Chad Hanna Reviews

This was the third picture Fonda starred in which was made from one of the Walter Edmonds stories. Edmonds loved to write about upstate New York (DRUMS ALONG THE MOHAWK and THE FARMER TAKES A WIFE). In this adaptation of "Red Wheels Rolling" Fonda is the gofer in a tavern when he falls for Lamour, the curvaceous bareback rider in a traveling circus which has come to the small New York town. It's 1841 and the tacky circus is one of those tired groups that plays two or three days in each town, then moves on. Fonda is so taken by Lamour that he joins the circus as a roustabout. Also joining the circus is gorgeous Darnell who is escaping the tiny town of Canastota to get out of the clutches of her overbearing father, Howlin. Darnell becomes Lamour's understudy, and things go along fairly well until circus owner Kibbee is warned by a rival, North, to keep away from the towns where North's circus performs. North offers Lamour a raise, and she takes off with the bounder. There's a physical battle between the two circuses and Kibbee is hurt, so guess who becomes the ringmaster? Fonda falls in love with and marries Darnell, but when the circus's main attraction, a lion, dies, Kibbee blames Fonda, who reacts by abandoning the circus and his wife to join North's group. Fonda doesn't realize that Darnell is pregnant when he departs in a huff. Once with the rival circus, he almost has an affair with Lamour but stops just short of it when he realizes how much he loves Darnell. Kibbee has now recovered and attempts to put on his circus without the lion. The result is chaos as a group of thugs gets rowdy and is about to tear the place apart. (This scene is never fully motivated.) The day is saved when Fonda arrives astride a huge elephant. He has promised the behemoth's owner a one-quarter share in the circus in return for the beast. The picture ends with the circus making money and Fonda and Darnell making a life for themselves. If nothing else, CHAD HANNA appears to be an accurate depiction of 19th-century America and has its moments. The picture made little noise at the box office.