In Old Cheyenne (1941) User Reviews

Is There A New Cheyenne?

[boblipton · 6/10 · 7 September 2021]

Roy Rogers is a New York reporter out to Wyoming t o do a story on the dread outlaw Arapahoe Brown. Joan Woodbury is a Spanish senorita visiting the wild west. Actually, they are both Wyoming natives, and so they hit it off. While Roy is pursuing his story, he is saved by Gabby Hayes, who turns out to be the maligned Arapahoe, and so we are off to the races.

It's not one of the best Roy Rogers B vehicles, filled, as it is, with things like a hand holding a gun, poing through a window, and a shortage of songs. Even so, it hangs together, and there are the pleasures of performers like Sally Payne and J. Farrell MacDonald. Rogers starred in eight movies for Republic in 1941. Some had to be better than others, and this is still entertaining.

up to standard

[KDWms · 5/10 · 24 April 2003]

I guess I'm too questioning to give most movies high grades. In this one, for example: Okay - Roy was born in Wyoming but now he's a New York reporter, sent back home to do a story on the discord between cattlemen and homesteaders. He mustn't have been away long, 'cause he sure hasn't lost any of his excellent horsemanship; or even his ability to call a square dance. Well, if that's all that makes you raise your eyebrows, then this is at least up to standard. Gabby Hayes is here: Accused of being responsible for much more nefariousness than is correct: Somebody else was actually doing all of those bad things and HE was getting implicated, as Roy learns. The object of their efforts is to expose the PROPER party, using - among other tools - a Cheyenne newspaper. Typical, early 40s, b-&-w, one-hour western.

"Oh well, he is a disbelievin', ungrateful, low down lunkheaded no-good, but he's dressed nice".

[classicsoncall · 6/10 · 6 November 2010]

"In Old Cheyenne" is a refreshingly quick paced Roy Rogers adventure, somewhat unusual in that even though Gabby Hayes is on hand, the comic relief is supplied by his character's frisky daughter, 'Squeak' Brown (Sally Payne). That's her comment in my summary line above, delivered right after she meets Steve Blane (Rogers), and lassos him into attending the local square dance. Not to be outdone though, did you catch that gun twirl Gabby performs right about the same time? Wow! - there's a talent that he should have displayed more often in the Westerns he appeared in; it was so quick it was hard to follow - even when I did a quick rewind to catch it a few more times.

Now here's something I was thinking about as the story progressed. Roy's character is a newspaper reporter from New York, who about half way through the story transforms into a life long cowboy, what with his riding and shooting skills. How exactly did that happen? Granted, it's mentioned he was born in Wyoming and later moved East, but still, you don't shoot a gun out of someone's hand without practice.

As for the story, it's one of your typical 'get the goods' on the bad guy who's out to force local ranchers off of their properties. The hook here is that villain Sam Drummond (George Rosener) is using his henchmen to cause general mayhem, while blaming it all on a desperado who's well known by name but rarely seen - Arapaho Brown (that's Gabby). Actually that one had me scratching my head too, because Gabby's character seemed fairly well recognized by everyone, but nobody knows his name. Particularly since Drummond himself had his goons knock off Brown's former employer twenty years earlier.

Oh well, these stories didn't have to make a lot of sense back in the day for a less discerning audience. I get over the nonsense pretty quickly as well, as Roy is my favorite cowboy star of the era. If you keep a sharp eye, you'll catch another East Sider (counting Roy as one here), Billy Bendict, in that role as the train vendor. Did he have anything you'd want or what?

Notwithstanding my summary quote, best line of the picture goes to uncredited Fern Emmett as Miss Smith, who upon meeting Roy's character for the first time exclaims - "Land o' Goshen, and me with a face full of nails"! You'll just have to see it.

Pretty Good Early Roy Rogers Feature

[Snow Leopard · 29 May 2002]

As one of the earlier Roy Rogers features, the emphasis of "In Old Cheyenne" is on action, and there is plenty of it. The story and cast are pretty good, with Roy as a reporter (from New York, of all places) sent to Wyoming to get the story on a series of holdups and other outrages being led by a notorious criminal. Gabby Hayes has one of his cantankerous old-timer roles, Joan Woodbury is a singer whom Roy befriends, and J. Farrell McDonald plays the singer's father. There are also plenty of bad guys around, and a couple of interesting developments as you find out what everyone is up to. It moves quickly, and works well as light entertainment.

A shoot 'em up war between the cattlemen and the settlers.

