Summary
In the chaotic landscape of the early American West, two unassuming ranch hands, Runt Simpkins and his unnamed companion, are unceremoniously dismissed from their posts. Their subsequent encounter with a traveling film crew, initially mistaken for a genuine crisis involving a 'baby' (a prop dummy), ignites an ill-fated infatuation with the leading lady, Queenie LaRue. This romantic pursuit spirals into a series of escalating comedic mishaps, beginning with a disastrous attempt to clean their attire that results in scorched trousers and a desperate, ethically dubious card game for a stolen pair of pants. The ensuing double-cross over the pilfered garment, a mistaken arrest of Simpkins, a daring jailbreak, and a bizarre sequence featuring a 'human wheel' to fix a broken buckboard, all culminate in a grand, farcical finale. The duo inadvertently 'heroically' thwarts what they believe to be a real bank robbery, only for it to be revealed as another staged film scene, leaving them with stage money and the bitter taste of cinematic deception.
Synopsis
Runt Simpkins and his pal, fired by the ranch manager, ride away to seek a new job. They see a child in danger and rescue it, only to find that the infant is a dummy being used by a company of movie actors. The two cowpunchers are smitten at the sight of Queenie LaRue, the leading lady, and both go home and press up their clothes to pay her court. Using gasoline to clean his pants, the runt lights a cigar over the gasoline bottle. His pard, enraged at his foolhardiness, throws the cigar and box of matches out of the window and both pairs of pants are burned up. They cut cards for a pair of pants stolen from a neighbor. The runt wins, but while he is bathing, the other double-crosses him, steals the pants and goes to see the movie queen at the hotel. Simpkins filches a suit from a fleeing crook and goes to the hotel to out-Romeo his betrayer. He is taken for the crook and arrested, his pal declaring that he never saw him before. Simpkins breaks jail and follows his pal to the country where he is buckboard driving with the queen. A rear wheel comes off and the runt catches up, pulls out his gun and forces the double-crosser to take the place of the missing wheel, holding up the back of the wagon all the way back to town, while he rides in state with the film vamp. She recognizes her husband, who chases the two sparkers whom he engages for a bank hold-up scene on the following day. The robbers speed away in a car with the loot, followed by the two cowpunchers who think it is a real robbery and put on a great scene, bringing back the money. They are rewarded for their bravery with the stage money and the movie crowd departs, giving them the laugh.
Review Excerpt
"Is "Just Cowboys" worth watching today? Short answer: yes, but with significant caveats that place it firmly in the category of historical curiosity rather than essential viewing for a casual audience. This silent-era Western comedy, a relic from 1922, offers a fascinating glimpse into the nascent days of filmmaking and the slapstick sensibilities of the era.
It’s a film best suited for cinephiles, historians of early cinema, and those with a particular affection for silent comedies and the West..."
