Brand of the Outlaws (1936) review: Bob Steele is tiny but terrifying

If you have 55 minutes to spare and a soft spot for dusty, low-budget 1930s horse operas, Brand of the Outlaws is absolutely worth a watch. But if you cannot stand creaky audio, cheap sets, and plots that make no sense, you will probably hate this with a passion. 🐎

This is a movie made for kids in 1936 who just wanted to see guys in big hats punch each other. And honestly? It still kind of works for that exact reason.

The plot starts running immediately. Our hero Gary Gray (played by the tiny but incredibly intense Bob Steele) rides into town and instantly gets blamed for rustling cattle.

The bad guy, Ben Holt, doesn't just call the sheriff on him. He literally brands Gary with a hot iron like a cow.

That scene is surprisingly brutal for a cheapie matinée film. Steele's face during the branding is so sweaty and wild-eyed that it actually made me sit up in my chair.

The Bob Steele Energy

Bob Steele is the main reason to watch this. He is not a big guy, but he moves like a coiled spring ready to snap at any second.

When he gets angry, his eyes go completely blank and he starts throwing punches that look like they actually hurt. It is a huge contrast to some of the stiffer, slower heroes in older films like The Gun Fighter.

The rest of the cast is mostly just guys with very thick mustaches who seem confused about where to stand. Half the time, the extras are just staring directly at the camera while Gary is talking.

There is also a romantic subplot with a girl named Margaret, but the movie forgets about her for about twenty minutes. She basically exists to look worried near some rocks.

Odd Little Details I Noticed:

• During one of the big chase scenes, you can clearly see tire tracks from the camera truck in the dirt.
• The saloon looks like it only has three chairs and a single bottle of whiskey on the shelf. Economical!
• The sheriff is incredibly useless and seems like he would struggle to find his own boots in the morning.

The action scenes are surprisingly fast. The stuntmen are doing some real, bone-breaking falls off horses here.

There is this one stunt near the end where a guy falls off a moving stagecoach and nearly gets run over by the back wheels. It is terrifying because you know they did not have a safety budget for this.

The climax is just Gary chasing Holt into the rocks. It ends very abruptly, almost like they ran out of film and just decided to go home for lunch.

"I didn't do it, but I'm gonna finish it." — Gary, probably saying this to three different people who aren't listening.

It is not a masterpiece, obviously. But it has this raw, greasy energy that modern movies just cannot replicate because everyone is too safe now.

If you like old westerns, give it a spin. Just do not expect anything deep.