The Lone Rider: Border Round-Up (DVD)

Rancher Jeff Sloane and his grizzled partner, Sourdough, have discovered gold. Crooked banker Jake Masters kills the old-timer and kidnaps Sloane in hopes of forcing him to reveal the location of the strike. Tom Cameron and Fuzzy Jones befriend Sloane's daughter Amy and vow to find her missing dad. Tom becomes convinced that Masters is behind the killing - but how to prove it? With time running out for the captive Sloane, the Lone Rider decides on a desperate plan to expose Masters and free the rancher.

The tenth Lone Rider Western starring former opera singer Houston - perhaps the unlikeliest singing cowboy of all - Border Round-Up establishes suspense in the first reel and sustains it throughout. Notwithstanding his classical music background, Houston seems right at home in Western garb and has great chemistry with former silent-screen comedian Al "Fuzzy" St. John, who achieved low-level stardom in the talkie era as horse-opera sidekick to no fewer than a half-dozen cowboy stars. - Ed Hulse

• western