The Tioga Kid (DVD)

Federal ranger Eddie Dean is on the hunt for a bandit named "The Tioga Kid." Surprisingly, the two resemble each other so much as to be all but identical. Eddie finds his double trying to muscle in on Joe Morino and his gang. Morino puts a bounty on Tioga's head. In fear of his life, Tioga goes straight and teams up with Eddie to bring the Morino gang to justice. While working together, the two men uncover an astonishing secret that explains their uncanny resemblance...

Eddie Dean (1907-1999) was one of several country music singers to find success starring in Westerns on the silver screen. Some of his best-known songs include "I Dreamed of a Hill-Billy Heaven" and "One Has My Name (The Other Has My Heart)". The Texas-born Dean first came to prominence singing on the popular Judy Canova Show on radio. In between radio gigs, he worked as a bit player in films, starting with The Golden Trail (1940) starring Tex Ritter. After playing second lead to Ken Maynard in The Harmony Trail (1944), Dean attracted the attention of PRC, who signed him to a contract. Eddie made 18 movies for the studio between 1945 and 1948, filled with plenty of action (and singing.) Comic actor Roscoe Ates, known for his nervous stutter, played Eddie's sidekick. The Tioga Kid is actually a remake of an earlier Dean picture, Driftin' River (1946), and in fact reuses a good deal of footage from that movie. This might have been a sign of falling fortunes at PRC. The Tioga Kid would be the last film ever released by the studio.

BONUS: Hold 'Em Cowboy (1949): Ford Bond narrates this Official Films short subject about prairie cowboys preparing for rodeo time. Includes cowboy clowns, calf roping, trick riding, and even some bronco busting cowgirls!

• western