Lonely Are the Brave
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Archived from the IMDb Discussion Forums — Western
MortSahlFan — 6 years ago(July 23, 2019 10:37 PM)
If you've seen this, what do you think it means to you? I'd love to discuss this movie. Kirk Douglas' favorite movie. And Gena Rowlands, who I think is the greatest.
And in retrospect, what do you think of modern society, and the loss of freedom?
Also, if you know of any similar movies with quality, preferably between 1930-70s, I (and perhaps many others) would appreciate it.
"'Cause I'm a loner clear down deep to my guts. 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."
https://www.patreon.com/LoyalOpposition -
wmcclain — 3 years ago(April 04, 2023 09:56 PM)
Lonely Are the Brave (1962)
, directed by David Miller.
The cowboy wakes up to see jet trails crossing the sky and we know we are long past the End of the West. After cutting some fence wire that is in his way he moves toward town. His young filly "Whiskey" is still in training and has a hard time crossing the busy highway. And yet: on the other side of the road is a pile of old junked cars, like a graveyard of industrial civilization.
If it is horses vs the internal combustion engine, who will win in the long run? We revisit the highway crossing in the tragic final scene and see who wins and who loses. This time.
I saw this many years ago and remembered it as "heavy", probably because of the sadistic beating Kirk Douglas receives when he gets himself thrown in jail to break out his best friend. Now I see that is off-scene and, although cruel, does not bring down the tone as much as I thought. He spits out a molar and says "I hate to lose one of the big ones". He worries the empty space in his jaw for the rest of the film.
Our cowboy does break out, fetches Whiskey, and with the police closing in makes a tense, exciting trek up into the hills. If he can just make it to the rim it is forest all the way to Mexico.
This is beautifully composed and photographed throughout, with often stunning panoramas of the New Mexico flats as seen from high up in the hills:
The cast:
Kirk Douglas
was an intense actor, but I think performed so much better when he dialed it back, as he does here. I don't think I've ever seen better work from him.
Gena Rowlands
just shines. Her frustration with men is understandable: her husband is in jail for being too noble, leaving her and their son alone for two years, and their best friend is an anarchist cowboy who can't obey the rules.
George Kennedy
in his second film role as the cruel deputy.
Walter Matthau
as the calm, sardonic sheriff. He has to catch the cowboy but privately is on his side.
Carroll O'Connor
has his own plotline as a trucker hauling a load of toilets cross country to New Mexico. We know the stories will come together and the meeting can't be good.
Others: William Schallert, Bill Bixby, Karl Swenson (the "it's the end of the world!" drunk in
The Birds (1963)
).
Notes:
You might include this in the "End of the West" genre. Others:
Ride the High Country (1962)
,
Monte Walsh (1970)
,
Junior Bonner (1972)
.
A little gem of a scene: the goodbye between Douglas and Rowlands. They hug and kiss – for
real
– and exchange uncomfortable glances. No need for guilt; both are loyal to her husband and wise enough to know it is time to hit the trail.
Our hero could have escaped if he'd left his horse. He tried, but couldn't. Loyalty again. A strength or a weakness?
The horse and horse-wrangler deserve great credit for their work. Scrambling up the slope looks like it was a dangerous, difficult effort.
This is an adaptation of Edward Abbey's
The Brave Cowboy
. I don't remember much about it, but from Abbey's other books he seemed like a terrible misanthrope, finding humans a disgusting species. His "monkeywrenching" inspired eco-saboteurs.
Filmed in and around Albuquerque.
Screenplay by Dalton Trumbo. First draft, no revisions.
Score by Jerry Goldsmith, his first feature film credit.
Photographed by Philip H. Lathrop –
The Americanization of Emily (1964)
,
The Cincinnati Kid (1965)
,
Point Blank (1967)
,
The Gypsy Moths (1969)
,
Hard Times (1975)
,
The Driver (1978)
.
Available on Blu-ray from Kino. Howard S. Berger and Steve Mitchell provide an excited, appreciative commentary track. They say:
Everyone hated the title.
Every bit of camera and lighting gear had to be packed up the mountain by horse, mule, or human. Including a wind machine that was destroyed by high winds.
