Border Phantom

Entomologist Frank Ball is bughunting near the Mexican border. He tells his niece, Harley Wood, to take a message in to sheriff Horace Murphy. As Miss Wood goes to her horse, she hears a shot and rushes back to find her uncle dead. Soon she finds herself in jail under suspicion of murder. Can wandering cowboy Bob Steele and comic sidekick Don Barclay untangle the mystery?

Bob Steele's westerns were a lot slicker now that they were being financed and released by Republic Pictures, and there's little doubt that director S. Roy Luby, whose other job was editor, knew how to order the set-ups for under-rated cameraman Jack Greenhaigh efficiently. The problem is with the script by Fred Myton, who had been writing silents and B movies since 1916. Steele was an action star, whose athletic and acrobatic movements had been well served by direction by his father, Robert Bradbury. In this one, he has to spend most of his time talking. He doesn't even get into a fistfight with anyone until 51 minutes into the movie, and then all the action shots are chopped up by cross-cutting.

Myton's script also uses standard tropes: dumb cops, mysterious Orientals who dress in traditional Chinese garb in the middle of the American desert... with changes of costumes the whole movie could have been shifted to an urban setting with little loss. While the actors give good performances, and that's nice, that's not what's supposed to distinguish westerns; good westerns, even B westerns, require open vistas, horses, action and more of the culture that makes the West different from downtown than a comic sidekick wearing chaps.

Border Phantom (1937)

** (out of 4)

Barbara (Harley Wood) is taking care of her horse when she hears a gunshot. It turns out her uncle was murdered and soon afterwards she's arrested for the crime. Luckyly for her, Larry O'Day (Bob Steele) and his partner Lucky Smith (Don Barclay) are around and try to clear her name.

This low-budget Western is certainly one of the strangest that you're going to see. It turns out that there's a major subplot dealing with mail order brides so I'm sure parents had some explaining to do to their kids after this one was over! If you're looking for a well- made movie then you're obviously not going to find it here. As we know, the main goal of a "C" Western like this was to just get something up on the screen for cheap.

The biggest problem with this movie is the fact that the screenwriter threw all sorts of comedy into the mix and it's just not that funny. The worst part is the dumb sheriff who is rather obnoxious in how blindly stupid he is. Steele and Barclay give the type of performances you'd expect from them. The supporting cast are all pretty bad performance wise. The one thing going good for BORDER PHANTOM is some camera-work during night time scenes where it seems it was influenced by the German films of the previous decade.

Border Phantom stars Bob Steele who when he was a B movie Cowboy hero, I always got the impression he was trying to be a James Cagney out west. Steele was a short man like Cagney and always played it with a chip on his shoulder.

Republic did not do right by it Mr. Steele at least in this one. I guess that after Gene Autry and Roy Rogers the other cowboy heroes got the leavings. This was definitely a story need not to have been filmed as Bob Steele puts an end to of all things, a racket involving arranged Chinese marriages. Who'd a thunk it.

Bob Steele was certainly capable of better things, just see him in The Big Sleep. And he was always great as a villain like in The Big Sleep or South of St. Louis with Joel McCrea.

He should have concentrated there instead of making these forgettable oaters.

BORDER PHANTOM has been rerun of late on GRIT Network, where I caught it after many years. However, it's long been out on vhs and dvd. That said, I agree with several reviewers that it's a strange vehicle for a star as big as Bob Steele.

First and foremost, these films were made for a quick buck; the studio and for the star, and promptly disgarded. However, this film, which actually is a modern day western, has Steele surrounded by some not too bright badges, a murder investigation involving a dead man's niece and a smuggling operation. There is also less action here, which could have made up for the rest as Bob Steele was a two-fisted hero, much in the style of Tom Mix and Buck Jones.

The only plus is the director saw fit to photograph some fairly good outdoor scenes, when Steele finally gets onto a horse. That probably sums up most B-westerns of this period, the outdoor footage, generally lensed in the upper desert of southern California, the more remote and scenic the better. The western units (and there were so many of them in Hollywood at the time), had the very best on location sites at their disposal, and if they chose wisely, could profit handsomely by working a few days inside a cheap studio and the rest outdoors.

I gave this 5 stars only because of Bob Steele, a cinematic western icon and the on location work. For film completists. You be the judge. Re-issued on dvd and also in box sets with other western features and/or a collection of Steele's films.

Fast-moving Steele programmer. Then too, what other oater of that time or any time features a hog farm, "entomologists", and girls in wooden barrels. Okay, maybe it's not the best Steele entry, but it does have its points. Then again, maybe you can figure out the plot, something about bug fanciers and girl smugglers, but who cares. Good guys, bad guys, and a cute girl are enough for front-row geezers like me. Here it's the sweet-faced Harley Wood giving us a break from the ugly guys. There's lots of hard riding and flying fists, but little fast shooting but that's okay since nobody aims anyway. Then too the action never leaves LA's really un-scenic scrublands. But please, Mr. Producer, bring back Gabby Hayes or even Andy Devine because the comic relief is from a guy, Don Barclay, who's about as funny as a lump of coal that he somehow resembles. Now Steele may not be an iconic Wayne or Eastwood, but his small frame's about as energetic and convincing as the bigger guys. Too bad we don't get more of his hard-eyed stares here. I think he could go toe-to-toe with Eastwood in a steely stare down, any time. All in all, the hour's a decent programmer that has its oddities and never drags, so give it a try.