Unlike later B-Western heroes, Buck Jones was allowed to be something of a curmudgeon and not entirely unblemished and westerns such as Branded benefited from his solid performances. Otherwise Branded tells a not too novel story in a not too novel manner. Brunette Ethel Kenyon shows some spirit as the heroine and Albert J. Smith is dependably despicable as the villain. A diminutive dialect comic named John Oscar says things like "Yumpin' Yiminy" and "By yolly, we made him yump!" and behaves more or less like countless other low-budget comic relief characters. The final shoot-out is thrilling enough and director D. Ross Lederman keeps things moving along nicely.