One of the great lines in Alan Ladd-lore comes at the beginning of 'Branded' when someone asks his character, Choya , if he has any friends, he replies "my guns". Ladd was not a man of large stature, but something about him expressed a powerful sentiment of a noble loner-code strength... and this is one of his best roles conveying that. This was the first western directed by Rudolph Mate (who released four films that year, including D.O.A.) and 'Branded' has some kinship to 'Giant' (Dean, Hudson, Taylor). Essentially - Ladd, as a young cowboy, gets involved with some bad influences (Robert Keith) and pretends to be the long-lost son of a wealthy rancher (Charles Bickford). Rebuked by the daughter (Mona Freeman), Ladd heads south the find the heir, who has apparently been raised by a bandit (Joseph Calleia). They can't make westerns like this anymore - something about their limited production values and innocence lends them to a certain simplistic purity. out of