The Cheyenne Social Club (1970)

You won't be disappointed!

The greatest movie ever made..!

How sad is this?

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

Song and dance legend Gene Kelly turned over a new leaf with this 1970 western co-starring James Stewart and Henry Fonda. "The Cheyenne Social Club" qualifies as one of the best western sex comedies. Subtlety is so unusual in a western of this variety, but "Singing in the Rain" director Gene Kelly and "Shenandoah" scenarist James Lee Barrett exemplify a light, nimble touch. Davis Grubb wrote the source novel. Stewart plays a career cowpoke that received a letter two years late and discovers that he has inherited a bordello much to his chagrin. Henry Fonda plays his long-winded best friend of ten years. This movie is a treat that drums up one surprise after another as Stewart struggles with his conscience about what to do with the whorehouse. Stewart gives a solemn, sincere performance as a repressed man embarrassed by his stroke of good fortune. Fonda delivers one of his most laid-back performances. He cracks pecans and catches everybody's attention. Stewart and Fonda make a hilarious pair who have been riding together for so long but don't know why they've been together. Barrett's dialogue is often quotable. Shirley Jones and Sue Ann Langdon round out the cast as a couple of the prostitutes at the Cheyenne Social Club. I don't think that the two stars would sack out in the same bed as Stewart and Fonda do, but then this oater isn't filthy minded. The politic dimension to the plot is also very funny.The scene when John explains to the girls what happened to him is amusing. As he stumbles through his speech, a bell rings a different number of times summoning the girls from the meeting. After he learns that he has inherited a house of ill repute from his brother, John O'Hanlan (James Stewart of "Vertigo") decides to close the place to everybody's surprise.Although it was the only western that Kelly helmed, he used John Wayne's favorite cinematographer William H. Clothier and "The Cheyenne Social Club" looks as western as all get out.

"The Cheyenne Social Club" is a delightful easy going comedy western produced and directed by screen legend Gene Kelly. Given the subject matter, Kelly manages to stick handle around the double entendres and present a comedy that is tastefully done and probably offended no one.Two drifters, John O'Hanlan (James Stewart) and Harley Sullivan (Henry Fonda) are working cattle in Texas. One day O'Hanlan receives a letter informing him that he has inherited some property in Cheyenne, Wyoming. So he and Harley set out for Cheyenne.When they arrive, they discover that the property that O'Hanlan has inherits is a bawdy house known as The Cheyenne Social Club. They meet the "Madame", Jennie (Shirley Jones) and the rest of the girls, Opal Ann (Sue Ann Langdon), Pauline (Elaine Divry), Carrie Virginia (Jackie Russell), Annie Jo (Jackie Joseph) and Sara Jean (Sharon DeBord).O'Hanlan at first is hailed as a saviour by the townsfolk. He is given carte blanche at the local saloon by the Barkeep (Robert Middleton) and becomes the most popular man in town. Harley meanwhile has struck up a friendship with another saloon girl Alice (Jean Willes) after he stops her runaway horse.O'Hanlan is uncomfortable with the kind of business he's in and announces that he is closing up the Social Club while he ponders his next move. Well, the townsfolk don't take too kindly to this and turn against him. In particular he runs afoul of bully Corey Bannister (Robert J. Wilke).When Jennie is beat up by Bannister, O'Hanlan comes to her aid. With some unexpected help from Harley, he manages to gun down Bannister. The local Marshal (Arch Johnson) warns O'Hanlon that Bannister's relatives will surely come after him. Harley decides to return to Texas. On the trail he meets the Bannisters led by "Uncle" Charlie (Charles Tyner) who are heading to Cheyenne.Only O'Hanlon is left to defend the Social Club and its girls. But then........................Stewart and Fonda had been friends since the 1930s and play well off of each other. As a contrast, takes a look at "Firecreek" which they made two years earlier for two completely different performances. Both had done light comedy before so were able to play these roles convincingly. They even get to "sing" a song on the trail (good thing they didn't quit their day jobs).The film is made even better with its fine supporting cast. In addition to those already mentioned there is Dabbs Greer as Lawyer Willowby, J.Pat O'Malley as a fast talking drummer and John Dehner, Jason Wingreen, Myron Healey and Hal Baylor in other roles.Great entertainment.

Gene Kelly directs this occasionally funny western. Star power galore does not mean a top notch movie. John O'Hanlan(James Stewart) inherits a Texas landmark...well, its actually a popular whore house. Down on his luck O'Hanlan talks his good friend Harley Sullivan(Henry Fonda)to help him run it. Yes, there is some laughs; but this movie seems way beneath efforts and reputations of both Stewart and Fonda. Situational comedy just doesn't seem to be even par with the cast.Stewart and Fonda work very well together. Others of note in the cast: Sue Ane Langdon, Shirley Jones, Dabbs Greer, Elaine Devry and Arch Johnson.

After an interminable journey across the plains, two itinerant cowboys (the two Hollywood legend Stewart and Fonda) reach Cheyenne, where Stewart has inherited the noisiest bordello in town, which is well-managed by pretty Shirley Jones... From this moment, the two friends run into assorted problems with the townspeople, specially when one of them kills a guy who has beaten Jones… The murdered man's family becomes an implacable enemy... Shot on location near Santa Fe, New Mexico, the film is neither good nor bad, entitled neither as farce nor Western… Some of the jokes about the bordello are labored and repetitious, and there was some complaint over Stewart compromising his clean cut image when he confronts one of the prostitutes in a see-through negligée… Stewart wanted the scene cut out, but the company overruled him…The film's director was a surprising choice… Stewart's reasons for wanting to use Gene Kelly, whose reputation was scarcely associated with Westerns, remain obscure… Perhaps he felt Kelly would sly1y inject more tongue-in-cheek elements, given the bordello angle, than an action-oriented director like Andrew, McLaglen would have…Fonda seems to have had a solid affection for "The Cheyenne Social Club," especially as it gave him and Stewart a chance to really co-star in a movie with some human dimensions...