Many people have felt that Jar-Jar Binks was one of the most awful and annoying sidekicks in movie history. While I definitely agree, memories of Jar-Jar were conjured up as I watched an old B-western--"The Phantom Cowboy". Why? Well, because Pete (Jimmy Aubrey) was so incredibly loud, over-acted and just plain irritating!! In a way, however, he is a blessing as his horrible acting makes the rest of the horrible acting a little less obvious.
As for the leading man, Ted Wells, he had a minor handicap that soon became apparent--he simply could not act. Again and again, he delivers his dialog like he's reading it off cue cards. There is practically no emotion behind it and his delivery is completely flat. As a result, he has the charisma of a Kleenex. To make things worse, he plays dual roles--so you get a double-dose of incompetent acting. Even for a super low-budget B, his and the rest of the acting is simply dreadful--and worse than an Ed Wood film! As far as the plot goes, I actually had a hard time paying attention to it because I was just fixated on the bad acting. However, the story is about some idiot (Ted Wells) riding around with a cape wrapped around his face and robbing stages. The way he looked was actually pretty funny--and reminiscent of the dentist who pretended he was Bela Lugosi in "Plan 9 From Outer Space" when Lugosi died part-way through the production! Later, he meets a cowboy (also Ted Wells) and his moronic friend (Aubrey) and they have some sort of dull adventure or whatever...
The bottom line is that I am apparently a person that will watch almost anything (with almost 10000 reviews to my credit) and love low-budget B-films. So, if I think it's a dreadful film than that should say something! Frankly, I can't think of anything positive to say about this full film make by rank amateurs. Well, other than it's great for the laughs it unintentionally elicits! For example, watching characters reading their lines poorly and the fake mustache at about 13 minutes into the film--they are pretty hilarious!
As for the leading man, Ted Wells, he had a minor handicap that soon became apparent--he simply could not act. Again and again, he delivers his dialog like he's reading it off cue cards. There is practically no emotion behind it and his delivery is completely flat. As a result, he has the charisma of a Kleenex. To make things worse, he plays dual roles--so you get a double-dose of incompetent acting. Even for a super low-budget B, his and the rest of the acting is simply dreadful--and worse than an Ed Wood film! As far as the plot goes, I actually had a hard time paying attention to it because I was just fixated on the bad acting. However, the story is about some idiot (Ted Wells) riding around with a cape wrapped around his face and robbing stages. The way he looked was actually pretty funny--and reminiscent of the dentist who pretended he was Bela Lugosi in "Plan 9 From Outer Space" when Lugosi died part-way through the production! Later, he meets a cowboy (also Ted Wells) and his moronic friend (Aubrey) and they have some sort of dull adventure or whatever...
The bottom line is that I am apparently a person that will watch almost anything (with almost 10000 reviews to my credit) and love low-budget B-films. So, if I think it's a dreadful film than that should say something! Frankly, I can't think of anything positive to say about this full film make by rank amateurs. Well, other than it's great for the laughs it unintentionally elicits! For example, watching characters reading their lines poorly and the fake mustache at about 13 minutes into the film--they are pretty hilarious!