THE HALLELUJAH TRAIL (1965) **1/2 It was important to drink well in the west, but not always easy. Great cast gets a lot of non-stereotypable characters going while sharing 147 minutes worth of lines: Lee Remick is best as the pert temperance crusader not above getting bombed and singing, Donald Pleasance as Oracle the sage of sagebrush, Burt Lancaster as the cavalry leader whose troops never save the day, Martin Landau as an Indian good faith gesture who looks like Aerosmith, Brian Keith as the Republican alcohol magnate of 190 proof capitalist faith... I think it accomplishes pretty much everything it goes after what with the musical temperance ladies in bustles, Denver Free Militia (looking for booze) in dirt and grime, Republican businessman confounded by everyone else's refusal to do what they're s'posed to, Irish socialist trade union strikers gunning for a whiskey ration, multiple militias heading in different directions to cover their ass, and Indians just looking for a good time in the wake of the peace movement. Some political insights into the days portrayed for those willing to look hard enough, and plenty of insight into the groundswell of political crosscurrents from the days it was made. Good semi-clean fun and a brilliant extended closing scene as the Indian party rides top speed across the desert partying amidst exploding champagne bottles, militant cavalrymen, distraught Republicans, and temperance ladies with torn allegiances. My favorite is a covered wagon that somehow flies off the precipice without a horse attached.