The Hallelujah Trail (1965)

The year is 1867 and a long, cold winter is anticipated, one that will seem even longer and colder in Denver if a fresh supply of whiskey doesn’t arrive before snow makes more delivers impossible.

So the good folks of Denver order a shipment of 40 wagons of booze from Frank Wallingham (Brian Keith) in Julesberg, then organize a militia under Mayor Clayton Howard (Dub Taylor) to make sure it arrives.

Indians catch wind of the shipment. So does temperance leader Cora Massingale (Lee Remick), who organizes the local women to do everything possible to prevent delivery.

Caught in the middle is Col. Thaddeus Gearhart (Burt Lancaster).

He finds himself dealing with Wallingham, who demands cavalry protection for his wagon train; a daughter (Pamela Tiffin) who adores and follows Massingale; a subordinate (Jim Hutton) who’s in love with said daughter; and an Indian chief (Robert J. Wilke) demanding 20 of the wagon in return for safe passage through hostile territory.

And if the Battle of Whiskey Hills ends without a single casualty, thanks largely to a sandstorm, trouble lurks around every corner because of Massingale’s plotting, teamsters threatening to strike and a cavalry interpreter who doesn’t really understand what the Indians are saying.

Lee Remick as Cora Massingale, announcing her intention to stop the whiskey wagons bound for Denver in The Hallelujah Trail (1965)

Burt Lancaster as Col. Thaddeus Gearhart, his bath interrupted by Cora Massingale’s demands in The Hallelujah Trail (1965)

Review:

John Sturges directed some memorable Westerns, with “Gunfight at the O.K. Corral” and “The Magnificent Seven” at the top of the list. This comedy Western doesn’t even come close.

Yep, Lee Remick looks lovely, as always. So does the film for that matter. It just isn’t all that funny, and certainly not nearly three hours’ worth of funny.

Neither Lancaster nor Keith can bring their roles to life. In fact, the best part winds up being played by Donald Pleasance as Oracle, a philosopher who can see into the future — especially when his whiskey glass is full.

And that’s Martin Landau hamming it up in the role of Chief Walks-Stooped-Over, an Indian negotiator who’s not supposed to understand the English language, but does, of course.

The film features an excellent title tune, courtesy of Elmer Bernstein.

Brian Keith as Frank Wallingham, complaining to a newspaper editor for publicizing his whiskey wagon train in The Hallelujah Trail (1965)

Donald Pleasance as Oracle Jones, predicting a long, dry winter if Denver can’t get more booze before the first snow in The Hallelujah Trail (1965)

Directed by:
John Sturges

Cast:
Burt Lancaster … Col. Thaddeus Gearhart
Lee Remick … Cora Massingale
Jim Hutton … Capt. Paul Slater
Pamela Tiffin … Louise Gearhart
Donald Pleasance … Oracle Jones
Brian Keith … Frank Wallingham
Martin Landau … Chief Walks-Stooped-Over
John Anderson … Sgt. Buell
Tom Stern … Kevin O’Flaherty
Robert J. Wilke … Chief Five Barrels
Dub Taylor … Clayton Howard
Whit Bissel … Hobbs
Helen Kleeb … Henrietta
Val Avery … Denver bartender
Noam Pitlik … Interpreter
William Benedict … Simpson
Hope Summers … Mrs. Hesselrad
Ted Markland … Bandmaster
Larry Duran … Brother in law #1
Jerry Gatlin … Brother in law #2
Marshall Reed … Lt. Carter
Jim Burk … Elks-Runner
John McKee … Rafe Pike
Bing Russell … Horner
Buff Brady … Bilkins
Carl Pitti … Phillips

Runtime: 165 min.

Score: Elmer Bernstein

Jim Hutton as Capt. Paul Slater and Pamela Tiffin as Louise Gearhart try to explain themselves to Col. Gearhart in The Hallelujah Trail (1965)

John Anderson as Sgt. Buell, Gearhart’s trusted junior officer in The Hallelujah Trail (1965)

Memorable lines:

Col. Gearhart to Capt. Slater: “Give a woman an acorn and the next thing you know you’re up to your rump in oak trees.”

The women, on the march: “Stand up and march to Denver / No more wine or beer / Stand up and march to Denver / No more whiskey here.”
Col. Gearhart: “If one bugler joins in with that singing, I’ll have him shot.”

Col. Gearhart, upset over the distraction bathing temperance supporters are causing: “I don’t care how dirty you are, I will not have you ladies bathing in nude!”
Cora Massingale: “There’s no other way I know of, colonel.”

Cora Massingale to Col. Gearhart: “In a battle of wills, he who shouts loudest is lost.”

Lee Remick as Cora Massingale, leading a temperance rally at the fort in The Hallelujah Trail (1965)

Tom Stern as Kevin O’Flaherty, leader of the teamsters who drive Wallingham’s wagons in The Hallelujah Trail (1965)

Col. Gearhart, of the Battle of Whiskey Hills: “It’s a miracle of the highest order that so many bullets could have missed so many people in so small an area in such a short space of time.”

Frank Wallingham: “That Massingale woman. What happened to her?”
Oracle: “She’s down there somewhere, Frank, taking advantage of ignorant savages. There should be a law against it.”

Col. Gearhart: “Giving whiskey to Indians is strictly prohibited by the army regulations so dear to your heart, Mrs. Massingale.”
Cora Massingale: “Not if the Indians don’t drink the whiskey.”
Frank Wallingham: “What’s going to keep Indians from drinking whiskey?”
Col. Gearhart: “Precisely.”
Cora: “I have their pledges. One hundred signed pledges, with one on the top signed by Chief Five Barrels himself. That’s his mark.”

Jim Hutton as Capt. Paul Slater, relaying the Indians’ demands as Chief Walks Stooped Over (Martin Landau) looks on in The Hallelujah Trail (1965)

Dub Taylor as Mayor Clayton Howard, realizing Denver is running low on alcohol with winter rapidly approaching in The Hallelujah Trail (1965)

Burt Lancaster as Col. Thaddeus Gearhart and John Anderson as Sgt. Buell, negotiating with the Indians in The Hallelujah Trail (1965)

Lee Remick as Cora Massingale and Pamela Tiffin as Louise Gearhart, leaders of the temperance movement in The Hallelujah Trail (1965)

Donald Pleasance as Oracle Jones and Brian Keith as Frank Wallingham celebrate a recovered barrel of whiskey in The Hallelujah Trail (1965)

Burt Lancaster as Col. Thaddeau Gearhart bickering with Cora Massingale (Lee Remick) again in The Hallelujah Trail (1965)