source: Branded

I was tempted to give this movie a "6", but one thing saved it -- it's different...not the typical Western. That doesn't mean that it doesn't have problems. First off, I don't buy that tattoos look exactly like birthmarks. Second, much later in the film, the landscape is swarming with Mexicans hunting Ladd and his charge...but they sneak through. It's a lot to swallow. And, the "Mexican father" gives up way too easily to make a happy ending. On the positive side, Ladd was a good actor and is good here. Mona Freeman was decent as the future love interest. Charles Bickford, a very good actor, didn't get much screen time; that was a disappointment. Robert Keith was, to be honest, too villainous, making his part seem like a caricature. Joseph Calleia as the "Mexican father"...a little stereotypical, as well. Peter Hansen as the son...he is satisfactory. Selena Royle, apparently once the lover of Spencer Tracy...is fine as the mother. Tom Tully, whom I remembered well from "The Caine Muitiny" is along as a ranch hand, as is Milburn Stone (Doc from "Gunsmoke)...but I didn't recognize him at all. This is a film that could use some restoration. It was filmed in various places in central Arizona, and it's gorgeous scenery. It's okay to pass some time, but this is not one of the great Westerns.

This film begins with a gunslinger by the name of "Choya" (Alan Ladd) escaping from some men who intend to lynch him for killing a friend of theirs in a gunfight. Although he manages to escape two bystanders by the names of "T. Jefferson Leffingwell" (Robert Keith) and "Tattoo" (John Berkes) find him camping in a cave and offer him a certain proposition. Essentially, they tell him of a young boy who was kidnapped from a wealthy family 30 years ago and since he fits the general description they ask him to ride to this ranch owner and claim to be his missing son. To help with the impersonation he is given a tattoo on his right arm which resembles a birthmark that the young child had. However, what he doesn't expect is the outpouring of love given to him by this family when he successfully deceives them-and this begins to gnaw on his conscience from that point on. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that, although it started off rather slow, it developed rather nicely after that and kept my attention all the way until the end. Admittedly, there were some parts toward the end which could have been condensed a little but it was still a pretty good western all the same and I have rated it accordingly. Slightly above average.

Too seldom do I find a Western that I really like. That's because almost every film in the genre seems to consist of only about 5 or 10 plots (or less). All too often, the films are about greedy guys trying to chase good people off their land, a gunman who just needs killing, or something similar. That's why when I see something different I am excited--and this film, fortunately, has a lot to offer that is different and worth seeing. The film begins with a dirt-bag (Robert Keith) recruiting gunman Alan Ladd for a big score. However, it's not the typical bank or train robbery or mercenary killing you'd expect. Instead, Keith knows about a rich but sad family that has been pining for their lost son for decades--a lost son who is about the same age and look as Ladd. THe kid was kidnapped and then assumed murdered when he was quite young. Ladd will pretend to be the boy and the only thing missing is a birthmark--and that is soon added by giving Ladd a tattoo that looks identical. All Ladd now has to do is go to this huge ranch and "claim his natural birthright". Well, things work out very well. Ladd "accidentally" lets this rich rancher see the birthmark and he is welcomed back as their long-lost boy. The problem is that although Ladd is a hothead with a checkered past, he's too decent to keep up the ruse--though Keith is now angry enough to eat hornets because he was counting on this big payoff. Despite threats from Keith, Ladd leaves the ranch and goes in search of who might actually be the boy all grown up and unaware of his past. It's dangerous, though, as Keith AND the bandit who raised the boy aren't about to let Ladd take this guy back to his real parents. Will Ladd and the young man make it out alive or will they be pushing up the daisies? See for yourself and find out what happens next. The film was the first directorial effort of cinematographer Rudolph Maté and it shows. No, I don't mean the direction was bad but that the film had a really nice look--a nice bigger than life look of the great outdoors. You could tell that Maté really had "the eye" when he made this film. Apart from an excellent script and direction, the film has pretty good acting as well. Ladd is a little better than usual and he's got excellent support from Keith, Charles Bickford and Joseph Calleia. Everything together made for a very good film. By the way, the excellent character actor Robert Keith has a particularly gritty supporting role---real gritty. I have always enjoyed him in films and he plays one of the meanest and nastiest characters I've ever seen him play. It's a nice change of pace for a very good but under-appreciated actor and the scene with his partner on horseback near the beginning of the film is priceless.

