Branded (1950 film)

Branded
Theatrical release poster
Directed byRudolph Maté
Written byWinston Miller
Frederick Hazlitt Brennan
Screenplay bySydney Boehm
Cyril Hume
Based onMontana Rides
by Max Brand
Produced byMel Epstein
StarringAlan Ladd
Mona Freeman
Charles Bickford
Robert Keith
CinematographyCharles Lang
W. Wallace Kelley
Edited byAlma Macrorie
Music byRoy Webb
Production
company
Distributed byParamount Pictures
Release date
  • December 23, 1950 (1950-12-23) (San Francisco)
Running time
94 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Box office$2.2 million (US rentals)[1]

Branded is a 1950 American Technicolor Western film starring Alan Ladd, Mona Freeman, Charles Bickford and Robert Keith. It was adapted from the novel Montana Rides by Max Brand under the pen name Evan Evans.[2] The plot concerns a gunfighter on the run from the law who poses as the long-lost son of a wealthy rancher.

Plot

Choya, a gunfighter on the run, is caught by cowboys Leffingwell and Tattoo in the mountains. They force him to participate in a scheme to bilk a rich rancher named Lavery. The plan requires a tattoo on Choya's shoulder, but as soon as Tattoo creates one, Leffingwell shoots him in the back.

Choya rides to Lavery's Bar M ranch and asks foreman Ransome for a job. Lavery, with daughter Ruth, arrives on horseback and hired Choya. Ruth tells Choya how her five-year-old brother was kidnapped many years ago, never to be seen again. One day, Lavery notices the tattoo and is amazed because his long-lost son had one just like it. Choya pretends that it is a coincidence and tells a story about a childhood memory that convinces Mr. and Mrs. Lavery that he is Richard Jr.

Leffingwell arrives and is hired at the ranch. His plot is to kill Lavery so that Choya can inherit the ranch. A guilt-ridden Choya offers him an alternative, to steal Lavery's stock during a cattle roundup. Ruth rides along, and because Choya likes her, he double-crosses Leffingwell and has the cattle money deposited in the Laverys' account in an El Paso bank. He also learns that Leffingwell is the one who kidnapped the child, only to have a Mexican bandit named Rubriz snatch the boy. He confesses to Ruth and leaves the ranch.

Choya crosses the border and learns that Lavery's son has been raised by Rubriz under the name of Tonio. He persuades Tonio to return to his real home. Rubriz, who has raised the boy as his own son, sends his men after them, and Tonio is wounded. Leffingwell also chases them but is killed in a stampede. Choya and Tonio are trapped on the Texas side of the Rio Grande but are rescued just in time by Lavery and Ransome.

Rubriz comes to the ranch with his men to kill them, but he is disarmed by Choya, who convinces him that Tonio did not betray him. Rubriz has a change of heart and tells Lavery that Tonio should stay with the Lavery family until he has recovered from his wound, and Lavery agrees that Rubriz can visit any time. Choya plans to ride away for good, but Ruth follows him and tells him that if he is leaving, she will accompany him. She joins him on his horse, they kiss, and Choya heads his horse back toward the ranch house.

Cast

Production

Original novel

The film is based on the 1933 novel Montana Rides by Max Brand as Evan Evans. In 1949, RKO had released a Tom Keene Western titled Montana Rides, but the plot of that film was different.[3][2]

The novel concerns a gunman named Montana, also known as the Arizona Kid or Mexico Kid, who impersonates the missing son of cattle magnate Richard Lavery. It was so popular that it led to a sequel novel, Montana Rides Again, in which the Montana Kid is lured into Mexico by bandits Mateo Rubriz and Friar Pacaul, who plan to steal an emerald from the governor that had been looted from a church.[4][5]

Development

In 1948, Winston Miller sold the story to Paramount, which sought to produce a film vehicle for Alan Ladd, with Miller to write the script and Robert Fellows to produce.[6][7] Leslie Fenton was originally set to direct,[8] but when he was assigned to The Jewell, the film was handed to Rudolph Maté. Mel Epstein became the producer.[9]

In March 1950, the film was retitled Branded.[10]

Filming

The film was mostly shot on location in Arizona in the border country near Douglas. Locations included Salt River Canyon, in the Dragoon Mountains, at the Slaughter Ranch and at Cave Creek Canyon.[11]

Reception

The New York Times called the film "an exceptionally absorbing an exciting tale."[12] The Los Angeles Times called it a "swinging, lilting Western... written with incredibly quiet savagery."[13]

The film was a hit at the British box office, judged by Kinematograph Weekly as a "notable performer" at British cinemas in 1951.[14]

References

  1. ^ 'The Top Box Office Hits of 1951', Variety, January 2, 1952
  2. ^ a b Evans, Evan (1933). Montana Rides (1975 republication ed.). Mattituck, New York: Amereon Ltd. ISBN 978-0891902034. {{cite book}}: ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)
  3. ^ "NEW PRODUCTION DRIVE INCLUDES TWENTY FILMS". Los Angeles Times. January 3, 1932. p. B17.
  4. ^ "Bandits in Mexico: MONTANA RIDES AGAIN. By Evan Evans. 257 pp. New York: Harper & Bros. $2". New York Times. October 21, 1934. p. BR26.
  5. ^ Evans, Evan (1934). Montana Rides Again (1st ed.). New York City: Harper. ASIN B0028QN5OC.
  6. ^ Hopper, Hedda (October 29, 1948). "Sperling Schedules Underworld Stories". Los Angeles Times. p. A6.
  7. ^ THOMAS F. BRADY (December 2, 1949). "BETTY HUTTON SET FOR 2 METRO FILMS: Star Agrees to Remain After End of 'Annie Get Your Gun' -- Wallis Prepares Story". New York Times. p. 36.
  8. ^ THOMAS F. BRADY (January 26, 1950). "STILLMAN TO MAKE NEW AVIATION FILM: Acquires Rights to 'Island in the Sky,' Gann Novel About Air Transport Command". New York Times. p. 23.
  9. ^ THOMAS F. BRADY (February 7, 1950). "TWO STUDIOS PLAN MOVIES ON GOLFING: Fox to Film Comeback Story of Ben Hogan, While R.K.O. Lists Mitchum Vehicle Of Local Origin". New York Times. p. 22.
  10. ^ THOMAS F. BRADY (March 24, 1950). "WARNERS ACQUIRE 'WINTERSET' RIGHTS: Studio Buys Screen Privilege From R.K.O. and May Star Humphrey Bogart in It Of Local Origin". New York Times. p. 29.
  11. ^ "New Setting For Western In Arizona By Frank Daugherty". The Christian Science Monitor. April 14, 1950. p. 5.
  12. ^ "A Lively Western: MONTANA RIDES: By Evan Evans. 300 pp. New York: Harper & Brothers. $2". New York Times. June 18, 1933. p. BR14.
  13. ^ "NERVOUS TRIGGERS". Los Angeles Times. June 25, 1933. p. A5.
  14. ^ "These were the winners in 1951". Kinematograph Weekly. December 20, 1951. pp. 9–10.
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