''The Cheyenne Social Club'' is a 1970 American Western

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...

written by

James Lee Barrett James Lee Barrett (November 19, 1929 – October 15, 1989) was an American author, producer and screenwriter. Biography Barrett was born in 1929 in Charlotte, North Carolina and graduated in 1950 from Anderson University (South Carolina). ...

, directed and produced by

Gene Kelly Eugene Curran Kelly (August 23, 1912 – February 2, 1996) was an American actor, dancer, singer, filmmaker, and choreographer. He was known for his energetic and athletic dancing style and sought to create a new form of American dance accessibl ...

, and starring

James Stewart James Maitland Stewart (May 20, 1908 – July 2, 1997) was an American actor and military pilot. Known for his distinctive drawl and everyman screen persona, Stewart's film career spanned 80 films from 1935 to 1991. With the strong morality h ...

, Henry Fonda and Shirley Jones. The film is about an aging cowboy who inherits a

brothel A brothel, bordello, ranch, or whorehouse is a place where people engage in sexual activity with prostitutes. However, for legal or cultural reasons, establishments often describe themselves as massage parlors, bars, strip clubs, body rub par ...

and decides to turn it into a respectable boarding house, against the wishes of both the townspeople and the ladies working there.

Plot

In 1867, John O'Hanlan and Harley Sullivan are aging cowboys working on open cattle ranges in Texas. John gets a letter from an attorney in

Cheyenne The Cheyenne ( ) are an Indigenous people of the Great Plains. Their Cheyenne language belongs to the Algonquian language family. Today, the Cheyenne people are split into two federally recognized nations: the Southern Cheyenne, who are enroll ...

Wyoming Wyoming () is a U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho to the west, Utah to the south ...

that his brother, D.J., left him The Cheyenne Social Club in his

will Will may refer to: Common meanings * Will and testament, instructions for the disposition of one's property after death * Will (philosophy), or willpower * Will (sociology) * Will, volition (psychology) * Will, a modal verb - see Shall and will ...

. After making the trek to Cheyenne, John and Harley learn The Cheyenne Social Club is a high-class

next to the railroad. John falls into disfavor with both the Club's ladies and the men in Cheyenne when he decides to close the Club. John learns his brother's deed had a provision the property would revert to the railroad if the ladies moved. Jenny, the Club's madam, is assaulted by a man named Bannister. John kills Bannister and regains popularity. Bannister's relatives come to Cheyenne for revenge, but John, Harley and Jenny successfully fight them off. When advised that even more of the Bannisters' relatives will soon come to town, John transfers ownership of the property to Jenny and he and Harley return to Texas.

Cast

as John O'Hanlan * Henry Fonda as Harley Sullivan * Shirley Jones as Jenny *

Sue Ane Langdon Sue Ane Langdon is an American actress. She has appeared in dozens of television series and had featured roles in films such as ''A Guide for the Married Man'' and ''The Cheyenne Social Club'', both directed by Gene Kelly, as well as '' The Round ...

as Opal Ann *

Elaine Devry Elaine Devry (born Thelma Elaine Mahnken) is an American actress. Early life Devry was born Thelma Elaine Mahnken to Fred P. and Hortense Mahnken in Compton, California, where she was raised. Her brother, Jeff, was three years her senior. She be ...

as Pauline * Jackie Russell as Carrie Virginia * Jackie Joseph as Annie Jo * Sharon DeBord as Sara Jean * Robert Middleton as Barkeep *

Robert J. Wilke Robert Joseph Wilke (May 18, 1914 – March 28, 1989) was an American film and television actor noted primarily for his roles as villains, mostly in Westerns. Early years Wilke was a native of Cincinnati. Before going into acting, he h ...

as Corey Bannister *

Dabbs Greer Robert William "Dabbs" Greer (April 2, 1917 – April 28, 2007) was an American character actor in film and television for over 60 years. With nearly 100 film roles and appearances in nearly 600 television episodes of various series, Greer m ...

