best movie i've ever seen.

There are better movies of two hours length. I loved the actress'performance.

This is a must-see and one of the best documentaries - and films - of this year.

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

A wagon train carrying kegs of whiskey and a militant temperance group collide in the Old West. A big-budget western comedy, directed by John Sturges and written by John Gay from a novel by William Gulick, "The Hallelujah Trail" may have had lofty ambitions en route to the big screen, bu the results sank in the film's quicksand. A few A-list stars evidently saw potential in the script or were hard-up for cash, because the seemingly endless saga stars Burt Lancaster, Lee Remick, Jim Hutton, and Brian Keith. Martin Landau also appears in an embarrassing performance as an Indian called Chief Walks Stooped Over, which indicates the writers' level of humor.Brian Keith leads a train of 40 wagons carrying whiskey to the thirsty patrons of the nearly dry saloons in Denver. Lancaster as Colonel Thaddeus Gearhart is ordered to accompany the wagon train with a cavalry escort, and he sends a squad of troops led by Jim Hutton to ensure that the whiskey arrives safely. Meanwhile, a temperance group, headed by Lee Remick, a widow whose two husbands drank themselves to death, is determined to stop the whiskey train and set out to intercept it. Lancaster and a second cavalry group accompany the all female anti-liquor group to ensure their safety. A nearby tribe of Sioux Indians hear of the whiskey train and are eager to get the fire water for themselves. Of course, the temperance ladies took the family buckboards and left angry husbands behind. Lancaster's daughter, Pamela Tiffin, joins the temperance group and angers Lancaster, while Tiffin's fiancé, Hutton, has angered Tiffin by accompanying the wagon train. Donald Pleasance, a whiskey drinking oracle, tells the men of Denver that he sees that their whiskey is in danger, and thirsty male Denver-ites march out to save the wagons. Got all that? Unfortunately, the writers set up a complex situation, which admittedly has comic possibilities, but they seemed to have gotten lost in the muddle and go nowhere with it. A voice-over narration, accompanied by maps and diagrams, tries to keep the audience straight as the various groups converge."The Hallelujah Trail" is intermittently amusing, but the film is often a long slog through unfunny situations. At times, the movie plays like a musical, but, besides a rousing title tune and a few inspirational temperance marches, there are songs, although Elmer Bernstein's score is among the film's few assets. The movie is way too long and saddled with an intermission to lengthen it further. Shifts from Robert Surtee's scenic panoramas of western grandeur to claustrophobic and obviously fake sound stages are jarring. At times, the humor is labored; drunken Indians have ceased to be funny; and the performances are overly broad; the actors mug shamelessly; and performances are on par with those in a TV situation comedy like "F Troop." Lancaster, Remick, Keith, and Landau have all done far better work and best omit this turkey from their resumes. The film is a waste of talent and a potentially comic situation.

Amusing take off on cavalry-and Indian movies in which a rambunctious temperance leader called Template (Lee Remick) out to stop cavalry-guarded cargo commanded by a stiff colonel called Thaddeus (Burt Lancaster) and an officer named Slater (Jim Hutton) en route to thirsting Denver miners led by Oraculo (Donald Pleasence) and an old man (Dub Taylor) . As a wagon train heads for Denver with a cargo of whiskey for the miners being attacked by Indians led by Chief Walks-Stooped-Over (Martin Landau) , then chaos and wreak havoc ensue . Overlong but fun Western parody in which satire goes on and on the same premise . This wacky spoof is packed with mayhem , lots of silly laughters and great entertainment and fun . Most of the laughs and sight gags galore work acceptably well ; humor is also bold and intelligent with a myriad of imaginative sketches . Demystified as well as amiable Western was one of a group of diverse characters changed the concept of this particular genre each bent on disproving a popular myth , yet tinged with humor , spoof and combining with anti-heroes , crazy Indians and many other things . John Gay's screenplay besides having more than its fair scraps of funny lines ,throws up rich personages . The formula deals to enhance the comics observations of the western originated on the decade 60 , being continued by the following filmmakers : Andrew McLagen and Burt Kennedy with ¨Support your local gunfighter (one of his better spoof Western)¨ , ¨Support your local sheriff¨ (his highpoint) , ¨Dirty Dingus Mcgee¨ and director Michael Gordon with ¨Texas across the river¨ ; a bit later on , Mel Brooks directed the indispensable ¨Blazing saddles¨ , a surrealist , extreme and gross-out spoof with the ordinary bunch of loonies and loopies . The picture is wonderfully amused and enjoyable with Burt Lancaster as a tough but agreeable officer , Pamela Tiffin as his rebel young daughter and Martin Landau steals the show as a deadpan but hilarious Indian . Special mention to Dub Taylor as the old brawler clearly relishing his comic relief . Colorful cinematography filmed in Ultra Panavision 70 , being rightly shot by excellent cameraman Robert Surtees , super-productions's usual . Jolly and enjoyable musical score by Elmer Berstein , in his ordinary style .This very funny though lumbering motion picture was well produced and directed by John Sturges . He began his directing career at Columbia Pictures, where from 1946-49 he he worked on "12-day wonders" ("B" pictures shot on a 12-day schedule). From there he moved on to MGM where he filmed more "B" pictures, albeit on a larger budget . He established an independent production company in 1959, releasing through United Artists. From 1960-67 he worked under contract for United Artists. His first major hit was the western Dog Day at Black Rock (1955) , which he shot in just three weeks, wrapping up virtually every scene in a single take . He specialized in robust action pictures, particularly westerns. He excelled at bringing to life tautly written stories about tough characters facing difficult circumstances . Throughout his career he regularly alternated hits with misses . He has also been criticized for his lack of stylistic trademarks , though his best films remain exciting to watch . Sturges was expert on all kind of genres , but especially warlike such as : ¨Great Escape¨, ¨Ice Station Zebra¨ and ¨Eagle has landed¨ and Western such as ¨Last train of Gun Hill¨, ¨Magnificent Seven¨, ¨Backlash¨, ¨Law and Jake Webb¨, ¨Joe Kidd¨ and Chino¨, among others . This high-level and Western parody will appeal to Burt Lancaster and Lee Remick fans .

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.

It's sheer entertainment. I think (as an adult) judicious trimming would have made this film a real classic, but the performances and the very pointed outrageous humor are just really fun. I love the narration and the "maps" which don't really show anything, making fun of that old technique. I'm sure many audiences of today might not even get how this is kind of the Airplane of the sixties. My family actually went to see another movie with top billing at the drive in and we all loved this one much more. It's just plain fun. A bit too long, I agree, but well worth it for the giggles. It's quite star packed for the time as well, once again, reminding me of Airplane in later years. I'm not a western fan, but this is more than a western, it's really a spoof or satire, with no one taking themselves seriously and that gives it a great deal of fun quotient.