The Phantom Cowboy (1941)
Director:
George Sherman
Writer:
Doris Schroeder (original screenplay)
Stars:
Don 'Red' Barry, Virginia Carroll, Milburn Stone
There's a surprising lack of phyisical action in Phantom Cowboy, requiring star Don "Red" Barry to carry the picture through sheer force of personality. Barry plays a ranch hand named Lawrence, one of several heirs to the estate of a wealthy landowner. Resenting the presence of the other heirs, villains Borden (Milburn Stone) and Jeffers (Rex Lease) scheme to rid the world of their competition, with Borden intending to wed the dead man's daughter (Virginia Carroll) as icing on the cake. Their plans are thwarted by a masked avenger known only as El Lobo, who-surprise!--doesn't turn out to be Lawrence in the fifth reel. Even so, it is Lawrence who metes out final retribution to the despicable Borden and Jeffers.