MovieChat Forums > The Hallelujah Trail (1965) Discussion > What a Frustrating Disappointment

What a Frustrating Disappointment

posted 13 years ago by phantomemail
14 replies | jump to latest

Good lineup of stars, great location shooting, marvelous music, even the premise was interesting.....but the script and execution were plain terrible. If this was supposed to be a comedy, there was not one funny thing about it, and believe me I was trying. So many scenes were belabored to the point that I was wondering when the director would call cut. The whole temperance meeting and duststorm and out of control wagon scenes were so overly long that I was getting bored. Just goes to show, without a good script and execution, all the stars, scenery and music in the world can't save a picture. Sturges did the same thing to Magnificent Seven, the "save the village" part was so long and drawn out that it somewhat ruined the movie. And I wanted both movies to be so enjoyable, but I was left frustrated and disappointed instead. So sorry.

[–] mam13143 12 years ago

I feel the same way -- after the promising opening credits it opens with that dumb temperance scene which makes no sense at all -- why the hell would all those women travel to a wilderness fort and not a town is silly. The script is just awful and film is slow as molasses -- with all those stars it should be a lot better. And Lee Remick is a cutie, but really.....a temperance lady? Lancaster sleepwalks through the movie, Hutton really looks like a calvary officer--not! The funniest guy in the movie is Donald Pleasance -- incredible! I am watching it again -- bought the dvd sadly, and hoping it will improve with more viewing -- obviously not. Kind of reminds me of "1941", another comedy full of funny actors with a big time director who fails to understand all that doesn't add up to great comedy. A real shame.

[–] ksf-2 10 years ago

i think mel brooks saw this... said "I can do better than that!" and made blazing saddles.

[–] mam13143 10 years ago

Lol......and he did!

[–] spookyrat1 10 years ago

i think mel brooks saw this... said "I can do better than that!" and made blazing saddles.

Exactly! If you're going to make a western spoof you have to go all the way like Blazing Saddles or even something akin to the very funny F Troop.

But this was a great looking, boringly long, one joke film, that just didn't go all out for laughs as it should have.

[–] Blueghost 10 years ago

I always thought the movie was a decent time-waster, but nothing much beyond that. It really wasn't funny as such, just marginally humorous. I can't say that I ever laughed at any of the gags, but mentally I smiled here and there.

[–] fang123horn 10 years ago

This is frustrating for someone who loves It's A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World and The Great Race who wanted the same epic grand silliness those films provides and John Sturges seemed scared to go that far. The humor is dry and the story is rather boring, except for the chase at the end it is almost a chore to sit through. The best part is the beginning of the movie but when the troops and the women leave the fort that's when the comedy becomes rather clumsy. This and Those Magnificent Men In Their Flying Machines are big examples of wasted comic opportunities.

[–] Blueghost 10 years ago

Yeah, you know, I just don't know why they held back on the actual comedy. I can laugh at The Three Stooges, Laurel and Hardy, and a few other movies that came out before those big films. And yet those big films are hardly humorous in the least.

I don't get it. They were big, somewhat interesting to watch, but they weren't that funny, if at all.

[–] fang123horn 10 years ago

I disagree I think only Mad World and Great Race were the only big films that got it right, and the only other big comedy that used silly to its epic potential is The Blues Brothers but that came out in the 80s and had a different sensibility in its grandness.

[–] Blueghost 10 years ago

Well okay, Mad Mad Mad Mad World had funny moments; Hacket and Rooney in the plane, Winters riding the little girl's bike in the desert, the big "W", and "Push the Button Max" from Race. But those are exceptions. The rest of them, even the sequels, I bet you can't laugh at. "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" might be another exception, but that's more of a kids' film...by the Bond producers no less, and they made people laugh!

[–] ireone3 10 years ago

I thought it was very good, but I had no idea it was a comedy, just watched it as a film because I was watching westerns and it came up on youtube as a suggestion.
I agree it wouldn't work if you expect laughs, but as a straight movie it seemed interesting and fairly light hearted; even though it's fairly serious topics in the film.

[–] MsELLERYqueen2 9 years ago

I really wanted to like this film, but I just couldn't get through it.

I'll say this much: Jim Hutton sure looked great in his uniform! 

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💕 JimHutton (1934-79) and ElleryQueen 👍

[–] greenbudgie 8 years ago

I thought that it was funny enough at the beginning but I think that the movie is far too long to sustain the main joke. I had to leave it halfway through.

[–] Thehelliwill 8 years ago

Very much a film of it's time but there's a lot there to enjoy.
Burt Lancaster rarely gives a poor performance and the same goes for Lee Remick. Also there are so many actors in the movie who reek of the era. I'm thinking Donald Pleasance, Brian Keith and Pamela Tiffin.
The problem can be the evolution of humour. By modern standards this film leads you by the nose and you can always see where it's going.
Worth a watch once a decade.

[–] johnmiller (3357) 3 years ago

You can tell how much work went into making this. But, it is SUCH a complete mess! What is the point of it all? It's just a whisper-thin story that leads into a lot of craziness and running around. I did not get it.