Main Cast: James Stewart, Henry Fonda, Shirley Jones, Sue Ane Langdon, Elaine Devry
Release Year: 1970
Country: US
Run Time: 103 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG
Plot
James Stewart and Henry Fonda star in this light-hearted western comedy, directed by Gene Kelly. In 1870 Texas, John O' Hanlan (James Stewart), an itinerant cowboy, receives a letter notifying him that he has inherited a business establishment called the Cheyenne Social Club in Cheyenne, Wyoming. Thinking that he can finally settle down from his hard life on the trail and become a man of property, he travels with his friend Harley O'Sullivan (Henry Fonda) to Cheyenne to claim his property. Once there, he finds the Cheyenne Social Club to be a brothel, run by the attractive Madame Jenny (Shirley Jones). John is appalled, and while Harley is sampling the business's wares, John is planning to close the place down and turn it into a boardinghouse. But when the citizens of Cheyenne get wind of John's plan, they try to convince him to keep the whorehouse the way it is. However, all of this talk is tabled when John finds out that Jenny has been beaten by the disreputable Corey Bannister (Robert J. Wilke). John challenges him to a gunfight and kills him. Suddenly, John and Harley discover that they have the whole Bannister clan after them, and now they have to defend both themselves and the gals at the Cheyenne Social Club. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
Yvonne Wood - Costume Designer, Paul Helmick - First Assistant Director, Gene Kelly - Director, Adrienne Fazan - Editor, James Lee Barrett - Executive Producer, Walter Scharf - Composer (Music Score), Walter Scharf - Musical Direction/Supervision, Al Kasha - Songwriter, Joel Hirschborn - Songwriter, Frank Westmore - Makeup, Gene Allen - Production Designer, William H. Clothier - Cinematographer, Gene Kelly - Producer, George James Hopkins - Set Designer, Fred Faust - Sound/Sound Designer, James Lee Barrett - Screenwriter
In 1867, John O'Hanlan and Harley Sullivan are two ageing cowboys working on various open cattle ranges in Texas. O'Hanlan gets a letter from an attorney in Cheyenne, Wyoming that his disreputable (and now, deceased) brother, D.J., left him something called The Cheyenne Social Club in his will. After they make the 1,000 mile (1,600 km) trek to Cheyenne, O'Hanlan and Sullivan learn that The Cheyenne Social Club is a high-class brothel. O'Hanlan's newfound status as "a man of property" makes him the most popular man in town -- until he decides to turn the Social Club into a respectable boarding house. From there, the comedy ensues.
Reception
The Cheyenne Social Club was a minor success, but was poorly received by critics. It didn't receive any notoriety until decades later with numerous cable television broadcasts. Barrett's script earned a 1970 Writers Guild of America nomination for "Best Comedy Written Directly for the Screen", but lost to Neil Simon for the The Out-of-Towners.
