Skipalong Rosenbloom

The citizens of Buttonhole Bend live in a constant state of fear thanks to the "Butcher" Baer gang, which has robbed every bank and killed every sheriff in the territory. What they don't know is that Butcher takes his orders from "Square Deal Sal," the sultry saloonkeeper who's as brainy as she is beautiful. When wandering cowboy Skipalong Rosenbloom arrives in town and is promptly tricked into becoming the new sheriff, Butcher measures him for a plot in Boot Hill. But perhaps Skipalong isn't as dumb as he looks...

Inspired by the phenomenal success of the old Hopalong Cassidy movies broadcast during prime time by the NBC network in 1949, Skipalong Rosenbloom (re-released as Square Shooter) lampooned the TV-cowboy craze just as big-screen Western heroes were beginning to lose favor at the nation's box offices. No horse-opera convention goes unscathed, and the Eddie Forman-Dean Riesner script teems with broad sight gags that would be at home in Warner Brothers' "Road Runner" cartoons. Former boxers "Slapsie Maxie" Rosenbloom and Max Baer - accomplished screen comedians who loved clowning off-screen as well - acquit themselves handily, and a supporting cast studded with B-Western favorites (including Raymond Hatton and Fuzzy Knight) go through their paces with customary ease. - Ed Hulse

• comedy