The defence The Sentimental Softie
“It owes the canon nothing.”
The movie pursues immediacy and audience pleasure without begging institutions to certify its worth.
Back to trending 
The Hallelujah Trail
Western · Comedy · 1965
A wagon train heads for Denver with a cargo of whisky for the miners. Chaos ensues as the Temperance League, the US cavalry, the miners and the local Indians all try to take control of the valuable cargo.
Movie details
The Hallelujah Trail
“Cinerama sends you roaring with laughter and adventure down that wide and wonderful fun-trail!”
1965 Western · Comedy 2h 45m
Critical arithmetic
One number, for now.
Scores change. Arguments endure.
TMDB
6.1 / 10
Community rating
A wagon train heads for Denver with a cargo of whisky for the miners. Chaos ensues as the Temperance League, the US cavalry, the miners and the local Indians all try to take control of the valuable cargo.
CriticWise case file
What this film says about your taste.
Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.
The archetype split
Who fights over The Hallelujah Trail?
For the defence
The Sentimental Softie
“You came to feel something, and you will.”
Read their case For the prosecution
The Big-Idea Head
“You watch with your brain, not your gut.”
Read their objectionThe split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.
Taste neighbourhood
Nearby on the taste map.
TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.
The Cheyenne Social Club
Western · 1970
Cowboy John O'Hanlan is surprised to learn that someone's left him a business in Cheyenne, Wyoming. He sets out to claim it, only to discover it's a brothel.
Support Your Local Gunfighter
Comedy · 1971
A con artist arrives in a mining town controlled by two competing companies. Both companies think he's a famous gunfighter and try to hire him to drive the other out of town.
Boss Nigger
Western · 1975
Two black bounty hunters ride into a small town out West in pursuit of an outlaw. They discover that the town has no sheriff, and soon take over that position, much against the will of the mostly white townsfolk.
Rango
Animation · 2011
When Rango, a lost family pet, accidentally winds up in the gritty, gun-slinging Western town of Dirt, the theater-loving lizard suddenly finds himself the newly appointed sheriff. Welcomed as the last hope the town has been waiting for, Rango is forced to play his new role to the hilt and uncover the truth behind a looming water crisis—before his act catches up with him.
The Indian Fighter
Western · 1955
A scout leading a wagon train through hostile Indian country gets involved with a Sioux chief's daughter.
Scooby-Doo! Shaggy's Showdown
Animation · 2017
When the Scooby gang visits a dude ranch, they discover that it and the nearby town have been haunted by a ghostly cowboy, Dapper Jack, who fires real fire from his fire irons. The mystery only deepens when it’s discovered that the ghost is also the long lost relative of Shaggy Rogers!
The Last Wagon
Western · 1956
When a handful of settlers survive an Apache attack on their wagon train they must put their lives into the hands of Comanche Todd, a white man who has lived with the Comanches most of his life and is wanted for the murder of three men.
Chisum
Western · 1970
Cattle baron John Chisum joins forces with Billy the Kid and Pat Garrett to fight the Lincoln County Land War in the New Mexico Territory of 1878.
Cheyenne Autumn
Western · 1964
A reluctant cavalry Captain must track a defiant tribe of migrating Cheyenne.
How the West Was Won
Western · 1962
The epic tale of the development of the American West from the 1830s through the Civil War to the end of the century, as seen through the eyes of one pioneer family.
Where it lives
Watch in your region.
Cinema release signals and current streaming, rental, and purchase options for your region.
Streaming availability data supplied by JustWatch.
Names above the title
The people responsible.
Cast & crew
Directed by
John Sturges
Written by
John Gay
Burt Lancaster
Col. Thaddeus P. Gearhart
Lee Remick
Cora Templeton Massingale
Jim Hutton
Capt. Paul Slater
Donald Pleasence
'Oracle' Jones
Brian Keith
Frank Wallingham
Martin Landau
Chief Walks-Stooped-Over
Pamela Tiffin
Louise Gearhart
Court is in session
Put The Hallelujah Trail on trial.
Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.
The prosecution The Big-Idea Head
“Easy pleasure, short half-life.”
It moves efficiently through the moment but offers little reason to keep arguing once the credits end.