Details
Movie Description
Jimmy Stewart and Henry Fonda play perfectly off each other in this witty Western comedy. Stewart is John O'Hanlan, a career cowboy who rides to Cheyenne when he learns that his brother has bequeathed him his business there. Fonda is his faithful sidekick, Harley Sullivan, who can't give O'Hanlan a straight answer as to why he has ridden at O'Hanlan's side for the last 10 years. When they finally arrive in Cheyenne, it is only to discover--to O'Hanlan's horror and Sullivan's delight--that the business O'Hanlan has inherited is the popular local cathouse. When O'Hanlan decides to shut the house down, the instant popularity he had enjoyed in Cheyenne turns into a townwide cold shoulder. The cowboy is still determined to become a "man of property," though, and turn the place into a boardinghouse--until his lawyer's revelations and a town bully's actions change his mind. The low-key O'Hanlan gears up for battle and must decide which way his life will blow in the winds of fortune. Shirley Jones heads up the gaggle of lovely working girls O'Hanlan inherits. The film owes much of its appeal to the clever, engaging banter between the dry, ingenuous Stewart and Fonda's charming rake of a cowpoke.
Synopsis
It's titillation on the open range when cowboys John O'Hanlan and Harley Sullivan take over a brothel. Arriving in Cheyenne to run his brother's business, O'Hanlan is unpleasantly surprised to discover that he's become the not-so-proud owner of a cathouse. His attempt to close the joint down results in a major uproar among the men of Cheyenne--and plenty of comic mishaps before these Western boys can ride back into the sunset.
Film Notes
The film was mostly shot on location in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
James Stewart approached Kelly with the idea for the film, as well as the casting of Fonda as his sidekick. Fonda was uninterested until Kelly, who wanted to work with both actors, promised extensive rewrites.
Stewart's stepson had recently been killed in Vietnam, and the actor was troubled by grief during the shoot. Kelly was attentive and considerate of him throughout filming.
True to form, before filming began, Kelly did extensive research on branding cows, saddling horses, etc., and about the period in which the movie was set--1867.
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