The Phantom Stagecoach (1957) Poster

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5/10
The Stagecoach of the Phantom Empire
Oslo_Jargo21 March 2017
Warning: Spoilers
*** This review may contain spoilers ***

*Plot and ending analyzed*

The Phantom Stagecoach (1957) doesn't rise above the average rating, and it seems more like a TV Western, but there's some good stunt work with horses in here.

The plot is a mysterious stranger helps ward off an attack on a stagecoach. He shows up in town, trying to help the Stagecoach owner with constant attacks occurring on his Stage line. Turns out, he's actually a Wells Fargo agent.

The Phantom Stagecoach of the title is an armored Stagecoach built by the men trying to sabotage the other Stage line. The Phantom Stagecoach chases the other stagecoach, but all they had to do was shoot the horses and disable the armored Stagecoach. Nonetheless, the chase scene is fun.

Character actor Ray Teal (Decision at Sundown (1957), Hangman's Knot (1952) and Ace in the Hole (1951) is in here as a Sheriff, which he played often in many Westerns.

Some of the horse chase scenes change midway, like they used some stock footage from another film. Still, it isn't the worst Western I've come across. It's an average one.
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7/10
Good fun!
coltras3512 May 2024
A stagecoach firm reels over the news of the third holdup attempt in two months, the last of which resulted in the murder of one of their best drivers. Glen Hayden (William Bishop), the man who prevented the most recent robbery, is hired by the firm to drive for them while investigating the murder. What he doesn't know is that a rival firm is responsible for the holdups, and that they have created an armored, driverless stagecoach to rob future deliveries and take all of the business in town for themselves.

The Phantom Stagecoach is a remake of the top notch Stage to Tucson, but it's a light remake as this 1957 programmer has its own legs and it's a nifty, fast-paced one. The action never lets up with plenty of things going, no wasted things added, and lots of chase scenes with stagecoaches rolling. Some of it is stock footage, but I enjoyed this one immensely. It was quite exciting. Love Kathleen Crowley's husky voice. William Bishop was good as the hero ( for a change), but Richard Webb is a whiny dullard who is a duplicitous character working for the bad guys on the sly. I think Ray Nazarro is an underrated western director.
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Fair Columbia Western programmer
searchanddestroy-110 January 2010
Warning: Spoilers
One more good little western produced by Wallace Mac Donald, the "rich man"'s Sam Katzman, even if the features he produced were not more expensive either. But far better. Many Columbia products not know from this side of the Atlantic - France - were made under the supervision of Mac Donald. The producer. And it seems that Ray Nazarro directed most of them.

Speaking of this film, I like it well. It is fast paced, with good ideas, especially the "Phantom Stagecoach", a stagecoach with out driver outside, which attacks real stagecoaches, in order to rob them, of course. An investigator working undercover for Well's Fargo Company tries to capture the outlaws responsible of the robberies.

Good standard movie, where we find the famous supporting heavy John Doucette. One of the most great bad guys of B pictures of the 40's, 50's and early 60's...
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10/10
An "Average" 1957 Western is Better Than Most Stuff Produced Today
csmith-9961521 October 2019
Yeah, I love Westerns, especially '50s Westerns. This one had this the right mix of good v evil, action and romance. As in most westerns made in the '50s, at an hour and 15 minutes, the pace is fast with no wasted scenes. A very good watch for western fans or movie fans period.
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