly higher and lower — Mick Martin's and Marsha Porter's DVD & Video Guide (2007 edition) dispenses 3 stars (out of 5), reminding that "[T]hose who fondly remember television's F Troop should adore this cavalry comedy", concluding that it is "[O]verlong, but fun nonetheless", while Videohound's Golden Movie Retriever (2011 edition) throws it only two bones (out of possible four), mentioning Lee Remick's "bevy of ladies against liquor" standing "between the shipment and the would-be whistle whetters" and concluding that it is a "[L]imp Western satire directed by Preston Sturges' brother [Videohound is incorrect — the two directors were not related], [17] who fared much better when he kept a straight face (he also directed The Great Escape )".

Among British references, Leslie Halliwell, in his Film and Video Guide (5th edition, 1985), gave no stars (Halliwell's top rating is 4), dismissing it as an "[A]bsurdly inflated, prolonged, uninventive comedy western with poor narrative grip; all dressed up and nowhere to go".

Awards and recognition

Composer Elmer Bernstein's and writer Ernie Sheldon's score for the film won the 1966 Western Heritage Award for Music, from the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum.

Female lead actor Lee Remick was a 1966 Nominee for the Golden Laurel for "Comedy Performance, Female"

Comic book adaption

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bob Denver</span> American actor (1935–2005)

Robert Osbourne Denver was an American comedic actor who portrayed beatnik Maynard G. Krebs on the 1959–1963 series The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis and Gilligan on the 1964–1967 television series Gilligan's Island.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lee Remick</span> American actress (1935–1991)

Lee Ann Remick was an American actress and singer. She was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress for the film Days of Wine and Roses (1962).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Denver Pyle</span> American actor (1920–1997)

Denver Dell Pyle was an American film and television actor and director. He was well known for a number of TV roles from the 1960s through the 1980s, including his portrayal of Briscoe Darling in several episodes of The Andy Griffith Show, as Jesse Duke in The Dukes of Hazzard from 1979 to 1985, as Mad Jack in the NBC television series The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams, and as the titular character's father, Buck Webb, in CBS's The Doris Day Show. In many of his roles, he portrayed either authority figures, or gruff, demanding father figures, often as comic relief. Perhaps his most memorable film role was that of Texas Ranger Frank Hamer in the movie Bonnie and Clyde (1967), as the lawman who relentlessly chased down and finally killed the notorious duo in an ambush.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Forrest Tucker</span> American actor (1919–1986)

Forrest Meredith Tucker was an American actor in both movies and television who appeared in nearly a hundred films. Tucker worked as a vaudeville straight man at the age of fifteen. A mentor provided funds and contacts for a trip to California, where party hostess Cobina Wright persuaded guest Wesley Ruggles to give Tucker a screen test because of Tucker's photogenic good looks, thick wavy hair and height of six feet, five inches.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jim Hutton</span> American actor (1934–1979)

Dana Scott James "Jim" Hutton was an American actor in film and television best remembered for his role as Ellery Queen in the 1970s TV series of the same name, and his screen partnership with Paula Prentiss in four films, starting with Where the Boys Are. He is the father of actor Timothy Hutton.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frank McGrath (actor)</span> American actor and stunt performer (1903–1967)

Benjamin Franklin "Frank" McGrath was an American television and film actor and stunt performer who played the comical, optimistic cook with the white beard, Charlie B. Wooster, on the western series Wagon Train for five seasons on NBC and then three seasons on ABC. McGrath appeared in all 272 episodes in the eight seasons of the series, which had ended its run only two years before his death. McGrath's Wooster character hence provided the meals and companionship for both fictional trail masters, Ward Bond as Seth Adams and John McIntire as Christopher "Chris" Hale.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gloria Talbott</span> American actress (1931–2000)

Gloria Maude Talbott was an American film and television actress.

<i>Dustys Trail</i> 1973 American TV series or program

Dusty's Trail is an American Western/comedy series starring Bob Denver and Forrest Tucker that aired in syndication from September 1973 to March 1974. The series is a western-themed reworking of Denver's previous series Gilligan's Island.

<i>Sam Whiskey</i> 1969 film

Sam Whiskey is a 1969 American Western comedy film directed in DeLuxe Color by Arnold Laven and starring Burt Reynolds, Angie Dickinson, Clint Walker and Ossie Davis. "Way ahead of its time," said Reynolds of the film. "I was playing light comedy and nobody cared."

<i>Sergeants 3</i> 1962 film

Sergeants 3 is a 1962 American comedy/Western film directed by John Sturges and starring Rat Pack icons Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., Peter Lawford and Joey Bishop. It was the last film to feature all five members of the Rat Pack, as Sinatra would no longer speak to or work with Lawford following the abrupt cancellation in March 1962 of a visit by Lawford's brother-in-law, President John F. Kennedy, to Sinatra's Palm Springs house.

<i>Wagons East</i> 1994 film by Peter Markle

Wagons East is a 1994 American Western adventure comedy film directed by Peter Markle, written by Matthew Carlson, and starring John Candy, Richard Lewis, John C. McGinley, Ellen Greene, Robert Picardo, Rodney A. Grant, and Ed Lauter. It tells the story of an alcoholic wagon master who leads a group of misfit settlers in the Wild West back to the East. The film was released in the United States on August 26, 1994. Filming took place in Sierra de Órganos National Park in the town of Sombrerete, Mexico, and in Durango, Mexico.

