The Brand of Hate (1934)

That was an excellent one.

Just perfect...

This is a gorgeous movie made by a gorgeous spirit.

The tone of this movie is interesting -- the stakes are both dramatic and high, but it's balanced with a lot of fun, tongue and cheek dialogue.

This movie has a lot going for it for a randomly-named B western, starting with some good actors in a good story. Young Bob Steele is in love with Lucile Browne. However, when her father, William Farnum, opens the door to find his half-brother, George Hayes, with his three evil sons, come to rustle cattle and hold over his head the prison term in Kansas he escaped years ago, threaten Miss Browne with rape, and shoot Steele's father, it gets interesting and dark. Stuntman Bill Patton gets to hang from a team of racing horses about the 40-minute mark; editor S. Roy Luby offers an interesting variety of wipes for scene changes.I said that the actors are good, but the leads.... well, Bob Steele was not much for line readings at this stage of his career, even though he is a fine physical actor, mounting his horse in a variety of interesting way. Miss Browne, however, while very pretty, is awful, unable to change expressions during a shot. Director Lew Collins must have had a lot of trouble working around her; and the manner that cinematographer William Thompson cheats the action sequences emphasizes the poverty of this Poverty Row production.Still, the script by Jack Natteford is well done and offers an interesting set-up for the final fight, yielding a solid Saturday morning matinee oater.

This is similar in style to a lot of the early John Wayne westerns but despite Bob Steele lacking the star quality of John Wayne this is a lot better than many of his early efforts. Bob Steele's father is shot and the uncle and cousins of his girlfriend are the chief suspects. This film benefits greatly from the presence of Gabby Hayes as the villain. He is head and shoulders above anyone else here though that's not to say the rest of the cast are poor. Lucile Browne makes a pretty love interest although her acting is over theatrical. Bob Steele is adequate but his appearance is a bit off putting for a hero as it looks like he's wearing lipstick and eyeliner. The plot is as basic as they come and it's a simple goody versus baddie film. The story rattles along and despite the action scenes ranging from amateur to pretty impressive it remains a strangely entertaining ride. Although far from being a classic this is a pretty decent effort for the time and one of the better minor old westerns.

Who would have believed it.Gabby Hayes that master among comedy sidekicks to Randolph Scott.John Wayne,Roy Rogers and William Boyd actually plays a villain in this piece.William Farnum plays a rancher with a few skeletons in his cupboard,one of whom is Gabby Hayes.Hayes and his sons come to stay,uninvited with Farnum and give Bob Steele a bit of a roughing up.Hayes can be as mean and honery as the worst died in the wool villain.His beard makes him look nasty rather than friendly.At the beginning Steele,who is in love with Farnums daughter is a bit of a wimp..however he gets some steel in his backbone and ends up routing Hayes and his brood.Well you always knew that was going to happen.