Cheyenne (1947)

Sadly Over-hyped

As Good As It Gets

Admirable film.

There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

That's how you supposedly pronounce Cheyenne. Wanted man Dennis Morgan (Jim) is given a second chance by lawman Barton MacLane (Yancey) if Morgan heads to Shy-Anne and leads him to "The Poet" who is robbing stagecoaches. This poet is even upsetting the local bad gang headed up by Arthur Kennedy (Sundance). Every time Sundance pulls a robbery, "The Poet" has beaten him to it and left him a poem in the treasure trunk. Every time. Ha ha. That's pretty cheeky. Anyway, Kennedy wants to team up with this guy and carry out some big hold-ups. Morgan has to find and capture the poet and gets involved with a couple of ladies on the way – Jane Wyman (Ann) and Janis Paige (Emily). You know these two ladies are going to figure in the story just a little more than on that initial stagecoach ride into Shy-Anne….This film is entertaining and contains a great saloon song – "Going Back to Old Cheyenne" – as sung by Janis Paige. The film leads you through its journey with action, drama, comedy and various set pieces and the overall result is a good western.

The country is the wild west, and the rockin' and rollin' is the stagecoach where Jane Wyman and Janis Paige exchange acidic barbs to and from the legendary western town. Dennis Morgan is a government agent who pretends to be married to Wyman in order to expose her real new husband, Bruce Bennett, as the mastermind behind a string of stagecoach robberies. The always magnetic Paige is a true scene stealer and gets to sing two songs in what appears to be her real voice.Warner Brothers brass is noticeable from the start, especially through the rousing musical score, tight action and a fine supporting cast of veterans including Barton MacLane and Arthur Kennedy. There's also a fair amount of comedy mixed into the action. Pure entertainment, everything you need for a bright, cheery western of high quality.

Dennis Morgan is a gambler forced in exchange for his freedom to capture a notorious outlaw who calls himself "The Poet" and leaves poems on the money box. On the hotel he meets Jane Wyman and they have a tempestuous relationship from the beginning, but that is what make the film so good. Wyman has a stern face, but when she smiles she melts Morgan and the spectators. Janis Paige is the other woman who in a way is prettier than Wyman, but lacks her stern charm (in the movie), but manages to sing very well. Arthur Kennedy is Sundance, an excellent bad guy, but in a minor role. Some very good scenes of the outlaws in numerous horses chasing the stagecoach, might even be stock footage. Very well built screenplay, will leave no one bored. Raoul Walsh directs and delivers a good western, that should be more known, but perhaps because of its title, got lost in time and in the the number of westerns that used the same name.

It was all said above. This is a rewarding movie to watch with good depth. I'd just like to add that the removal of Arthur Kennedy half way through the film, just as Alan Hale finally makes an entrance, is interesting. It's almost as though Raoul was having a hard time with Mr. Kennedy and had a part written to replace him with the `Skipper's' dad. The ending is a wee bit of a surprise only because just as it looks like thing may not turn out the way we expect them too, they do. Yes Mr. Walsh did make many memorable westerns (I've seen the majority of them) but it's almost as though he was trying to move into another direction with this picture. Weather audiences appreciated it or not are still to be seen.Scotty Jensen Racine, WI. USA