Via Pony Express

Betty Castelar is the heiress to a hundred thousand acres of southern Arizona range known as El Rio Rancho. She is about to lose her land in a public auction when the Supreme Court validates her right of possession by formally recognizing the family's old Spanish land grant. Unfortunately, the Court's letter to Betty is snatched from ambushed Pony Express rider Buck Carson by cattleman Clem Porter, who covets El Rio Rancho for himself. Left to die in the desert, Buck survives his ordeal and vows to recover the stolen document - but the auction looms and Clem is determined to be the highest bidder by fair means or foul.

Jack Hoxie was a prominent silent-era cowboy star nearing the end of his career when he made this low-budget Western in 1932. Via Pony Express, one of Jack's better talkies, benefits from good location shooting and the presence of fellow cowboy hero Lane Chandler in a prominent supporting role as Buck Carson's brother.

• western