The Cheyenne Social Club (1970)

Nice effects though.

Good , But It Is Overrated By Some

Better Late Then Never

An Exercise In Nonsense

The Cheyenne Social Club sounds like a bad idea on a number of levels. For beginners it stars two elderly actors towards the end of their careers in a comedy about prostitution, not to mention Gene Kelly would be one of the last people I would expect to be directing a western. For a long time it remained a movie I doubt I would ever watch yet much to my surprise the film turned out not only to be perfectly dignified but also very funny and surprising endearing. The idea of Jimmy Stewart being the owner of a brothel and becoming a sugar daddy sounds wrong on paper yet somehow it manages to work. The Cheyenne Social Club paints an idealized version of a whore house in which the women are proud of their profession and worship their boss. The movie doesn't shun prostitution and while propaganda might be a strong word I certainly got the impression the movie was voicing its support for the legalisation of prostitution.Henry Fonda is by far the funniest thing in the film; a child in an adult's body living out a completely carefree existence with Stewart being the straight man and the grown up one of the two. Even as soon as the film begins Fonda babbles through the entire opening credits which according to the movie lasts for literally over a thousand miles which helps distract from how ordinarily plain the test in the opening credits are. The relationship between the two is incredibly endearing with one of my favourite moments of the film is the two of them innocently sleeping in the same bed together. It is also very amusing as Fonda just follows Stewart wherever he goes as he has nothing else to do with his time but also because he just likes his company. It's evident through their own screen chemistry that the two where lifelong friends. The film's other major highlight is Stewart and Fonda's discussing of politics (Stewart being a Republican and Fonda a Democrat) mirroring their real life personas and bringing to mind an occasion when their friendship was almost brought to an end when they got engaged in a fist fight over politics in 1947 ("I don't like to dispute you John but didn't you always vote democratic?, Well...that was when I didn't know any better") .The Cheyenne Social Club is the third of three films James Stewart and Henry Fonda starred in together. The first two of which are among the weakest films I've seen from ether actor. Thankfully the third time was the charm; it took 35 years to get these two legendary actors in a great film together but it was worth the wait.

I wish to add this slice of information on actor Jimmy Steward because of several reasons - a/ since some critics allude to the fact that there was not enough manhood in him to be film hero, he rather looked like a University associate or even Nobel laureate with his intelligent face; b/ because Western cinema is synonymous with American cinema which is not perceived well by some activists in Europe that still hang to their national film industry; and, also for some other reasons ... Now filmography entries for James Steward are quite substantial and given elsewhere, we can't make easy choices about his almost 100 feature films and long life-span of 90 years (plus-minus the professional attrition). He was also Brigadier General with US Air Force, a rare privilege for Hollywood star, etc.Let's look at his Oscar winning performance in "The Philadelphia Story" (1940). Steward established himself as actor very quickly in the 1930s and while unexpectedly for some this seems quite logical for me because he is both whimsical and eloquent. His English speech comes like a music and is specially impressive for foreigners with customary hearing. Then I should say that his acting, while no acting classes taken, imply an inborn snobbishness that is characteristic for classics such as William Thackeray heroes. What else to say, besides the fact that his play was highly appreciated by Hollywood directors Frank Capra, Alfred Hitchcock, John Ford and others, also his versatility should be remembered with women whom he partnered as real gentleman. Partly true, his counterpart in this film Katharine Hepburn which holds all times record for women (4 Oscars) was seldom tempted to lie - as all women love to do. She said that she didn't suffer from Parkinson disease while she did so in a mild form. Her intentional head tremor is evident in "Rooster Cogburn" (1975) and as late as "Grace Quigley" (1984) she remained on stage with no serious mental disturbances.On "Cheyenne Social Club" (1970) I should retort his gunman abilities at age 62. His friendship with Henry Fonda was remarkable, much unappreciated I think. Both enjoyed their film popularity because of their non-traditional, so to say, congenital sophisticated manners that is difficult to imitate. Such people are not easy to lure in cinema now-a-days. I don't want to say that cinema today is poor but it just have other values.Last word on manhood of the actors. I am not a specialist but before cinema was invented 100 years ago there was something else that made people popular in the societal aspect. And I don't speak here of theater because the latter is nothing without technicality. So I speak here of the science of Physiognomy which has roots largely in the past times and history can give best examples. Lastly this science have been equaled with Eugenics that was banned by official authorities in the 20th centuries. However, many truths remain written on the face of living people. After all "Greek Fire" was invented before Gunpowder and thus allowed the conquest of the New World. Thank you!

