The Cowboy and the Bandit (DVD)

When a land-grabbing varmint sets his sights on the struggling Bar X Ranch, "Range Rider" Rex Lease comes to the rescue -- with the help of an outlaw gang!

Cowhand Bill Bodie, wrongly labeled a killer and horse thief, is about to dance on the end of a lynch mob's rope, but he is saved by renegade Scarface and his men. The grateful Bill rides on, soon taking an interest in the plight of the careworn Mrs. Barton, whose husband was fleeced and killed by land-hungry crooks. Bill becomes her new foreman and, with the help of her young son Bobbie, stands up to the local polecats. But with impossible odds stacked against Bill, he soon finds himself in danger of dying of lead poisoning -- lead from the guns of a second outlaw gang.

This offbeat western is so uniquely upside-down that weak and corrupt lawmen wear the black hats and outlaws wear the white ones. Like Robin Hood and his Merry Men, Scarface and his gang have a sense of right and wrong that compels them to use their outlaw guns to bring some needed justice to a territory betrayed by its men with badges.

• western