Fantastic!

In other words,this film is a surreal ride.

The movie is wonderful and true, an act of love in all its contradictions and complexity

True to its essence, the characters remain on the same line and manage to entertain the viewer, each highlighting their own distinctive qualities or touches.

Apart from some of the singing, I enjoyed "The Halliday Brand" quite a bit. While I am not normally a huge western fan, the Oedipal style story is timeless.When the story begins, Martha (Betsy Blair) is carrying on a covert relationship with a man who is half American Indian. Her father, Big Dan (Ward Bond), is a bigot and so she's been hiding this from him. When he does find out, he's predictably furious...but what happens next shocks everyone. Soon Big Dan stirs up the locals and the boyfriend is murdered. Big Dan's son, Daniel (Joseph Cotten), is furious and naturally blames his father. But Big Dan isn't finished....his infamy seems to know no bounds. Soon, however, he's pushed Daniel so hard that Daniel makes it his life's work to destroy the man.In many ways, this reminds me of one of the greatest westerns, "The Big Country". This film also is about the father-son relationship as well as two patriarchs who are too proud to bend in any way. Both should be watched...just try to ignore the moaning lady 'singing' some of the music...that "The Halliday Brand" could do without!

THE HALLIDAY BRAND 1957 This high-octane, emotion packed 1957 American western, stars, Joseph Cotten, Ward Bond, Betsy Blair, Bill Williams, Jay C. Flippen, Christopher Dark and the gorgeous Viveca Lindfors.The film, which is told in a long flashback, revolves around the family of a powerful rancher played by Ward Bond. The man has carved out one of the biggest ranches in the area. He is also the local town's Sheriff. When Bond's daughter, Betsy Blair, takes up with a local half breed, Bond breaks up the relationship.The lad, Christopher Dark, is then arrested on suspected murder and rustling charges. Bond's son, Cotten does not believe a word of it and accuses Bond of bigotry. Bond's other son Bill Williams, is the town deputy. He fails to protect Dark when a lynch mob comes for the lad. The mob strings up the boy.Cotten rides to town to talk with Dark's father, Jay C. Flippen and sister, Viveca Lindfors. Flippen soon grabs up his rifle and goes looking for Bond. This does not end well for Flippen. The handy with a gun Bond plants Flippen with several well placed rounds.Now there is a big falling out between Bond and son Cotten. Cotten starts a campaign of destruction against Bond and the other ranchers. He tells all that his father, Bond, must end his reign as the only law around. Bond rustles up a posse and pursues his son into the brush country. Cotton however manages to stay one step ahead. Cotton and the pretty Lindfors also manage to work in a little tongue wrestling time into the chase.Matters come to a head when Bond gets sick and is on his deathbed. Or so everyone thinks. It is a play by the old arse to lure his son back. How does it end? You need to watch it, but rest assured it will be worth your time.This top flight potboiler was directed by the under-rated, Joseph H. Lewis. Lewis knocked out several excellent b film noir and westerns during his big screen years. These include, SO DARK THE NIGHT, MY NAME IS JULIA ROSS, GUN CRAZY and THE BIG COMBO. His westerns include A LAWLESS STREET, 7th CAVALRY and 60 or so episodes of series like, THE RIFLEMAN, THE BIG VALLEY, A MAN CALLED SHENANDOAH and BONANZA.The sharp look of the film is supplied by 7 time Oscar nominated and 2 time winning cinematographer, Ray Rennahan. His film work includes, FOR WHOM THE BELL TOLLS, DUEL IN THE SUN, 7th CAVALRY, A LAWLESS STREET, WHISPERING SMITH, (the film) STREETS OF LAREDO and THE PALEFACE.

Well there's certainly enough hate to go around in this picture, with the theme explored from various vantage points by director Josph Lewis. I've seen Ward Bond in a wide range of roles, mostly Westerns, but this is by far his most compelling performance. He's a character who just won't let go, and in turn, forces his own son to become a virtual mirror image of himself. The Halliday Brand is symbolized by various signposts along the way - the tree stump axe, Daniel's (Joseph Cotten) usurpation of the family trademark in the cattle stampede, and none more searing than the senior Halliday's declaration in my summary line. For he's willing to fight to keep his family blood line untainted by inter-racial marriage which threatens on two fronts. Daughter Martha (Betsy Blair) has sacrificed her entire life to be suffocated by the Halliday Brand, and when her betrothed is murdered by a lynch mob, brother Daniel takes up the cause to vindicate his death. Standing on the sidelines is brother Clay (Bill Williams), unable to prevail in the name of reason on either side. The emotional pitch gets intense as Daniel resorts to lawlessness and violence to confront his father's arrogance. It's not a comfortable picture to watch, made more harrowing by the absence of any breaks in the tension. The story never sets the viewer up for a reconciliation, and on that score it succeeds, as the Hallidays are finally left broken and dispirited by the paths they have chosen.

1957 was just about the peak year for Westerns on TV and the theater screen. In fact, there was almost enough phony gunsmoke floating around to blot out the sun and maybe a few stars. Okay, I exaggerate a bit, but it's small wonder that a worthy little effort like this got lost in the six-gun crowd. Looks to me like a large-scale story done on a small-scale budget with a number of aging yet very skillful players. Never mind that dad Bond is only 3 years older than "son" Cotton or that Lindfors looks about as Indian as I do. When you've got Bond heading up the cast as a stubborn old patriarch and town sheriff, you've got the makings of strong drama. And a strong drama it is with Cotton feuding with Dad over the race mixing going on over at JC Flippen's place. Worse, Bond's daughter has eyes for Flippen's half- breed son, while Cotton's taking a fancy to the half-Indian daughter, Lindfors. At the same time, crusty old patriarch Bond insists on family tradition and, by golly, that doesn't include anyone who was there on the rock to meet the Pilgrims. Now all sorts of trouble are brewing since Bond not only represents family but the law as well.I suspect that if you dig into the screenplay a little, you can come up with a political allegory that reflects deeper social movements of the time. Be that as it may, the story is big enough and the cast strong enough to warrant much better production values than what we get. Too bad, the filming was limited to the ugly scrublands around LA. This is a package that needs a scale of landscape to match the scale of the story, which apparently was more than the independent producers could afford. It looks like sacrifices had to be made and it was setting more than cast or story that was sacrificed. Anyway, the contest of wills between father and son remains explosive, even though the racial theme has lost cutting edge to the years. In passing—note how we're never shown Cotton actually committing the harassing acts he resorts to, like burning the water tower, or scattering the bank papers. Instead, he's shown skulking around the site. My guess is that was so the audience would not turn against this sympathetic character, even though he commits questionable acts. All in all, it's a good chance to see some fine actors doing their thing, including the often overlooked Betsy Blair.