Forty cars west
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | Forty cars west |
| Original title | The Hallelujah Trail |
| Country of production | United States |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1965 |
| length | 149 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 6 |
| Rod | |
| Director | John Sturges |
| script | John Gay |
| production | John Sturges |
| music | Elmer Bernstein |
| camera | Robert Surtees |
| cut | Ferris Webster |
| occupation | |
| |
Forty Cars Westward is a 1965 American western comedy directed by John Sturges and starring Burt Lancaster and Lee Remick .
action
In the mining town of Denver , at that time still far from civilization, the supply of alcoholic beverages threatens to run out in the fall of 1867, and the forecast of a cold, snowy winter that threatens to cut off the dry city from the outside world for months leaves you Mood sinking quickly. Desperate, the miners give one of their last bottles of whiskey to the trapper, scout and seer Oracle Jones, who suggests that the landlords and traders of the miners' settlement send a well-known businessman a large whiskey order. Frank Wallingham's Julesburg company is hired to deliver forty carts full of whiskey and other alcoholic beverages to Denver before winter, but this unusually large shipment unfortunately finds its way into the daily press. The choleric Wallingham, who put every penny into this freight order, now fears - not unjustifiably - that the Indians will soon be inappropriately interested in his firewater, and in order to protect the transport, he personally accompanies his Irish wagoners and asks by telegram Colonel Gearhart in Fort Russel, between Denver and Julesburg, to send a cavalry division as an escort .
Gearhart, an old and tired veteran of the U.S. cavalry , widowed with a daughter and about to retire, has to bring down a parade of suffragettes in his own fort, that of his own daughter Louise and the sobriety lecturer she admires and women's suffrage , Cora Massingale, was sparked to protest against the whiskey transport. Against Cora's protest, he dispatches a platoon of cavalrymen led by Cpt. Slater, also to part the young man from his daughter's lips, which could question his loyalty.
In order to "save" the miners from the poison of alcohol, Cora Massingale and her enthusiastic ladies decide to intercept the wagons before Denver. So she urges Col. Gearhart to take care of the safety of the women with another department. The Indians, under the leadership of Chief Five Barrels, are now on their way to intercept the cargo. In Denver at the same time, the impatient and thirsty miners, led by Oracle Jones, set out to meet the trek and protect their precious order themselves. In a violent sandstorm , all the named parties collide at the same time, and an indescribable hubbub of a shootout begins , in which neither party knows who they are actually firing at.
When the sandstorm and the exchange of fire subsided, Col. Gearhart tries to negotiate to bring the situation to a peaceful end. This turns out to be impossible, as the Irish wagoners from Wallingham, led by Kevin O'Flaherty, are now fighting for better working conditions and threatening to strike, the Indians are demanding part of the wagon train as a gift for a peaceful departure and the ladies are on the verge of extermination the charge. Since no agreement can be reached, to the displeasure of Col. Gearhart, all parties accompany the trek in the direction of Denver to the edge of the quicksand swamps , where the quarrels finally come to a head.
When some of the women tried to convert the Indians to supporters of the anti-alcohol movement, they were taken prisoner. For her release, an agreement was reached on ten carts of alcohol, which Col. Gearhart confiscated amid loud protests in Wallingham after the remaining ladies threatened to destroy the entire load immediately, but failed. In a fit of remorse, Cora Massingale apologizes to Gearhart for the derailed situation that has caused her, and turns out to be a not that steadfast advocate of sobriety.
That same night, in a state of completely drunk ecstasy (he could secretly attack the whiskey charge), Oracle Jones finds a secret passage for Wallingham and the miners through the quicksand swamps and marks the path with strips of cloth. However, the strips of fabric are discovered by the emancipated women, who are now setting out another route with them that leads directly into the quicksand.
The handover takes place the next morning. Step by step , the women are released and the carriages are taken over by the Indians, who - with a little help from a hatpin - dash off at a straight gallop. But the selected cars do not contain whiskey, but warm champagne . During the frenzied journey and at the moment of triumph, the booty literally flies around the ears of the Indians, and they get nothing in the business. While everyone else is busy handing over the hostages, the miners and Wallingham kidnap the remaining wagons and follow the supposedly safe route through the quicksand swamps. However, due to the repositioned route, all wagons get caught in the quicksand and sink with their load.
In the absence of success, almost everyone returns sobered: the miners to Denver, the Indians to their reservations , the now unemployed carters to Julesburg, and the ladies with the cavalry to Fort Russell. Only ruined Wallingham and Oracle Jones remain and stubbornly guard the lost treasure. A double wedding is celebrated in Fort Russell (Gearhart with Massingale and Slater with Louise). In the swamp, thanks to the buoyancy, the lost barrels gradually reappear, the contents of which Wallington and Jones can enjoy; and the winter of 1867 ends as the mildest in living memory.
Reviews
"A solid, often somewhat lengthy Western, which entertains diversely through solid acting performances and numerous amusing parodic traits."
"A very long joke that only visitors to closed events can laugh at if they have enough drinks."
“A parody of the common Wild West film schemes and American habits, leftovers from the pioneering days. It is entertaining fun that, despite the length of the film, never gets bored. "
background
- The Mirisch Corporation produced the film for the United Artists .
- The film was shot in Ultra Panavision .
- The US version was originally 165 minutes long.
- The first German television broadcast took place on February 10, 1975 on ZDF .
Awards
- 1966: Third place at the Laurel Awards for best actress in a comedy
literature
-
Bill Gulick (aka Grover C. Gulick): Hallelujah Trail . [ Hallelujah Train. ] New English Library, London / Utrecht 1965, OCLC 558960815 .
- German: Forty cars westwards. South German Zeitung Verlag, Munich 2011, ISBN 978-3-86615-901-3 .
Web links
- Hallelujah Trail in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Forty cars west in the online film database
- Forty cars westwards on prisma.de
- Forty cars west. In: synchronkartei.de. German synchronous index , accessed on March 5, 2017 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Forty cars going west. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .
- ^ The Western Lexicon. Extended new edition, edited by Benjamin Hembus. Heyne, Munich 1995, ISBN 3-453-08121-8 .
- ↑ Critique No. 14/1966, p. 28.