Product Details

• Actors: James Stewart, Henry Fonda, Shirley Jones, Sue Ane Langdon, Elaine Devry
• Directors: Gene Kelly
• Writers: James Lee Barrett, Davis Grubb
• Producers: Gene Kelly, James Lee Barrett
• Format: Color, HiFi Sound, NTSC
• Rated: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Warner Home Video
• VHS Release Date: April 27, 1994
• Run Time: 103 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6301691695
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #104,365 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

This 1970 film teams director Gene Kelly with two veteran Hollywood actors in a light romp about two over-the-hill cowboys who inherit a bordello. Henry Fonda and James Stewart dusted off their spurs to team up in this appealing if formulaic western comedy. The two Hollywood legends play aging cowpokes who seem to do nothing but get on each other's nerves as they travel aimlessly through the West. They finally hang their hats at a new home--Stewart's newly acquired bordello, presided over by Shirley Jones. Theirs is an uneasy alliance, as they set up shop and have to deal with the women and their needs. There are some light comic moments as director Gene Kelly keeps everything breezy, so that even the obligatory gunfight at the film's end isn't what one would expect. This is not a classic on the order of other Westerns featuring Stewart and Fonda, but a chance to see two old pros spoofing their own legendary careers and having some fun in the process. --Robert Lane

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Stewart's Timing and Fonda's Wit, November 26, 2002

By 

"mykarenina" (St. Louis, MO United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Cheyenne Social Club [VHS] (VHS Tape)

Jimmy Stewart and Henry Fonda provide more than a few laughs in the Gene Kelly-directed film "The Cheyenne Social Club." John O'Hanlan (Stewart) and Harley Sullivan (Fonda) are longtime friends and dungy cowboys who set off across the West to O'Hanlan's newly inherited business: a bordello in Wyoming. There they encounter a brood full of women lead by Shirley Jones (of Partridge Family fame). Thus begins a comic romp through the lighter side of the Old West.

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.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A little Risque for it's time....and Great fun!, July 13, 2005

By 

A. Sloan (Cary, NC) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Cheyenne Social Club [VHS] (VHS Tape)

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 risqué 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.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Enjoyable western., October 1, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Cheyenne Social Club [VHS] (VHS Tape)

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.