AllMovie

English-born character star Victor McLaglen made his Hollywood debut in this highly successful Western melodrama about brothers, separated in early childhood, who wound up as opponents in a side-show wrestling match. There is a dance-hall girl (Marguerite de la Motte) and the usual Western trappings but the film's true highlight is the climactic wrestling match between McLaglen and co-star William Russell, a battle that reminded several reviewers of the legendary slugfest in the first version of The Spoilers (1914). The Beloved Brute was directed with a great deal of verve by J. Stuart Blackton, one of the founders of the Vitagraph Company.