<i>Wagon Master</i> 1950 film by John Ford

Wagon Master is a 1950 American Western film produced and directed by John Ford and starring Ben Johnson, Harry Carey Jr., Joanne Dru, and Ward Bond. The story follows a Mormon pioneer wagon train across treacherous desert to the San Juan River in Utah. The film inspired the US television series Wagon Train (1957–1965), which starred Bond until his death in 1960. The film was a personal favorite of Ford himself, who told Peter Bogdanovich in 1967 that "Along with The Fugitive and The Sun Shines Bright, Wagon Master came closest to being what I wanted to achieve." While the critical and audience response to Wagon Master was lukewarm on its release, over the years numerous critics have come to view it as one of Ford's masterpieces.

<i>Blazing the Overland Trail</i> 1956 film

Blazing the Overland Trail is a 1956 American western serial film directed by Spencer Gordon Bennet and starring Lee Roberts. It was the 57th and last serial produced by Columbia Pictures, and the last American serial ever produced for theaters. Universal Pictures had disbanded its serial unit in 1946 with The Mysterious Mr. M, and Republic Pictures had ceased serial production in 1955 with King of the Carnival.

<i>The Wackiest Wagon Train in the West</i> 1976 American film

The Wackiest Wagon Train in the West is a 1976 American Western comedy film directed by Jack Arnold. The film stars Bob Denver as Dusty, the bumbling assistant to Wagonmaster Callahan featured in the syndicated series Dusty's Trail.

Grover C. "Bill" Gulick was an American writer and historian from Walla Walla, Washington.

<i>The Command</i> (1954 film) 1954 film by David Butler

The Command is a 1954 American CinemaScope Western film directed by David Butler. It stars Guy Madison and James Whitmore. It was based on the novel Rear Guard by James Warner Bellah and features a screenplay by Sam Fuller.

<i>Pillars of the Sky</i> 1956 American film

Pillars of the Sky is a 1956 American CinemaScope Western film directed by George Marshall and starring Jeff Chandler, Dorothy Malone and Ward Bond. It was produced and distributed by Universal Pictures.

<i>The Oregon Trail</i> (1959 film) 1959 film

The Oregon Trail is a 1959 American CinemaScope and DeLuxe Color Western film directed by Gene Fowler Jr. and starring Fred MacMurray, William Bishop and Nina Shipman.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Homer W. Wheeler</span> American army officer and author

Homer W. Wheeler was an American military officer and author. A veteran of the American Indian Wars and Spanish–American War, he attained the rank of colonel and wrote several books, including memoirs of his experiences on the western frontier of the United States in the late 1800s.

References

  1. ↑ Glenn Lovell, Escape Artist: The Life and Films of John Sturges, University of Wisconsin Press, 2008 p250
  2. ↑ Tino Balio, United Artists: The Company That Changed the Film Industry, University of Wisconsin Press, 1987 p. 185
  3. ↑ Anticipated rentals accruing distributors in North America. See "Top Grossers of 1965", Variety, 5 January 1966, p. 36
  4. ↑ Gulick, Bill (August 4, 1965). The hallelujah trail. Doubleday. OCLC   1803426.
  5. 1 2 3 " The Hallelujah Trail," December 31, 1964, Variety, retrieved August 11, 2024
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 "Long Picture Mingles Comedy and Western: Clash of Temperance and Thirst Is Theme," July 2, 1965, New York Times, retrieved August 11, 2024
  7. ↑ "Rome News-Tribune - Google News Archive Search". News.google.com.
  8. ↑ "The Tuscaloosa News - Google News Archive Search". News.google.com.
  9. ↑ "Sarasota Herald-Tribune - Google News Archive Search". News.google.com.
  10. ↑ "Old West Lives Again For Capitol Premiere". The New York Times.
  11. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "The Hallelujah Trail (1965)," AFI Catalog of Feature Films: The First 100 Years 1893–1993, American Film Institute, retrieved August 11, 2024
  12. ↑ "Bill Williams, 43, Stuntman, Killed in Western Filming," Nov. 14, 1964, New York Times, retrieved August 11, 2024
  13. ↑ "Reading Eagle - Google News Archive Search". News.google.com.
  14. ↑ Robertson, Richard C.: "Just Dreamin' Out Loud: The Westerns of Burt Lancaster," Shooting Stars: Heroes and Heroines of Western Film, Indiana University Press, retrieved August 11, 2024
  15. ↑ "Schenectady Gazette - Google News Archive Search". News.google.com.
  16. ↑ "Schenectady Gazette - Google News Archive Search". News.google.com.
  17. ↑ "Obituary: John Sturges" . The Independent . August 24, 1992. Archived from the original on June 18, 2022. Retrieved August 4, 2019.
  18. ↑ Dell Movie Classic: The Hallelujah Trail at the Grand Comics Database
  19. ↑ Dell Movie Classic: The Hallelujah Trail at the Comic Book DB (archived from the original )
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.