Headin' For The Rio Grande (DVD)

Ruthless Ike Travis and his gang are running a racket outside of Rio, offering ranchers protection from rustlers. There is little doubt that the protectors and the rustlers are in cahoots. The stubborn ranchers who refuse to pay soon find their cattle slaughtered. Mysterious drifter Tex and his partner Chili roll into town and immediately pit themselves against the criminal operation. After cattleman Pop Hart is murdered, Tex lets it slip that he's actually the brother of local sheriff Ed Saunders and a respected lawman in his own right. Worried that Saunders may have enough muscle to put him out of business, Travis frames Tex for murder. Tex must now confront Travis in a final, violent confrontation to end the corruption and clear his name.

Tex Ritter had a promising start in music before the singing cowboy era brought him to the silver screen in 1936. As a leading man, Ritter rode and sang in dozens of low budget pictures throughout the 1930s. In the early '40s he began playing sidekick to already well-established cowboys such as Johnny Mack Brown and Wild Bill Elliott. Ritter walked away from acting but continued to work successfully as a singer and recording star.

• western