Lonely are the Brave
Encyclopedia
- For the Jørn LandeJørn LandeJørn Lande is a Norwegian hard rock and heavy metal singer who has sold over 2 million records worldwide. He is probably best known for being the lead singer of the power metal band Masterplan.-Biography:...
music album, see: Lonely Are The Brave (album)Lonely Are The Brave (album)Lonely Are the Brave is the fifth full-length studio album by Jørn Lande. It was released under his stage name Jorn.Known as a big Deep Purple fan, Jorn also recorded a cover to the Deep Purple song "Stormbringer" during the sessions for the album...
Lonely are the Brave is a 1962 film adaptation of the Edward Abbey
Edward Abbey
Edward Paul Abbey was an American author and essayist noted for his advocacy of environmental issues, criticism of public land policies, and anarchist political views. His best-known works include the novel The Monkey Wrench Gang, which has been cited as an inspiration by radical environmental...
novel The Brave Cowboy
The Brave Cowboy
The Brave Cowboy was Edward Abbey's second published novel, as detailed in . The first-edition of the book is considered the rarest of Abbey's eight novels. There was only one printing of 5,000 copies and many of them have not survived. One online rare book dealer shows copies of the first U.S...
. It stars Kirk Douglas
Kirk Douglas
Kirk Douglas is an American stage and film actor, film producer and author. His popular films include Out of the Past , Champion , Ace in the Hole , The Bad and the Beautiful , Lust for Life , Paths of Glory , Gunfight at the O.K...
as cowboy
Cowboy
A cowboy is an animal herder who tends cattle on ranches in North America, traditionally on horseback, and often performs a multitude of other ranch-related tasks. The historic American cowboy of the late 19th century arose from the vaquero traditions of northern Mexico and became a figure of...
Jack Burns, Gena Rowlands
Gena Rowlands
Gena Rowlands is an American actress of film, stage and television. The four-time Emmy and two-time Golden Globe winner is best known for her collaborations with her actor-director husband John Cassavetes in ten films, in two of which, Gloria and A Woman Under the Influence, she gave Academy...
as his best friend's wife, and Walter Matthau
Walter Matthau
Walter Matthau was an American actor best known for his role as Oscar Madison in The Odd Couple and his frequent collaborations with Odd Couple star Jack Lemmon, as well as his role as Coach Buttermaker in the 1976 comedy The Bad News Bears...
as a sheriff who sympathizes with Burns but must do his job and chase him down. It also featured an early score by legendary composer Jerry Goldsmith
Jerry Goldsmith
Jerrald King Goldsmith was an American composer and conductor most known for his work in film and television scoring....
.
Douglas has said that this is his favorite movie.
Plot
John W. "Jack" Burns (Kirk DouglasKirk Douglas
Kirk Douglas is an American stage and film actor, film producer and author. His popular films include Out of the Past , Champion , Ace in the Hole , The Bad and the Beautiful , Lust for Life , Paths of Glory , Gunfight at the O.K...
) works as a roaming ranch hand much as the cowboys of the old West did, refusing to join modern society. He rejects much of modern technology, not even carrying any kind of identification such as a driver's license
Driver's license
A driver's license/licence , or driving licence is an official document which states that a person may operate a motorized vehicle, such as a motorcycle, car, truck or a bus, on a public roadway. Most U.S...
or Social Security
Social Security (United States)
In the United States, Social Security refers to the federal Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance program.The original Social Security Act and the current version of the Act, as amended encompass several social welfare and social insurance programs...
card. As revealed by the Sheriff late in the movie, Burns is a decorated Korean War veteran.
Burns rides up on his horse to visit Jerry (Gena Rowlands
Gena Rowlands
Gena Rowlands is an American actress of film, stage and television. The four-time Emmy and two-time Golden Globe winner is best known for her collaborations with her actor-director husband John Cassavetes in ten films, in two of which, Gloria and A Woman Under the Influence, she gave Academy...
). She is the wife of an old friend named Paul Bondi who has been jailed for giving aid to illegal immigrants. Jack explains his dislike for a society that restricts a man on where he can or can't go, what he can or can't do.
After a violent barroom fight against a one-armed man in which he is compelled to use only one arm himself, Burns is arrested. When the police decide to let him go, he punches a cop to deliberately get himself thrown in jail so he can see Paul.
While there he incurs the wrath of a sadistic deputy (George Kennedy
George Kennedy
George Harris Kennedy, Jr. is an American actor who has appeared in over 200 film and television productions. He is perhaps most familiar as the convict Dragline in Cool Hand Luke , airline troubleshooter Joe Patroni in the Airport series of disaster movies from the 1970s and...
). Burns is badly beaten while under arrest. He tries to persuade Paul to bust out of jail, but Paul has a family and too much at stake to become a fugitive from the law, so he refuses to go. Burns breaks out by himself.
