A pretty good crime caper played like a screwball comedy dressed up as a Western might best describe CHEYENNE (1947), Johnny D. Boggs’s choice for this latest Western Night session.
Slick gambler Jim Wylie (Dennis Morgan) gets the choice of prison time or ferreting out who’s been robbing stagecoaches of their strong boxes filled with money out Wyoming way. The slippery robber, known as “The Poet,” leaves a taunting note inside each empty strong box. Could it be Emily Carson (Janis Page), the sassy new saloon singer, or Ann Kincaid (Jane Wyman), who’s full of secrets? Or maybe Ed Landers (Bruce Bennett), a Wells Fargo inspector, is the culprit. It also might be the viscous Sundance Kid (Arthur Kennedy), who says he can’t figure out how The Poet keeps beating him and his gang to the money.
Shifting identities and some unexpected complications play intriguing parts in the screenplay by Alan Le May (best known for his novel THE SEARCHERS) and Thames Williamson, as do dialogue exchanges such as when Wylie tells Ann, “I can’t figure it out. You’re half devil and half angel.” Ann replies, “Most women are, Jim. That’s the sugar in the coffee.”
Director Raoul Walsh, whose credits include gritty gangster films (WHITE HEAT) and noirish Westerns (COLORADO TERRITORY), keeps things moving at a fast clip. The film is also aided by Sidney Hickox’s crisp black-and-white cinematography. One drawback, though, is that most of the moving stagecoach sequences are flogged by the irritating overuse of a bombastic music cue.
With a running time of 99 minutes, CHEYENNE is available on Amazon Prime and DVD.
Along with Johnny Boggs, record nine-time Spur Award-winning author and Owen Wister Award winner whose work includes his latest, BLOODY NEWTON, our group includes Kirk Ellis, Emmy winning screenwriter and producer, as well as author of the book RIDE LONESOME about the production, themes and historical relevance of the classic Ranown Western films starring Randolph Scott and directed by Budd Boetticher, Kirk’s wife, Sheila, David Morrell, award-winning author and New York Times best-selling author of FIRST BLOOD, the novel that introduced the character Rambo, and Robert Nott, award-winning journalist and author of several books on Western films, including his most recent RIDE THE HIGH COUNTRY that examines the production, themes and legacy of the film that launched Sam Peckinpah’s career.