Notte di bivacco

There is nothing particularly wrong or bad about "Cheyenne". But, for that matter, there's not all that right or good about it either. It seems just okay in most every way....and I think part of it is because both Dennis Morgan and Jane Wyman seemed a bit out of place in the leads.

When the story begins, professional gambler James Wylie (Morgan) is approached with a proposition....to find 'The Poet' or else! Well, he didn't like the 'or else' so he travels to the next town to look for the identiy of this bandit who has robbed many stage coaches. Along the way, he hooks up with a lady who doesn't particularly like him (Wyman) and eventually he sorts it all out and there is, of course, a happy ending.

Despite being directed by Raoul Walsh, the film seemed a bit long and dull to me. I have a hard time putting my finger on exactly what left me rather cold about this one...but it rarely seemed interesting and long before it was finished I found myself getting bored despite it being a polished Warner Brothers production.

By the way, if you do watch it, at about 89 minutes into the film, a gang jumps on their horses and gives chase. One of the folks giving chase has his hat fly off...but when they catch up to the guy, they all are wearing hats!

There are just enough new era elements in CHEYENNE to keep us interested and titillated, for a "typical" western directed by Raoul Walsh, who had directed his share of them. Well-dressed gentleman Wylie (Dennis Morgan) takes the stage to Cheyenne with Ann Kincaid (Jane Wyman) and Emily Carson (Janis Paige). Wylie's job is to bring in the "poet" robber, who is holding up all the stage coaches even before the regular robbers can get to them. It probably would have been too naughty to show one of the women in the bath, so we see Morgan take a bath in the hot water brought up for Ann. Throughout the film, Wylie and Ann toy with the fact that they may be married (for the inn-keeper's sake)... Also some pretty risqué chit-chat between Kincaid and Wylie. Pretty rough for a movie industry that had been under restrictions for ten years. Beautiful outdoor scenery of Sedona, although it looks like some backdrops were used during filming the chase scenes. There are some good surprises in here to keep things lively. Keep an eye out for Alan Hale senior, who was great in any type of film. He doesn't have a big part, unfortunately, which left him time to make five films in 1947. He made 235 films in less than 40 years... more than 6 films a year. Busy guy. Cheyenne didn't win any Oscars, but Jane Wyman will go on to win one in 1949 for Johhny Belinda.

That's how you supposedly pronounce Cheyenne. Wanted man Dennis Morgan (Jim) is given a second chance by lawman Barton MacLane (Yancey) if Morgan heads to Shy-Anne and leads him to "The Poet" who is robbing stagecoaches. This poet is even upsetting the local bad gang headed up by Arthur Kennedy (Sundance). Every time Sundance pulls a robbery, "The Poet" has beaten him to it and left him a poem in the treasure trunk. Every time. Ha ha. That's pretty cheeky. Anyway, Kennedy wants to team up with this guy and carry out some big hold-ups. Morgan has to find and capture the poet and gets involved with a couple of ladies on the way – Jane Wyman (Ann) and Janis Paige (Emily). You know these two ladies are going to figure in the story just a little more than on that initial stagecoach ride into Shy-Anne….

This film is entertaining and contains a great saloon song – "Going Back to Old Cheyenne" – as sung by Janis Paige. The film leads you through its journey with action, drama, comedy and various set pieces and the overall result is a good western.

Critics like Phil Hardy have tended to dismiss Cheyenne as the least of Walsh's Westerns. My own viewing suggests a reassessment is in order. I saw this movie with another Walsh title, the more highly esteemed Along The Great Divide, just afterwards and was struck by how much more interesting, playful and modern the former appeared. By contrast Divide seemed predictable and more schematic.

The barely concealed sexual nature of much of the banter between hero Dennis Morgan (Wylie) and the two women he encounters - particularly Jane Wyman (Ann) who, for a period, poses as his wife - as well as the episodic nature of the plot is what gives the film its particular flavour today.

Another attraction is that like other Walsh Westerns (Pursued, Colorado Territory etc) noir elements are also prominent in Cheyenne. The overriding tone is cynical and Morgan's own predicament, as a man who has to solve a crime to clear himself of his own past, brings with it a background air of persecution closely related to that other, typically urban, genre. Ann has the air of a femme fatale, while the Sundance Kid (another marvellously laid back performance by Arthur Kennedy) insinuates suitable menace. In fact, I found his demise somewhat surprising as I would normally expect such a strong character to last to the showdown at the end of the film.

One of the most impressive scenes in the film is when Wylie and Ann face the returning robbers in the ramshackle hut they have shared with them the night before. The gunfight that follows is done imaginatively, while Walsh's talent as director are fully on display as he creates suspense through cutting and framing. At this time Wylie and Ann are still carrying on the husband and wife pretence which adds a further level of tension to the proceedings.

If there is a problem with the film it is in the occasional jarring nature of tone. Scenes follow each other that are menacing, flirtatious and comic. This creates a feeling of unease for the viewer that was perhaps deliberate, but the sudden gear change can also just be disconcerting. The musical score is outstanding as is the cinematography and both add immeasurably to the quality of the production.

Dennis Morgan made more impact on me in this film than he ever has before - perhaps because I have never looked out for him in particular. Here he is surprisingly muscular, a worthy foil for the machinations of the chief villain The Poet. The Poet's precise relationship to his wife is one of the most intriguing aspects of the early part of the film. Morgan's own teasing relationship with the two women he meets on the stage (both at the start and again at the conclusion of the film - a nice circular touch) is also interesting and provoking. Far more than the stereotypical Good girl/Bad Girl duality that appears in B-Western plots, the two women represent something more sophisticated and interesting, something that keeps the viewer interested.

This may be a forgotten film today, but if you like Westerns it is one definitely worth making an effort to see. It is not on the level of Walsh's very finest work but is still a good film, one in which the varied plot line and adult 'knowingness'of the leads give great enjoyment.

Maybe if Bruce Bennet had played the Dennis Morgan role and Arthur Kennedy had done Bennet's I would have liked this film better. As it is, it's a bit too cute, cuddly, and rom comey for my taste, especially for a Raoul Walsh Western. Morgan, especially, seems miscast. I guess the producers wanted a charming rogue, the kind of character Gable or Garner coud play in their sleep, but Morgan comes across as just your standard song and dance man (who outsources the songs to Janis Page). You keep expecting Jack Carson to show up with the tuxes and top hats. And while the dialogue from Alan Le May and Thames Williamson has a generous supply of amusing one liners delivered by everyone in the cast the waggishness gets a bit much. I was hoping, for example, for at least some attempt to delve into the ambiguous, interesting Bennet/Jane Wyman relationship, only to be disappointed. And I really hate it when a great actor like Kennedy is consigned, as here, to cliche bad guy roles. Oh well. Paige sure is hot and sassy and Max Steiner's score is rousing (even if he repeats his central theme over and over and over). C plus.

PS...Alan Hale's cowardly sherriff is brought in about 75% of the way through, as if Walsh knew he had a dull dog on his hands and was desperately trying to liven things up.