He heads for the mountains on horseback, with the thought of crossing the border into Mexico. The police mount an extensive search, with Sheriff Johnson (Walter Matthau
Walter Matthau
Walter Matthau was an American actor best known for his role as Oscar Madison in The Odd Couple and his frequent collaborations with Odd Couple star Jack Lemmon, as well as his role as Coach Buttermaker in the 1976 comedy The Bad News Bears...
) in charge of the manhunt. When a helicopter joins in the pursuit, Burns shoots it down with his rifle by damaging its tail rotor, causing the pilot to lose control. The jail deputy who assaulted him is also part of the cadre of pursuing lawmen, but Burns gets his revenge.
During the course of the story, the seemingly extraneous progress of a tractor-trailer truck, driven by Carroll O'Connor
Carroll O'Connor
John Carroll O'Connor best known as Carroll O'Connor, was an American actor, producer and director whose television career spanned four decades...
, is intercut with the principal events. The pursuit of Jack Burns comes to an end when the truck driver, with his vision impaired by a heavy rainstorm, strikes Burns and his horse as they attempt to cross a busy modern highway.
Cast
- Kirk DouglasKirk DouglasKirk Douglas is an American stage and film actor, film producer and author. His popular films include Out of the Past , Champion , Ace in the Hole , The Bad and the Beautiful , Lust for Life , Paths of Glory , Gunfight at the O.K...
as John W. "Jack" Burns - Gena RowlandsGena RowlandsGena Rowlands is an American actress of film, stage and television. The four-time Emmy and two-time Golden Globe winner is best known for her collaborations with her actor-director husband John Cassavetes in ten films, in two of which, Gloria and A Woman Under the Influence, she gave Academy...
as Jerry Bondi - Walter MatthauWalter MatthauWalter Matthau was an American actor best known for his role as Oscar Madison in The Odd Couple and his frequent collaborations with Odd Couple star Jack Lemmon, as well as his role as Coach Buttermaker in the 1976 comedy The Bad News Bears...
as Sheriff Morey Johnson - Michael Kane as Paul Bondi
- Carroll O'ConnorCarroll O'ConnorJohn Carroll O'Connor best known as Carroll O'Connor, was an American actor, producer and director whose television career spanned four decades...
as Truck Driver - William SchallertWilliam SchallertWilliam Joseph Schallert is an American actor who has appeared in many films and in such television series as The Smurfs, The Rat Patrol, Gunsmoke, The Patty Duke Show, The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis, The Waltons, Bonanza, Leave It to Beaver, The Dick Van Dyke Show, Love, American Style, Get...
as Harry (Johnson's deputy) - George KennedyGeorge KennedyGeorge Harris Kennedy, Jr. is an American actor who has appeared in over 200 film and television productions. He is perhaps most familiar as the convict Dragline in Cool Hand Luke , airline troubleshooter Joe Patroni in the Airport series of disaster movies from the 1970s and...
as Gutierrez (sadistic deputy) - Karl SwensonKarl SwensonKarl Swenson was an American theatre, radio, film, and television actor.-Biography:Born in Brooklyn, New York of Swedish parentage, Swenson made several appearances with Pierre-Luc Michaud on Broadway in the 1930s and 40s, including the title role in Arthur Miller's first production, The Man Who...
as Rev. Hoskins (prison inmate) - Dan Sheridan as Deputy Glynn
Production
Lonely Are the Brave was made after star Kirk Douglas read Edward AbbeyEdward Abbey
Edward Paul Abbey was an American author and essayist noted for his advocacy of environmental issues, criticism of public land policies, and anarchist political views. His best-known works include the novel The Monkey Wrench Gang, which has been cited as an inspiration by radical environmental...
's novel The Brave Cowboy
The Brave Cowboy
The Brave Cowboy was Edward Abbey's second published novel, as detailed in . The first-edition of the book is considered the rarest of Abbey's eight novels. There was only one printing of 5,000 copies and many of them have not survived. One online rare book dealer shows copies of the first U.S...
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
Dalton Trumbo
James Dalton Trumbo was an American screenwriter and novelist, and one of the Hollywood Ten, a group of film professionals who refused to testify before the House Un-American Activities Committee in 1947 during the committee's investigation of Communist influences in the motion picture industry...
, who had written Spartacus several years before, to write the screenplay.
The movie was filmed in the area in and around Albuquerque, New Mexico
New Mexico
New Mexico is a state located in the southwest and western regions of the United States. New Mexico is also usually considered one of the Mountain States. With a population density of 16 per square mile, New Mexico is the sixth-most sparsely inhabited U.S...
: the Sandia Mountains
Sandia Mountains
The Sandia Mountains name posu gai hoo-oo, "where water slides down arroyo") are a mountain range located in Bernalillo and Sandoval counties, immediately to the east of the city of Albuquerque in New Mexico in the southwestern United States. The range is largely within the Cibola National...
, the Manzano Mountains
Manzano Mountains
The Manzano Mountains are a small mountain range in the central part of the US State of New Mexico. They are oriented north-south and are about 40 miles long. The center of the range lies about 25 miles southeast of Albuquerque, and the northern foothills are just a few miles east of the edge of...
