Fred Scott Double Feature: Roaming Cowboy / Singing Buckaroo (DVD)

When singing cowboys became the Saturday matinee rage in the 1930s, Fred Scott went from singing in opera houses to singing in horse operas. Astride his loyal horse White King, he rides the range, righting wrongs, in two of his best starring vehicles.

The Roaming Cowboy (1937, B&W): Ramblin' cowpokes Cal Brent and his pal Fuzzy ride into territory where badmen are forcing local landowners to pull up stakes. Cal volunteers to help battle the outlaw scourge while taking time out to sing some Stephen Foster favorites. Complications arise when the heroine can't distinguish the good guys from the bad! Starring Fred Scott, Al St. John, Lois January, Forrest Taylor, Roger Williams; directed by Robert Hill.

The Singing Buckaroo (1937, B&W): Cattleman Grant Gordon rescues beautiful Barbara Evans when she is severely beaten by Sam Gifford's henchman who are after the $25,000 she is carrying. While recuperating at Grant's ranch, Barbara learns that Gifford has raised the stakes by kidnapping her father and holding him for ransom. Playing Scott's Indian ally is real-life archery champion Howard Hill, world-renowned for splitting one arrow with another in Errol Flynn's The Adventures of Robin Hood. Starring Fred Scott, Victoria Vinton, William Faversham, Cliff Nazarro, Howard Hill; directed by Tom Gibson.

• western