It's incredibly cute to see old friends making movies together. You feel the chemistry on the screen just as strongly as you do when you watch a real-life couple playing husband and wife. Errol Flynn and David Niven held such affection for one another, you could feel the warmth between Bette Davis and Claude Rains even when they were sparring, and James Stewart and Henry Fonda could practically finish each other's sentences. In the opening sequence of The Cheyenne Social Club, they ride their horses from Texas to Wyoming, and Hank talks nonstop the entire time. Finally, Jimmy can't endure any more, and he informs his chatty companion that the current family story had already been told twice. It's very funny.
The premise is also very funny: James Stewart inherits his late brother's estate consisting of one building in Cheyenne. He finds out only after meeting the women boarders that it's a brothel! Can you imagine these 1930s actors thrust into the sexual explicitness of the 1970s? Henry Fonda winds up sleeping with most of the girls throughout the movie, and James Stewart puts his hand on a woman's naked bosom. Welcome to 1970. It's pretty jarring to watch, but hopefully the guys had a lot of fun in their grey-haired years. Although you won't see any grey hair on Hank; he looks significantly younger than he did eight years earlier in Advise & Consent. Still as handsome as ever.
The weak part of the movie is, as you might guess, the brothel. Shirley Jones is the madam (and still participant), and she and her girls are extremely happy with their work. They are cheerful, giggly, and eagerly anticipating their next customers. Highly unrealistic, but this is a light comedy. If you can get past the glorification of prostitution, and you want to see friends getting older but still having fun together, you'll probably like this cute western.
The premise is also very funny: James Stewart inherits his late brother's estate consisting of one building in Cheyenne. He finds out only after meeting the women boarders that it's a brothel! Can you imagine these 1930s actors thrust into the sexual explicitness of the 1970s? Henry Fonda winds up sleeping with most of the girls throughout the movie, and James Stewart puts his hand on a woman's naked bosom. Welcome to 1970. It's pretty jarring to watch, but hopefully the guys had a lot of fun in their grey-haired years. Although you won't see any grey hair on Hank; he looks significantly younger than he did eight years earlier in Advise & Consent. Still as handsome as ever.
The weak part of the movie is, as you might guess, the brothel. Shirley Jones is the madam (and still participant), and she and her girls are extremely happy with their work. They are cheerful, giggly, and eagerly anticipating their next customers. Highly unrealistic, but this is a light comedy. If you can get past the glorification of prostitution, and you want to see friends getting older but still having fun together, you'll probably like this cute western.