, the Tijeras Canyon
Tijeras Canyon
Tijeras Canyon is a prominent canyon in the central part of the US state of New Mexico. Tijeras Canyon is often referred to by locals as the I-40 Canyon after the major highway that traverses it, linking Albuquerque and points east. It separates the Sandia Mountains to the north from the Manzano...
, and Kirtland Air Force Base
Kirtland Air Force Base
Kirtland Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base located in the southeast quadrant of the Albuquerque, New Mexico urban area, adjacent to the Albuquerque International Sunport. The base was named for the early Army aviator Col. Roy C. Kirtland...
.
The working title for the film was "The Last Hero," 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
Houston, Texas
Houston is the fourth-largest city in the United States, and the largest city in the state of Texas. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the city had a population of 2.1 million people within an area of . Houston is the seat of Harris County and the economic center of , which is the ...
on 24 May 1962.
Soundtrack
The score to Lonely Are the Brave was composed and conducted by Jerry GoldsmithJerry Goldsmith
Jerrald King Goldsmith was an American composer and conductor most known for his work in film and television scoring....
. Goldsmith's involvement in the picture was the result of a recommendation by veteran composer Alfred Newman
Alfred Newman
Alfred Newman was an American composer, arranger, and conductor of music for films.In a career which spanned over forty years, Newman composed music for over two hundred films. He was one of the most respected film score composers of his time, and is today regarded as one of the greatest...
who had been impressed with Goldsmith’s score on the television show Thriller and took it upon himself to recommend Goldsmith to the head of Universal Pictures
Universal Pictures
-1920:* White Youth* The Flaming Disc* Am I Dreaming?* The Dragon's Net* The Adorable Savage* Putting It Over* The Line Runners-1921:* The Fire Eater* A Battle of Wits* Dream Girl* The Millionaire...
’ music department, despite having never met him.
Cast notes
- Bill BixbyBill BixbyWilfred Bailey Everett “Bill” Bixby III was an American film and television actor, director, and frequent game show panelist.His career spanned over three decades; he appeared on stage, in motion pictures and TV series...
has a small part as an airman in a helicopter, his first film appearance. - This is one of the first film appearances of Carroll O'ConnorCarroll O'ConnorJohn Carroll O'Connor best known as Carroll O'Connor, was an American actor, producer and director whose television career spanned four decades...
(TV's All in the FamilyAll in the FamilyAll in the Family is an American sitcom that was originally broadcast on the CBS television network from January 12, 1971, to April 8, 1979. In September 1979, a new show, Archie Bunker's Place, picked up where All in the Family had ended...
) - Bill RaischBill RaischCarl William Raisch , was an American dancer and actor.A dancer who worked for Ziegfeld Follies in the 1930s, he lost his right arm while serving in the United States Navy in 1945 during World War II. He played bit parts in several movies; his most memorable film role was in a famous fight scene...
is the one-armed man who fights with Douglas in a memorable scene. The following year Raisch began menacing David JanssenDavid JanssenDavid Janssen was an American film and television actor who is best known for his starring role as Dr. Richard Kimble in the television series The Fugitive , the starring role in the 1950s hit detective series Richard Diamond, Private Detective , and as Harry Orwell on Harry O.In 1996 TV Guide...
in the classic TV series The FugitiveThe Fugitive (TV series)The Fugitive is an American drama series produced by QM Productions and United Artists Television that aired on ABC from 1963 to 1967. David Janssen stars as Richard Kimble, a doctor from the fictional town of Stafford, Indiana, who is falsely convicted of his wife's murder and given the death...
.
Awards
Kirk Douglas was nominated for a 1963 BAFTA Award as "Best Foreign Actor" for his work in Lonely Are the Brave, and placed third in the Laurel AwardsLaurel Awards
The Laurel Awards were cinema awards to honor pictures, actors, actresses, directors and composers. This award was created by Motion Picture Exhibitor magazine, and ran from 1958 to 1968, then 1970 and 1971....
for "Top Action Performance". The Motion Picture Sound Editors
Motion Picture Sound Editors
Founded in 1953, Motion Picture Sound Editors is an honorary society of motion picture sound editors. The society's goals are to educate others about and increase the recognition of the sound editors, show the artistic merit of the soundtracks, and improve the professional relationship of its...
, USA gave the film a "Golden Reel Award" for "Best Sound Editing", in a tie with Mutiny on the Bounty
Mutiny on the Bounty (1962 film)
Mutiny on the Bounty is a 1962 film starring Marlon Brando and Trevor Howard based on the novel Mutiny on the Bounty by Charles Nordhoff and James Norman Hall. The film retells the 1789 real-life mutiny aboard HMAV Bounty led by Fletcher Christian against the ship's captain, William Bligh...
.
Quotes
- Jerry Bondi (Gena Rowlands): "Believe you me, if it didn't take men to make babies I wouldn't have anything to do with any of you!"
- Jack Burns (Kirk Douglas): "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: "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?"
- Jack Burns: "I don't need [identification] cards to figure out who I am, I already know."