The Cheyenne Social Club

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The Cheyenne Social Club

The Cheyenne Social Club movie cover
Directed by Gene Kelly
Produced by James Lee Barrett
Gene Kelly
Written by James Lee Barrett
Starring James Stewart
Henry Fonda
Music by Walter Scharf
Distributed by National General Pictures
Warner Bros.
Release date(s) June 12, 1970
Running time 103 minutes
Language English
IMDb profile

The Cheyenne Social Club is a 1970 Western comedy film written by James Lee Barrett and directed and produced by Gene Kelly. The film stars James Stewart, Henry Fonda, and Shirley Jones. The film was one of the few off-color ventures for Stewart, who specifically suggested Fonda be cast in the supporting role.

Filmed at the Bonanza Creek Ranch and Eaves Movie Ranch outside Santa Fe, New Mexico (exteriors), and at the Samuel Goldwyn Studios in Hollywood, California (interiors).

[edit] Plot

In 1867 John O'Hanlan (James Stewart) is an aging cowboy, working for little money with his friend Harley Sullivan (Henry Fonda), on the open cattle range in Texas. He gets a letter from a lawyer in Cheyenne, Wyoming that his long-lost brother, D.J., is dead and has left him an inheritance. O'Hanlan and Sullivan take a 1,000 miles (1,609 km) journey so John can claim his brother's estate. To his dismay, he finds out he has inherited the finest brothel in the West, the Cheyenne Social Club. O'Hanlan has ideas about changing the brothel into a respectable boarding house. But, the townspeople and the ladies of the social club have other ideas, and from there the comedy ensues.

[edit] Reception

The Cheyenne Social Club was relatively tame for its time. The film was a minor success, but didn't receive a degree of notoriety until later with numerous cable television broadcasts. The Cheyenne Social Club was poorly received by critics and failed to achieve major success at the box office. James Lee 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.

[edit] Cast

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