Decided to check out another Tex Williams musical western short this weekend (see my review of Cheyenne Cowboy). This one, THE FARGO PHANTOM (the title card was missing in my copy), features an exciting, full b-movie plot involving stealing gold shipments (in a clever manner!) crammed into the 25 minute running time. Tex, along with his fellow band-mates Smokey Johnson and Deuce Spriggins (the former in the Smiley Burnette role), wander over to Montana after stumbling into a gun battle in the Dakotas (hence, the title)and having to escape as they are blamed for a crime they did not commit. They get a job protecting a stage line used for payroll shipments. Yes, that plot is familiar, but it's carried off with style and excitement here. Tex is an authoritative western hero here--not just an ambling entertainer as he seems in some of the other shorts--and with a feature film's worth of material crammed into under one half hour, I'd imagine that audiences of the day would have found this short quite satisfying. I did, and I want to see as many more of these Tex Williams shorts as possible. Be sure to check out the reissue CD's of Tex's prime work on the German "Bronco Buster" label. There is also a nice collection available from the British Academy of Country Music.
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