[weezeralfalfa · 7/10 · 15 March 2019]

Supposed to be a war between Wyoming cattlemen and settlers over land. But, it mostly comes across as a shoot'em up war between a single cattle baron(George Rosener,as Sam Drummond) and the settlers, who mass together to defeat the baron's hired guns. .......Roy, as Steve Blane, has journeyed all the way from NYC to report on this conflict for the NY Tribune. He was chosen for this assignment because he grew up in this region, thus can ride horses and shoot firearms at least as well as the current inhabitants. I never did see a cow nor a crop, but I did see lots of trails through rough country, and the town........Skipping ahead to the ending, after Drummond's gang is subdued, Roy decides to stay in Cheyenne, as the new editor of the local newspaper. The previous editor: Tim Casey, an older gentleman, was badly wounded by a gang six shooter, as he took a decided bias against the cattlemen. He is now relegated to being the printer: a less strenuous job than being editor. What really peeved the cattlemen was his headline in large print "Sam Drummond plans bloody invasion of James County(a settler stronghold) with an army of hired killers". You can see why he was shot! Casey has a daughter(Joan Woodbury) variously know as Della Casey or Doloris Casino. Sometimes she is called one, and sometimes the other, which I find confusing. Her mother is Spanish and her father American. She speaks English with a Latino accent, and is a professional dancer. She is also good looking. We get to see a sample of her Spanish dancing at a party, with Roy singing. Good. Della and Roy got acquainted on the train to Cheyenne. In fact, in the parting scene, Roy makes an oblique marriage proposal. She's hardly the tomboy that Gabby's daughter 'Squeak' (Sally Payne) is. Sally was included in many R.R. films in this era, always as a potential wife or girlfriend for Roy, but very seldom achieving that status. She's usually cast as bubbly extrovert daughter of Gabby. But, she's deficient in schooling and culture, which seems to be a turn off for Roy. She's also usually not as pretty as Roy's choice of a girlfriend. Standing next to Della, she exclaims " I can stand losing you(Roy), but, shucks, why does she have to be so goldurn purdy?"........ While Roy and Della were on the train, Drummond's gang staged a hold up(I thought they were supposed to target only settlers?). When Davidge, who is the leader, is about to exit the coach, he encounters the conductor, who is selling various goodies. Davidge asks how much the gumdrops are? "10 cents". So, he digs into his pocket and pulls out 2 nickels, and takes the packet of gumballs! Irony! .........Something that often confused me: Gabby is nicknamed Arapahoe, who is supposed to be the leader of the cattlemen gangs. But, obviously he isn't. In fact, he belongs with the settlers, and sometimes shoots at the cattlemen...........If you like a lot of shooting, horse chases, ambushes, not a lot of music, but some dancing, and input by young women, this should satisfy you.

Likable Roy Rogers Adventure

[FightingWesterner · 7/10 · 13 May 2010]

New York reporter Roy Rogers comes to Cheyenne to write a series of articles about a local band of outlaws and ends up being targeted by the gang. Nevertheless, Roy still finds time to romance a pretty senorita and escort Gabby Hayes' hayseed daughter to a dance.

Although Roy hasn't quite hit his stride yet and the script is a little typical, this one is pretty fast-paced, with plenty of action - definitely a pleasant enough way to spend an hour.

An exciting climax features plenty of gun-play and a flaming stagecoach dropped on a house - quite refreshing considering that in a few of the other early Roy Rogers vehicles hardly a gun is drawn.

Enjoyable entertainment--and pretty much what you'd expect from a Roy Rogers film.

[planktonrules · 6/10 · 6 September 2012]

Joan Woodbury's accent is a bit lame--why did they force her in this sort of role? reporter In an odd sort of role, Roy Rogers plays a reporter from New York who has traveled to Wyoming to write a story about the lawless land. However, although he's been told that the problem is a cantankerous old man named Arapaho Brown (Gabby Hayes), the real problem is the usual rich boss-man (Drummond) who plans on using his gang of hired thugs to force everyone out of the county. Along the way to help Roy in his investigations is J. Farrell MacDonald (a fine old character actor) and two really annoying women. The worst of these was played by Joan Woodbury--whose Spanish accent was laughably bad. However, despite her bad acting (and it was bad), the film is a typically good Rogers outing--not brilliant but breezy and enjoyable. Another plus that helped the film's pacing was that the number of musical numbers was reasonable--not jam-packed with song after song like a few of his movies. Worth your time.

Catch The Girlies

[dougdoepke · 31 July 2022]

That opening sequence in the railroad car is unusual for an oater. It's almost sparkling in an unexpected way, thanks to a lively Woodbury, a handsome Rogers, and a clever script. Anyway, there's more shooting in this hour's runtime than in WWII, but nobody falls no matter what. It's almost like they're shooting cap-pistols. For sure, I don't expect hard-nosed realism in a matinee oater, but this one really goes overboard in that key regard. Then too, maybe you can follow the plot, I couldn't, what with all the twists, turns and impersonations crammed in a short 60-minutes.

All in all, for me, the flick's mainly a personality western thanks to actresses Woodbury, and a feisty Payne who can cowgirl and sidle up to Roy with the best of them. And shouldn't forget crusty old Gabby, who's more here than just a funny sidekick. In fact, the flick has a number of lighter moments even with the baddies. So, despite the drawbacks, there are compensations for a front-row geezer like me.