Fun Western comedy with two-towering actors and bemusing situations that happen when an upright cowboy after the death of his brother receives an unusual legacy : The Cheyenne social club and he along with another friend from Texas go to the location . Agreeable film about two nice cowpunchers plenty of humor , thrills and stunning performances . "John", a honest cowpuncher (James Stewart) to which accompanies his inseparable friend "Sullivan" (Henry Fonda), another cowboy from Texas who are longly friends from 10 years ago , at the prospect of inheritance they decide to go in search of the business of his deceased brother . At the long trek takes place some amusing exchange of dialogs among them . After that , they discover the truth as the Club results to be the town's bawdy brothel plenty of joyful girls ( Shirley Jones , Sue Ane Langdon , Elaine Devry as sexpots of bordello) with a great tradition in the region. As Stewart increasing involvement with luscious employees and Fonda helps to operate the bordello . Meanwhile there appears the assortment of bad guys (Robert J Wilke , Charles Tyner) who force shoot'em up on them.Gentle entertainment about a bordello in the Old West with two masters of the performance , James Stewart and Henry Fonda , they are magnificent experts in the art of conjuring laughs of nothing , here are reunited in this atypical but amusing western with a lot of jokes , undistinguished moments and comical attitudes , in addition a multitude of absurd situations. Fun screenplay by James Lee Barret , Western's ordinary , though clichés run through-out , the enjoyable story is enhanced for amusing moments developed among main characters and especially on the relationship between James Stewart and Henry Fonda. The stellar cast is accompanied by some secondary actors very good as Shirley Jones , Robert J Wilke , Robert Middleton , John Dehner and Charles Tyner . It also appreciates a good production design and colorful cinematography in Panavision by William H. Clothier , John Ford's usual .It's a movie highly desirable to spend 103 fun minutes professionally directed by Gene Kelly, an expert dancer and choreographer . Kelly dares to lead this western with acceptable results, and offers us here an entertaining comedy without major skills , but should to make it more dynamic . He directed some films as "Singing in the Rain" , ¨On the town¨ , co-directed by Stanley Donen , and ¨Invitation to the dance¨, ¨Hello Dolly¨ , ¨Guide of married men ¨ , ¨ Cheyenne Social Club turns out to be his only Western . It's a minor and thin effort and is beneath this great trio Fonda-Stewart-Kelly . An object of lesson by old masters who will appeal his fans .

I don't know about you, but the thought of a Jimmy Stewart movie where he is the new owner of a brothel just seems wrong. Would Elwood P. Dowd or Mr. Smith do this? Certainly not.It's sad, but in the late 60s and early 70s, there a string of "modern" westerns that featured amoral leads--Gregory Peck, Henry Fonda and Jimmy Stewart, among others, made them. Now it was nice to see movies that tried to be different, but these westerns generally weren't very good. And, it was very hard to really care about the movies as there no heroes and no sense of right or wrong--or at least a rather warped sense of right or wrong.While this movie isn't bad, it wasn't terribly good and was full of clichés--especially the "hooker with a heart of gold" cliché. Just once, I'd like to see a movie where a prostitute is a selfish alcoholic or has an STD.The film has decent writing and the dialog between Fonda and Stewart is good. The movie itself is pretty predictable and forgettable.