Phantom Buster (1927)

Genres - Western  |   Countries - United States  |  
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Synopsis by Hans J. Wollstein

Remembered only for featuring one of Boris Karloff's many pre-Frankenstein supporting roles, The Phantom Buster was one of those average little Westerns ground out like so much sausage by Lester F. Scott, Jr.'s Action Pictures. Buddy Roosevelt, whose acting capabilities were all but nonexistent, played a dual role as Bull Turner, a notorious bandit known as the "Phantom," and his doppelgänger, drifter Jeff McCloud. Bull manages to throw suspicion on Jeff but is himself killed by Jim Breed (John Junior). Escaping from the sheriff's custody, Jeff assumes Bull's identity and keeps a rendezvous with the dead man's gang. Easily accepted as Bull, Jeff learns that the gang is planning to smuggle weapons across the border from Mexico. Wounded in a fight with the resurfacing Breed, Jeff, still masquerading as Bull, is cared for by his deceased lookalike's girlfriend, Babs (Alma Rayford). Knowing the truth all too well, Breed denounces the wounded man as an imposter but is killed by Bull's lieutenant, Cassidy (Charles "Slim" Whitaker). Resuming his own identity, Jeff, with the adoring Babs now on his side, manages to bring the gang to justice.