Overland Mail (1939) / Human Targets (1932) – DVD

Overland Mail (1939, B&W): Pony Express rider Jack Mason is attacked by renegade Indians who are on the warpath after one of their tribe was murdered by a white man. With the help of a half-breed interpreter, Jack negotiates a cease-fire with the angry natives by promising to find and deliver the real killers to them. He won't have to look far - the outlaw gang responsible for the killing has set up operations in one of the towns along Jack's mail route.

Ex-Broadway singer Addison Randall moved to Hollywood and landed good roles in a dozen films before signing with Monogram Pictures in 1937, changing his screen name to Jack Randall and switching to Westerns. Despite toiling in the considerable shadow of Robert Livingstone, his more famous cowboy star brother, Randall had a steady career as a horseback hero until he quite literally died in the saddle. At the young age of 39, he suffered a heart attack during a riding scene in The Royal Mounted Rides Again (1945).

Starring Jack Randall, Tristram Coffin, Glenn Strange; Directed by Robert F. Hill.

Human Targets (1932, B&W): Buzz and Nellie Dale watch helplessly as their sickly mother lies near death. A very expensive operation could save her, but they can't afford it. Prospector Bart Travis strikes gold and offers to share his new found wealth with the Dale family. Before Bart can make good on his promise, outlaw Duke Remsden learns of his claim. Determined to get the gold for himself, Duke masquerades as the prospector and kills a man. With Bart wanted for murder, it falls on young Buzz to get to the bottom of the crime. His friend's freedom and his mother's life hang in the balance.

Red-headed child star of the silent era, Buzz Barton played boy-hero David "Red" Hepner in over a dozen films before he was seventeen. As the 1930's progressed, his career dwindled to uncredited bit parts. He retired from film to join the Navy during World War II, and in 1945 he played his greatest "role" - as a crewman aboard the USS Missouri on the day the Japanese came aboard to surrender.

Starring Buzz Barton, Francis X. Bushman, Jr., Fred "Snowflake" Toones; Directed by J.P. McGowan.

• western