Cheyenne Social Club

Stewart and Fonda spend a great deal of this movie injecting flawless comic timing and delightful wit into a script that might otherwise be nothing but a disreputable spoof of greater films. Every encounter with the bordello women leaves Stewart's character in slack-jawed befuddlement while Fonda wiles and charms his way into their hearts and bedrooms.

This film will never be picked as the greatest Western of all time and is not the finest showpiece from Stewart's and Fonda's careers. It is, however, a wonderfully crafted story that brings together two of the greatest actors the silver screen has ever known. Stewart is his old reliable, sensible self with just enough grit and keenness to make him the perfect straight man. Fonda's non-stop ramblings and rugged charm make him the consummate counterpart. All in all, this is a movie well worth owning and laughing over again and again.


Enjoyable western.   October 2, 1999
7 out of 8 found this review helpful

Stewart and Fonda take over a cathouse and ham it up. A bunch of cowhand yucks, and lots of great corset shots. There's worse ways to spend a couple hours.


A lesson learned.   March 31, 2001
B. Chandler (Arlington, Texas)
7 out of 9 found this review helpful

This is the story of two cowpoke John O'Hanlan (James Stewart), Harley Sullivan (Henry Fonda), and their relationship with life. John O'Hanlan comes into an inheritance (The Cheyenne Social Club) and plans to become a man of property. At the first opportunity he starts acting so. Will success spoil John O'Hanlan? And can the partners' friendship stand the strain? There are a few stings attached and a way of life at stake for the clubs employees. How will this be resolved if it is resolved?

If James Garner and Jack Elam played the two characters, this movie would just go down in history as just another cowboy spoof. However it is James Stewart and Henry Fonda that are sparing with a little Sue Anne Langdon to boot. It is distend to be a classic.



Stewart Fonda and Jones are winners here   June 11, 2001
Peter Ingemi (Worcester County, Massachusetts United States)
6 out of 8 found this review helpful

If you want to sit down and enjoy a movie and LAUGH this movie is for you. Stewart and Fonda are great foils for each other, (I think you could have had a series of picture with these two as these characters and it would have worked.) All the performances are played well, the plot is a great one and frankly the Fonda character (who just can't shut up at times.) just kills me. (In fact the two long speeches at the begining and end were added to the script to give Fonda more lines. It made the character.) Stewart frankly plays his honest honerable stock character, but it is a good stock character and with the right foil (Fonda) the character remains earnist but fun. Not a classic in the true sense of the word (It's no BROKEN ARROW or THE MAN WHO SHOT LIBERTY VALANCE) but it doesn't try to be. It is what it is and that's an entertaing movie.


A little Risque for it's time....and Great fun!   July 14, 2005
A. Sloan (Cary, NC)
6 out of 6 found this review helpful

For the longest I was trying to think of who Duvall and Jones reminded me of in "Lonesome Dove" then it hit me that it was Fonda and Stewart in this movie. If you love the banter and bickering of Gus and Capt. Call then you will love this comedy. For one of the last good comedic westerns before the mid-seventies this one is a beauty with a risque edge that's a reflection of the time it was released (1970).
The role of sex was not prevalent especially in westerns before then and as times changed it eventually leaked into the westerns. (It's heavily implied but none is shown) I guess it was truly the last frontier in movies. And to top it all off this is directed by Mr. Gene "Singing in the Rain" Kelly no less.

When one of two cowboys (Stewart) who have been on the trails way too long inherits a Social Club from his deceased brother, he feels like things are changing for the better. Little does he realize just how sociable the occupants of the club really are. Let the famous "Jimmy Stewart stammering begin!"'
Especially when he realizes that his moral stand is not the way to win friends, influence people and get an enormous steak in this new town. Fonda who acts like a kid at Disneyworld who wants to ride every ride there is, (excuse the pun please) is priceless when he just can't understand why the park has to close after the fireworks.

Both Jimmy Stewart and Henry Fonda's facial expressions are a sight to behold as the many stipulations that are bound to the social club unfold one by one along with the excess baggage. Shirley Jones during her Elmer Gantry era plays a favorite of the former owner who tries to persuade Stewart to help them out when things get out of hand. (She's no Shirley Partridge in this movie!) You'll love the unexpected and expected twists and turns of this movie. I highly recommend this one.