The opening scenes set the tone of the film… Ladd, an itinerant gunman known simply as Choya and with the aid of a tattooed birthmark, passes himself off as the lost son and is accepted wholeheartedly by the parents (Bickford and Royle) and Ruth (Freeman), the man's sister Ruth had responded to his arrival on the ranch as any pretty woman would respond to a mysterious, handsome stranger, but she rapidly sets right to the fact that he is a relative As soon as he is welcomed as Richard Jr, however, something happens to Choya… As a member of a loving family, Choya experiences feelings denied him by his own childhood and became increasingly sickened by his contribution in the tricking Leading a cattle drive to El Paso, Choya decides to give up his charade revealing his true identity to Ruth, who turns on him with consternation and antagonism… There remains only one way to redeem himself and make up for the distressing emotion he has caused the Lavery family: To find their real son All the elements in "Branded" are taken directly from the straight-shooting school of Western movies… Choya, despite his confession to Ruth that he is a "four-flushin' thief," is true-blue outlaw hero… The smart Leffingwell has him classified correctly: "You won't hit an older man. You ain't the kind that'll draw first, or shoot a man in the back." Even with the rules thus outlined, Ladd still has a chance to present his standard beguiling bad guy early in the film, merely holding back a victorious smile as he pretends confusion over the elder Lavery's excited reaction to his birthmark Besides its other values, "Branded" is a visual delight… In fact, the movie's one drawback as a Western entertainment is a lack of big action highlights

One of Alan Ladd's lesser-known westerns is this adventure of a scheming outlaw with a conscience who sets out to solve the mystery of a lost son and return him to his parents. Of course, the mission is fraught with danger, from a partner and assorted crooks. After getting to know the missing lad's family, Choya's change of heart takes across the Rio Grande where the boy is being raised by a tough, mean outlaw who aims to keep the boy, using gun play if necessary to get his point across. The picture is helped by great scenery and several scenes show a realistic slice of ranch life and cattle drives. Ladd gets a great boost from Robert Keith, Charles Bickford and Joseph Calleia, and Mona Freeman, always tough and spirited, is pretty as she takes a fancy to the dashing outlaw who would be her brother.

Slimy Robert Keith has a plan to get rich, and his diabolical plan is to get a young man to play the long lost son of a rich rancher, and he picks a wild hellion known as Choya, played very well by Alan Ladd, to do that. And it works really well until Ladd's conscience gets the better of him, plus he has fallen for Mona Freeman's character, who is the long lost son's sister. Ladd decides to get out of the scheme but not without doing one good turn, and that's by finding the real long lost son. An excellent western that balances the tough with the emotional and also touches up on identity. There's stirring chase sequences that gets one excited, and the scenic view of the canyons and the rough trail is captured really well. It's a western with a lot of heart as well as vigour.

Good western with Alan Ladd. Most of the supporting cast, at the time, were unknowns to worked the Cowboy movie circuit. Worth seeing.

I have read comments saying that it's almost too bad Alan Ladd did Shane because his other Westerns get overlooked. Alan Ladd is an actor that you either like or dislike, so if you are a Ladd fan ( I have seen 35 movies of his), you will not overlook any Western he ever made. If I would rank his Westerns Branded would rank third behind Shane and the Badlanders. What really makes the movie is the unexpected ending ( spoilers ahead) where bandit Rubriz ( Joseph Calleia (who always played the bad guy)), is nicer then usual, raised Tonio after we was kidnapped as a child from the Lavery Family ( Charles Bickford and Serena Royale), and ends up basically sharing him with the family, instead of being killed. Ladd's character Choya is of course, tough and speaks few words. But unlike other other movies where he gets the girl ( The Glass Key, Boy On A Dolphin, The Blue Dahilia and Whispering Smith to name a few), Ruth Lavery ( Mona Freeman) gets the best of him before he starts to ride away like in Shane. Of course, Mona Freeman was very short ( 5ft 3in), so she was perfect for the notoriously short Ladd ( like Veronica Lake), but she was excellent as Ruth. Especially the final scene with her and Choya on the horse. I like Freeman best ( she is a knockout here), but Branded is one of about a dozen Ladd Classics ( ones where he was the star not an extra like Citizen Kane), and all except Shane are rarely shown, so if you like Freeman, Westerns, and especially Ladd ( who might be in about 95% of the scenes in the movie) it should be a must see.10/10 Stars.

Choya(Alan Ladd)is a drifter that shows up at the Lavery ranch. Mr. Lavery(Charles Bickford)is led to believe that Choya is his long lost son that was kidnapped some twenty-five years ago. He and his partner (Robert Keith)plan on conning Lavery out of his ranch and fortune. He is showered with affection from Mrs. Lavery(Selena Royle)and her daughter Ruth(Mona Freeman).The drifter now wants no part of the scheme to rob his "new family". Choya has second thoughts and heads to Mexico on a tip of the whereabouts of Tonio(Peter Hansen), the Lavery's real son. Nice western. Also in the cast: Joseph Calleia, Tom Tully and Milburn Stone.