Customer Reviews

The Cheyenne Social Club / Firecreek

5 star:		(25)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Henry Fonda and Jimmie Stewart were two of the greatest, most versatile, actors of the Golden Age of movies. Unfortunately, some people tend to dismiss Jimmy Stewart as a somewhat lightweight actor because of the low-key aw-shucks acting style he used in some of his early movies. But, after his service as a bomber pilot in WWII, Stewart's performances toughened up considerably, as his performance in Firecreek clearly shows. Henry Fonda, on the other hand, was an oustanding and highly versatile actor throughout his entire career and, in retrospect, may well have been THE greatest movie actor ever. The two quite different movies on this DVD -- the brutal western Firecreek and the superbly-comedic somewhat-bawdy western The Cheyenne Social Club -- illustrate Fonda's incredible ability to completely assume whatever role he portrayed without any hint of acting. Unfortunately Henry Fonda and Jimmie Stewart, despite being close friends, made few movies together. This DVD presents these two legendary actors together in two excellent, but entirely different, westerns. My personal favorite of the two movies presented on this DVD is The Cheyenne Social Club, perhaps because I prefer comedy to violence, and perhaps because it allows these real-life friends to portray friends rather than implacable enemies as in Firecreek. But whichever western genre you prefer, you will not see better actors or better performances than presented in these contrasting movies.

FIRECREEK This is a profound and deeply moving film! Its simple plot incorporates the timeless and very important message that we ought to take a stand in this world! "The day a man decides not to face the world is the day he better step out of it!"

Jimmy Stewart is Johnny Cobb, a farmer and a part-time sheriff of Firecreek and Henry Fonda is Larkin, a hired killer, who passes through the town with his gang. Both men do not take seriously their leadership roles until a tragic incident forces them to meet in a deadly fight. Larkin wants to prove that he is somebody important. It is a question of Honor for Johnny Cobb. On the streets of this small town, where nothing significant ever happens, one man will find his death, another his pride!

Beautiful music score, impressive cast of talented actors and James Stewart delivers one of his most powerful and most brilliant performances ever! He portrays with splendid grace Cobb's dramatic transformation from a laid back and placid farmer to a brave and proud man! Great film!

THE CHAYENNE SOCIAL CLUB I love this western! Watching it was such a refreshing experience! I didn't stop laughing, just couldn't help myself!

Two real-life friends, Jimmy Stewart and Henry Fonda are friends on screen. John O'Hanlan/Jimmy inherits "Social" Club that comes with six beautiful working girls, who need his protection. All kinds of dangerous situations occur and both John O'Hanlan/Stewart &Harley Sullivan/Fonda risk their lives to save the girls. There is something for everyone in here: love, romance, betrayal, hilarious action packed scenes and loads of fresh, healthy humour! You'll even hear Jimmy Stewart &Henry Fonda sing and they sound pretty good too!

Nice Anamorphic transfer. The extras include theatrical trailer and documentary on the making of the movie with short commentary by Jimmy Stewart, Henry Fonda and Gene Kelly.

This western double feature disk is worth every penny

The Cheyenne Social Club is a bitter sweet comedy. Stewart inherited a brothel froma deceased brother. Fonda is his saddle buddy who comes alonmg with him. The madam of house is played by Shirley Jones. Stewart finds it hard to manage the ladies. Comedy with western action ensues

FireCreek pits Stewart as farmer/part time Sheriff against gunfighter Fonda with his gang (Gary Lockwood. Jack Elam) who preys upon the small town and its citzens. It has a High Noon-que quality, but seem more sadistic for my taste. It is tend for now, but in the 1970s when this film came out, it was rated M for mature

Both westerns showcase the talents of Fonda and Stewart and these are worth your time

Bennet Pomerantz AUDIOWORLD

This disk contains two westerns, both staring Jimmy Stewart and Henry Fonda. The pair works well together in very different roles.

The first is a comedy and the second is a drama. In the first they are buddies, in the second they are enemies. In both, they are splendid.

Individual reviews appear below:

THE CHEYENNE SOCIAL CLUB
This One's a Hoot

Jimmy Stewart and Henry Fonda play a couple of cowboys working on the range. When Stewart gets a letter he is surprised to learn that his bother has died and left him his business. It is a placed called the Cheyenne Social Club. So it is that Stewart and his sidekick, Fonda, set out for Wyoming with the expectation of becoming respectable business men.

Upon arrival, Stewart learns that he is the most popular and respected man in town. He also learns that his social club is a brothel. This strikes him as not being "in his line of work" and he determines to close the place down. That takes him from being the most respected to the most reviled man in town. He has some hard decisions to make and even more trouble appears when he learns that there are contractual agreements between his shop and the railroad. Things get more complicated still when he learns that there are some ruffians roughing up some of his girls.

Stewart is just a nice guy trying to do the "right thing". Eventually, he does...much to his own surprise.


FIRECREEK
Sometimes the Little Guys Win

This is another pairing of Jimmy Stewart and Henry Fonda in a western.

Stewart plays a farmer, respected by his peers and given the honorary title of sheriff in his town. The tile also comes with a home made tin badge and 20 dollars. It is a sign of esteem and nothing more.

Fonda plays the leader of a group of gunmen with vague notions about law and order. When passing through town, they decide to stop there a little while and rest. Nobody really minds that but they do object to being treated like vermin by the gunmen who get a bit wild when they drink. Fonda does not really approve of what they do but is reluctant to come down on them too hard for fear of alienating them. That means that it is up to the sheriff to keep order.