as Jedediah W. Willowby * John Dehner as Clay Carroll ''(uncredited)''

Production

Set in a

with suggestive dialogue, this was one of the few

off-color Off-color humor (also known as vulgar humor, crude humor, or shock humor) is humor that deals with topics that may be considered to be in poor taste or vulgar. Many comedic genres (including jokes, prose, poems, black comedy, blue comedy, insult c ...

films that James Stewart did. He also specifically asked that his friend Fonda be cast; they had most recently worked together two years previously in ''

Firecreek ''Firecreek'' is a 1968 American Western film directed by Vincent McEveety and starring James Stewart and Henry Fonda in his second role as an antagonist that year alongside Sergio Leone's ''Once Upon a Time in the West''. The film is similar ...

''. Stewart and Fonda's first film together had been the musical comedy ''

On Our Merry Way ''On Our Merry Way'' is a 1948 American comedy film produced by Benedict Bogeaus and Burgess Meredith and released by United Artists. At the time of its release, King Vidor and Leslie Fenton were credited with its direction, although the DVD list ...

'' (1948), and they had also both appeared in '' How the West Was Won'' (1962) but had no scenes together despite playing best friends. The exteriors were shot at two Western film lots near Santa Fe,

New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Tiguex , OfficialLang = None , Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ker ...

: the Eaves Movie Ranch, which was built for the film, and Bonanza Creek Ranch. The interiors were shot at the Samuel Goldwyn Studios in

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood, ...

. A

novelisation A novelization (or novelisation) is a derivative novel that adapts the story of a work created for another medium, such as a film, TV series, stage play, comic book or video game. Film novelizations were particularly popular before the advent of ...

of the screenplay was written by

Phillip Rock Phillip George Rock (July 30, 1927 - April 3, 2004) was an American actor, author and screenwriter. Biography Phillip Rock was the son of Vitagraph silent film star, producer and director Joe Rock and Australian silent film actress Louise Gran ...

Release

The film had its world premiere in

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the county seat, seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Sal ...

on June 10, 1970. It also opened in Provo and

Ogden, Utah Ogden is a city in and the county seat of Weber County, Utah, United States, approximately east of the Great Salt Lake and north of Salt Lake City. The population was 87,321 in 2020, according to the US Census Bureau, making it Utah's eighth ...

and Boise, Idaho before expanding into

Des Moines Des Moines () is the capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is also the county seat of Polk County. A small part of the city extends into Warren County. It was incorporated on September 22, 1851, as Fort Des Moines, ...

and

Waterloo, Iowa Waterloo is a city in and the county seat of Black Hawk County, Iowa, United States. As of the 2020 United States Census the population was 67,314, making it the eighth-largest city in the state. The city is part of the Waterloo – Cedar Falls ...

and

Omaha, Nebraska Omaha ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Douglas County. Omaha is in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's 39th-largest cit ...

as well as Montana.

Home Media

The film is currently distributed by

Warner Home Video Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Inc. (formerly known as Warner Home Video and WCI Home Video and sometimes credited as Warner Home Entertainment) is the home video distribution division of Warner Bros. It was founded in 1978 as WCI Home Video ...

, with a German DVD release in 2019 by 375 Media.

Reception

''The Cheyenne Social Club'' turned a small profit 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 Out-of-Towners''. In its first five days in 15 theaters in Utah, Idaho, Iowa and Nebraska it grossed $108,622.

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cheyenne Social Club, The 1970 films 1970s English-language films 1970s Western (genre) comedy films American Western (genre) comedy films Films about prostitution in the United States Films directed by Gene Kelly Films scored by Walter Scharf Films set in Wyoming Films shot in Los Angeles Films shot in New Mexico Cinema Center Films films Films set in 1867 1970s historical comedy films American historical comedy films 1970 comedy films 1970s American films