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Very well executed

The greatest movie ever!

Highly Overrated But Still Good

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

While I like a Johnny Mack Brown film because of his natural look and acting style, "Branded a Coward" just has too many strikes against it to make it a film I'd recommend. The biggest problem is the casting of a truly annoying character actor, Syd Saylor, in the film. He plays his usual stuttering sidekick--and made me feel ill watching him. Saylor's shtick was to stutter so badly that he made Porky Pig look like a polished Shakespearean actor by comparison! It not only was insensitive, it was grating. The other problems concern plot and clichés--more about that in a moment.The film begins with a pioneer family being attacked by bandits. The father and mother are killed and one brother is shot while the other hides in fear of his life. Twenty years pass and the brother who hid is now played by Brown. He is a nice guy and stands for law and order, but he also has a mental block and sometimes fear grips him when he's reminded of the slaughter of his family. This makes it especially tough when he's appointed sheriff and he's determined to bring the bandit leader, 'The Cat', to justice. How it all plays out is the big problem here--it's just too predictable that the brother he assumed was dead is not and is now The Cat!! And, it's REAAAALLLY predictable that The Cat will take a bullet to save Brown. And, it's ridiculous when all the loose ends in the story are tied together too perfectly. The only really great thing about the film is that eventually Saylor's character is killed--I could have cheered!!

"Branded a Coward" has one of the classic B Western story lines - a young boy sees his parents killed by outlaws and one day comes back to avenge the innocent. The minor twist here is that Johnny Hume (Johnny Mack Brown) really didn't plan it that way, but as one thing leads to another, well, you know.Sometimes you have to consider the era when these old time oaters were made. For 1935 this one wasn't all that bad. The leap of faith needed here is how quickly Johnny makes the transition from a 'cowering behind the bar' onlooker to full fledged Western hero when he throws down with the outlaws attacking the stagecoach in the first half. That scene offers the equally classic 'under the stagecoach' maneuver that became a trademark of many films in which Yakima Canutt appeared. Yak portrays gang leader 'Cat' as the story opens, but as things progress, hints are dropped that a new Cat mysteriously appears to take over the gang whenever it's thought the one prior has been compromised.I've only seen Syd Saylor a couple of times before and I don't recall him ever doing the stuttering gimmick. It wears after a while, but it's still a downer when he gets knocked off before the picture ends. All the while he tried getting his words out I kept thinking Porky Pig in those old Warner Brothers cartoons, and had to consider whether Saylor's bit had anything to do to inspire that character.Well you had to wonder if the finale wasn't just a bit too contrived. With the appearance of Johnny's older brother Billy, who also witnessed the death of their parents, an explanation of how he became the new 'Cat' would have been in order. Instead, you just had to take the twist ending on faith that the good brother would come out on top. But Johnny getting the girl (Billie Seward) at the end of the story - that was just par for the course.

Johnny Mack Brown is the one that is Branded A Coward in this B western produced by a Poverty Row studio called Supreme Pictures. It's not really his fault, he sustained a great emotional trauma as a child, seeing his family massacred by an outlaw only known as 'The Cat'. When he grew up he became a trick shot artist, but when it comes to gunplay with targets that shoot back, Brown can't forget.But when he and sidekick Syd Saylor spot a stagecoach holdup they take a hand in and save the gold shipment and Billie Seward. A grateful town makes him their marshal which Brown decides to accept after he hears that it was the Cat's gang that did the robbery and is operating in that area.This is one unusual B western in that it breaks one parameter of a B western which I will not tell and it has a surprise ending as to who the identity of the mysterious Cat is. I'd check this Johnny Mack Brown western out.

The title, "Branded a Coward" more or less sets the tone for this unusual Johnny Mack Brown series western. Produced by Poverty Row's Supreme Pictures and directed by Sam Newfield, this entry departs from the normal series western and cowboy hero.In the opening, Johnny Hume's (Brown) family is murdered by Yakima Canutt and his gang as Johnny hides in the bushes. Fast forward 20 years and we find Johnny as a sharp shootin', hard ridin' rodeo cowboy. But he has a reputation of shying away when the real gunplay starts. In fact during a saloon robbery, Johnny is seen cowering beside the bar unable to take a hand in confronting the outlaws.Johnny decides to move on. Soon he is joined by his sidekick Oscar (Syd Saylor). They come upon a stagecoach robbery and Johnny finally finds his courage and drives the outlaws away while killing several of them. Inside the coach is heroine Ethel Carson (Billie Seward) to whom Johnny takes a fancy. Ethel's father Joe Carson (Lloyd Ingraham) claims Johnny's father gunned down his brother and thus forbids Johnny to see his daughter.Johnny discovers that the gang that murdered his family headed by an outlaw known only as "The Cat" is operating in the area. Carson, who has a drinking problem, discloses to the outlaws that a shipment of gold is expected. In the meantime he goes gunning for Johnny and is shot accidentally by an outlaw and Johnny is blamed.Johnny vows to prove his innocence. "The Cat" attempts to lure Johnny into a trap and..........As I have mentioned, this picture has an unusual number of twists for a Poverty Row quickie, namely:1) The hero is shown as an actual coward;2) The comedic sidekick is murdered;3) The hero actually gets to kiss the girl...twice;4) An unexpected surprise ending.Johnny Mack Brown had a shot at major stardom with M-G-M in the late twenties. He even appeared with Greta Garbo. After 1930's "Billy the Kid" he drifted into "B" movies and serials eventually turning that into a lucrative twenty year career.The inclusion of Yakima Canutt in the cast ensured some top flight stunt work. He performs his signature "falling from the team of horses under the stagecoach and up the back of the coach" stunt and does a dangerous looking high dive off of a cliff, as well. He can also be visibly seen doubling one of the actors in the climatic fist fight.A different and enjoyable series western.