Screen Snapshots Series 12 No 3 review: Dusty stars on horses

If you have nine minutes to spare and want to see old-school Hollywood actors looking incredibly dusty, yes, this is worth a quick look. 🤠

Classic film nerds will probably love the raw footage aspect. Anyone looking for a real story or actual *plot* is going to absolutely hate it.

Basically, it is just Ralph Staub running around a rodeo with a camera, catching stars who look like they were bribed to be there.

The whole thing feels like a home video someone found in a dusty attic, which is honestly its biggest charm. Some of these actors look so awkward trying to fit in with the actual cowboys.

There is this one guy—I swear his hat is three sizes too big—who just stands there grinning at the camera for what feels like a solid minute. It is so weirdly long that it makes you wonder if the camera got stuck.

If you want actual western thrills, you are much better off putting on Wolf's Trail. This short is strictly for the novelty of seeing people who usually wear tuxedos getting dirt in their eyes.

The crowd scenes have this chaotic energy, kind of like the goofy background stuff in Rookies, but with more horse manure.

Also, the sound quality is pretty rough. Half the time you can barely hear what the announcer is yelling over the crowd noise, but maybe that is a blessing in disguise.

It is not a masterpiece, but it is a neat little time machine. Just do not expect anything deeper than "hey, look, there is a famous person on a horse!" 🐴