Rounders, The

What do you call a cowboy with his brains kicked out? A bronc rider. Ben Jones and Howdy Lewis, heaven help them, are bronc riders. Glenn Ford and Henry Fonda portray the pair who are cowboy enough to do just about any job, except for the one at hand. That job: Saddle a clever, ornery, blaze-faced roan named Old Fooler and make him as gentle as a milk-pen calf. Can't be done -- and that gets the cowpokes to thinking. Maybe they can make a dollar or two by wagering that no one at the rodeo can stay atop him either. Place your bets as filmmaker Burt Kennedy matches the warmth of his two stars with an unadorned ease that makes this modern Western as welcome as a get-together with old friends at a Sunday social.

• comedy
• western