Lonely Are the Brave

Infobox_Film
name = Lonely Are the Brave


image_size = 215px
caption = theatrical poster
producer = Edward Lewis
director = David Miller
writer = Edward Abbey (novel)
Dalton Trumbo (screenplay)
starring = Kirk Douglas
Gena Rowlands
Walter Matthau
music = Jerry Goldsmith
cinematography = Philip H. Lathrop
editing = Leon Barsha
distributor = Universal Pictures
released = May 24 fy|1962
"(Houston premiere)"
runtime = 107 minutes
country = FilmUS
language = English
budget =
gross =
imdb_id = 0056195

"Lonely are the Brave" is a fy|1962 film adaptation of the Edward Abbey novel "The Brave Cowboy". It stars Kirk Douglas as modern cowboy Jack Burns, Gena Rowlands, and Walter Matthau as a sheriff who empathizes with Burns but must do his job and chase him down.

Douglas has said that this is his favorite movie.Brian Cady [http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title.jsp?stid=81722&category=Articles "Lonely Are the Brave" (TCM article)] ]

Plot

The movie, like the book, is the story of John W. "Jack" Burns, who lives as a transient worker and roaming ranch hand much as the cowboys of the old West did, and refuses to join modern society. He rejects much of modern technology, and will not carry any kind of identification such as a driver's license or Social Security card. When his oldest friend is jailed for giving aid to illegal immigrants, Burns deliberately gets himself arrested in an attempt to break his friend out of jail. His friend has a family and too much at stake to become a fugitive from the law, and he refuses to go, so Burns winds up on the run from the law by himself. He heads for the hills on his horse, and the police mount an extensive search for him. When a helicopter joins in the chase, Burns shoots it down with his rifle by damaging its tail rotor, causing the pilot to lose control.

During the course of the film, the seemingly extraneous progress of a tractor-trailer truck, driven by Carroll O'Connor, is intercut with the main story. The pursuit of Jack Burns ends when O'Connor's truck collides with Burns on his horse trying to cross a busy highway in the rain.

Production

"Lonely Are the Brave" was made after star Kirk Douglas read Edward Abbey's novel "The Brave Cowboy" and insisted that Universal film it as a vehicle for him to star in.

It happens to be a point of view I love. This is what attracted me to the story - the difficulty of being an individual today.

Douglas assembled the cast and crew through his production company, Joel Productions, recruiting ex-blacklisted writer Dalton Trumbo, who had written "Spartacus" several years before, to write the screenplay, and, through the recommendation of Alfred Newman, giving composer Jerry Goldsmith his first major studio opportunity.

The movie was filmed in the area in and around Albuquerque, New Mexico: the Sandia Mountains, the Manzano Mountains, the Tijeras Canyon, and Kirtland Air Force Base. [IMDB [http://imdb.com/title/tt0056195/locations Filming locations] ]

The working title for the film was "The Last Hero",TCM [http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title.jsp?stid=81722 Overview] ] but the release title of the film was a matter of contention between Douglas, who wanted to call it "The Brave Cowboy" after the novel, and the studio. Douglas wanted the film to open in art houses and build an audience, but Universal chose to market the film as a Western, titling it "Lonely Are the Brave" and opening it widely without any particular support. Despite this, the film has a cult following, and is often listed as one of the best Westerns ever made.

"Lonely Are the Brave" premiered in Houston, Texas on 24 May fy|1962.

Cast

*Kirk Douglas as "John W. "Jack" Burns"
*Gena Rowlands as "Jerry Bondi"
*Walter Matthau as "Sheriff Morey Johnson"
*Michael Kane as "Paul Bondi"
*Carroll O'Connor as "Hinton (truck driver)"
*William Schallert as "Harry (radio operator)"
*George Kennedy as "Deputy Sheriff Gutierrez"
*Karl Swenson as "Rev. Hoskins (prison inmate)"
*Dan Sheridan as "Deputy Glynn"

Cast notes
*Bill Bixby has a small part as an airman in a helicopter, his first film appearance. [imdb name|0084642|Bill Bixby]
*This is one of "All in the Family" star Carroll O'Connor's first film appearances. [imdb name|0005279|Carroll O'Connor]
*Bill Raisch plays the one-armed man who fights with Douglas in a memorable scene. The following year Raisch began menacing David Janssen in the classic TV series "The Fugitive".

Awards

Kirk Douglas was nominated for a fy|1963 BAFTA Award as "Best Foreign Actor" for his work in "Lonely Are the Brave", and placed third in the Laurel Awards for "Top Action Performance". The Motion Picture Sound Editors, USA gave the film a "Golden Reel Award" for "Best Sound Editing", in a tie with "Mutiny on the Bounty". [IMDB [http://imdb.com/title/tt0056195/awards Awards] ]

Quotes

*"Believe you me, if it didn't take men to make babies I wouldn't have anything to do with any of you!"

– "Jerry Bondi" (Gena Rowlands) [TCM [http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title.jsp?stid=81722&category=Quotes Quotes] ]

*"Know what a loner is? He's a born cripple. He's a cripple because the only person he can live with is himself. It's his life, the way he wants to live. It's all for him. A guy like that, he'd kill a woman like you. Because he couldn't love you, not the way you are loved."

– "Jack Burns" (Kirk Douglas)IMDB [http://imdb.com/title/tt0056195/quotes Quotes] ]

*"Jack Burns": A westerner likes open country. That means he's got to hate fences. And the more fences there are, the more he hates them.

"Jerry Bondi": I've never heard such nonsense in my life.

"Jack Burns": It's true though. Have you ever noticed how many fences there're getting to be? And the signs they got on them: no hunting, no hiking, no admission, no trespassing, private property, closed area, start moving, go away, get lost, drop dead! Do you know what I mean?

*"I don't need [identification] cards to figure out who I am, I already know."

– "Jack Burns"

Notes

External links

*imdb title|id=0056195
*tcmdb title|id=81722
*amg movie|id=1:29906