Keeping order is a hard job. He is not trained and he is certainly no gunfighter. He is just a farmer. The townspeople encourage him just to ignore things in the hope that the bad guys will eventually go away. All are frightened. When a friend is lynched, though, Stewart decides that enough is enough and takes on the whole gang.

This is one of those films in which the little guy manages to stand up to the bully, survive and even win. It comes at a cost, though.

Firecreek probably wouldn't stand a chance in today's market - it's a film dominated by old men with a script that's a very slow burner. Indeed, it's not until the superb last half hour that the film really starts punching its weight. For much of the film, Henry Fonda's gang of hired guns who drift into the one-dog town of Firecreek are more annoyance than genuine threat, but with each incident defused only by a display of anything-for-a-quiet life weakness from the townsfolk and James Stewart's part-time sheriff, violence is inevitable. What is surprising are the character revelations en route: every single character who drifts into this waste basket for lost souls is a wholly inadequate human being in one way or another. Fonda is quietly impressive as a man who can only maintain the authority he needs to stop him from being a nobody by giving in to his gang's wishes to prevent them replacing him. Stewart at first seems too old for the part, but as the film progresses his casting makes more and more sense: as Dean Jagger points out in the film's best scene, this is a town of losers, people who'll settle for what nobody else wants because they know no-one will challenge them for it. Or as Gary Lockwood's young gun puts it, "Ain't nothin' in this town five dollars won't fix." Surprisingly good, and much better directed by Vincent McEveety than you'd expect from a director who spent most of his career commuting between Disney comedies and TV shows.

The DVD has a good 2.35:1 widescreen transfer but the only extra is the original trailer.

Stewart and Fonda's subsequent Western teaming is an altogether more comic affair. The Cheyenne Social Club is a brothel that Stewart's staunchly Republican cowpoke inherits from his wastrel brother, much to his discomfort and the delight of his garrulous sidekick Fonda, who displays a surprising gift for comedy that easily outshines his co-star. It's more cosy than risqué and Gene Kelly's direction is more professional than inspired, but it's a pleasant enough amble even if the jokes are slight and run out somewhere around the one hour mark.

The 2.35:1 transfer is good, but despite sharing the same cinematographer the look of the film is much softer. Extras are the original trailer and a brief vintage behind the scenes short.

Unlike many movies made today, The Cheyenne Social Club and Firecreek pit two veteran actors whose consummate skill and ability to tell a story makes special effects unnecessary-the quality of the story and the acting carry both movies.

Both films feature great supporting casts, and Fonda and Stewart show why they qualify as screen legends in every scene. Cheyenne Social Club features Stewart as John O'Hanlon and Fonda as Harley Sullivan, two rough and tumble veteran Texas cowboys whose lives revolve around endless cattle drives and the stoic and simple life on the open range of the West.

O'Hanlon's brother D.J. dies and leaves him as the sole owner/proprietor of the Cheyenne Social Club, the most notorious brothel in the wild west. Fonda tags along for the ride as Stewart rides the 1000 mile journey to claim his inheritance. The men of Cheyenne consider the Social Club as a hallowed and precious shrine. O'Hanlon is shocked to discover the real meaning of his inheritance and announces to the madam, artfully played by Shirley Jones, and her bevy of beautiful women that he intends to close the brothel and open a respectable boarding house in it's place.

The firestorm against O'Hanlon by the townspeople and his employees begins a tour de force comedy romp with the befuddled Stewart trying to weather the storm while Sullivan watches bemused from the sidelines. This movie features two veteran actors and a superb supporting cast at their very best. The sex is suggested rather than "in your face" like today's movies, but gets the sexual points across gracefully without being crude, graphic or clumsy.

The end result of O'Hanlon's adventure is a classic cautionary tale of being careful what you wish for-you just might get it! The movie is bittersweet, ironic, and emotional without being maudlin, and shows why these stars from the golden age of Hollywood films set the standard for great acting and class performances.

While Fonda and Stewart give great performances in Firecreek, I find this movie to be rather Hollywood formula and too close to "High Noon" in the concept of the story. But, if you love Fonda and Stewart as actors, it's hard not to like how these legendary actors tell the story, as rivals pitted against each other on opposite sides of the law. The problem is not the actors, but the story they have been given has been done before. So they have little room to breathe fresh life and a new perspective into a basic formula western.

What Stewart does so well is make you sympathetic and willing to support his underdog character. He must use his wit and grit to overcome evil men and seemingly insurmountable odds, a classic position for Stewart in so many movies. Fonda gives a credible performance as the "bad-guy", but his performance in that type of role in such classics as "Once Upon A time in the West" gave him a better vehicle to explore his turn as an evil and criminal man with no scruples and little compassion.

It's a lesser known flick with Henry Fonda and Jimmy Stewart. If you like westerns, if you like comedy, and you particularly like Fonda and Stewart, you'll have a tough time NOT liking this movie. Shirley Jones is a madam of a brothel Jimmy Stewart inherits. Think of it - the "honest-to-a-fault" Jimmy Stewart, surprise owner of a brothel. The premise alone is funny!

I was very impressed with the quality of the product and the speed with which it was delivered.

Cheyenne Social Club is a Classic buddy western that puts to of Hollywood's best together and tells a wonderfully funny and edgy for it's time story. I highly recommend this film. Firecreek is not as well known and not as well told of a story. It's a fare film but much appreciated attachment on this DVD. This double feature is worth having in your library.

This was a great purchase, loved the movies, oldies but goodies are the very best. I will certanly purchase movies here again