Great Film overall

Easily the biggest piece of Right wing non sense propaganda I ever saw.

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

This movie is a comedy. Approaching it any other way will naturally be disappointing. What makes it funny mostly is that it is a satire, a satire on the negotiating process. Burt Lancaster plays the CO of a cavalry troop near Denver in 1867. Four or five different factions are trying to make claim to the prize shipment, some by hook, others by crook. He tries to mediate them into some form of agreement. I don't think anyone else reviewing it here has seen it in that light. If you have been following current events (any years) and have observed political negotiations and kept them in mind while watching this movie, you will see what I mean.

The plot premise is quite simple and a good western big picture style comedy for something from Hollywood in tail end of the innocent mid- 60's. It has a solid cast but the direction has them playing stereotype roles (stern commander, intolerant temperance leader, greedy business man, etc so nothing really great -- just good.The movie does runs too long in the second half during the encampment phase (all participants in the same area) after the sandstorm and would have benefited for a shorter run time. I consider this its primary negative.It carries on a theme that seems to have started in the 60's with comedies (TV) in having catch phrases such "good tax payer and good Republican" used repeatedly although not that memorable.

Most western fans are always hoping for a new John Ford or Anthony Mann, etc they are not keen on seeing a western comedy. They were probably waiting for John Sturges to do another "Magnificent Seven" or a western version of "The Great Escape". Probably inspired by the box office results of films like "It's a mad mad world" and "Those magnificent men in their flying machines" they got to the conclusion that doing something alike in a western would be a hit, and was that ever a mistake! There are certain funny scenes in the film like the interpreter who translates everything wrong, but they are few. This film came out as a "roadshow" in Cinerama 70mm with reserved seats and intermission. But that meant empty seats, and then they came out with a standard version and it still meant empty seats. The excellent biography of John Sturges ,"Escape Artist" provides many details about the making and reaction of the public to this film.

When considering how to rate and reflect on some movies, one needs to consider the time at which they were made, styles and mores of that time, and decide if your mental state is ready for a movie of that type.One example would be "Pillow Talk" ... a very funny movie from the early 60s, but one which is extremely tame by the standards of the last 30 years or so.Among westerns, "The Hallelujah Trail" is another such example. The romance is tame, the violence fails to actually ever hurt anyone (a good thing), and the comedy is full of misdirection and bluster. The story and its elements are very tame by recent standards, but I never fail to be entertained when I watch this movie. I've always enjoyed one line in particular from the film, a take-off on a famous Churchhill quote (and I'm sure I paraphrase); "Never have so many bullets been fired at so many targets in such a small area with so few casualties". This after an epic battle scene involving cavalry, miners, a booze "wagon train", an Indian tribe, and a group of lady prohibition crusaders.The narration of the film adds a special touch. Its unusual but also quite funny.There is also a very talented cast in this movie, led by Burt Lancaster, and so for that reason alone it's not surprise that the film is solid and entertaining.Is it a blockbuster caliber film? No. But if you're caught in on a rainy Saturday afternoon and catch it on cable, you won't be disappointed, either.