Kirk Douglas spoke fondly of the picture and praised everyone involved apart from the director, who he thought was not up to the job. Since the commenters find this to be a meticulously designed and well directed pictures, they think it more likely that Douglas was complaining about a director who wouldn't let him run the show.
Capsule film reviews:
Strange Picture Scroll -
MortSahlFan — 3 years ago(April 06, 2023 12:18 PM)
To answer your question, I think his loyalty was his strength. I doubt he could have lived with himself any other way.
https://www.patreon.com/LoyalOpposition -
joekiddlouischama — 2 years ago(June 30, 2023 05:25 AM)
Lonely Are the Brave
is one of my favorites and certainly stands as one of the best, most memorable modern Westerns ever made. (I have seen it on four occasions: in the summer of 2000, May 2002, December 2002, and November 2017, the first two screenings coming via letterboxed VHS and the last two on Turner Classic Movies. I was nineteen when I first viewed the film.) It is an excellent allegory about the integrity of the individual amid an increasingly commercialized and remote, bureaucratized world. Kirk Douglas is perfect for the protagonist's role, the caliber of the writers—Dalton Trumbo and Edward Abbey—is stunning, and director David Miller visualizes and paces the movie expertly, blending a classic Western scope with intimate, humanistic detail. Thanks for starting this thread.
By the way,
Lean on Pete
, a genuinely "great" film from 2018, seems to pay homage to
Lonely Are the Brave
and certainly makes for a contemporary comparison piece. It, too, is an authentic modern Western, beautifully shot with a real sense of integrity and an uncompromising yet humanistic ethos. I saw it twice in the theater, and if you have not viewed it, you will want to do so. -
MortSahlFan — 2 years ago(June 30, 2023 04:31 PM)
Did you think the (long) jail scenes took away from the focus of the movie? I mean, dedicating so much time to see a sharp object cut the bars is … time filler felt it became part of a caper (after delving in romance, but still being faithful to his individualism)
https://www.patreon.com/LoyalOpposition -
joekiddlouischama — 2 years ago(July 01, 2023 04:03 AM)
Did you think the (long) jail scenes took away from the focus of the movie? I mean, dedicating so much time to see a sharp object cut the bars is … time filler felt it became part of a caper (after delving in romance, but still being faithful to his individualism)
I never came away with that impression, by which I mean that I have not seen the film in a few years and you could possess a point, but your potential complaint has never been part of my memory of the movie.
By the way, another film of similar quality, setting, and theme is
The Misfits
, directed by John Huston and starring Clark Gable in his final role and Marilyn Monroe in her final feature role (perhaps her best), while also featuring Montgomery Clift, Eli Wallach, and Thelma Ritter. It, too, is elegiac, shot in elegant black-and-white, and had been released just one year earlier in 1961.
Indeed, late on Saturday night, December 21, 2002, I viewed both
The Misfits
and
Lonely Are the Brave
, and seeing them in close proximity proved fitting.
https://www.angelfire.com/ab/hotbot/zTCM2002dec.html -
MortSahlFan — 2 years ago(July 02, 2023 05:20 PM)
A fine movie. John Huston is one of my favorites, but it has been a while since I've seen it.
https://www.patreon.com/LoyalOpposition -
joekiddlouischama — 2 years ago(June 30, 2023 05:35 AM)
The cast:
Kirk Douglas was an intense actor, but I think performed so much better when he dialed it back, as he does here. I don't think I've ever seen better work from him.
Gena Rowlands just shines. Her frustration with men is understandable: her husband is in jail for being too noble, leaving her and their son alone for two years, and their best friend is an anarchist cowboy who can't obey the rules.
George Kennedy in his second film role as the cruel deputy.
Walter Matthau as the calm, sardonic sheriff. He has to catch the cowboy but privately is on his side.
Carroll O'Connor has his own plotline as a trucker hauling a load of toilets cross country to New Mexico. We know the stories will come together and the meeting can't be good.
Others: William Schallert, Bill Bixby, Karl Swenson (the "it's the end of the world!" drunk in The Birds (1963)).
Indeed, the casting and acting are truly outstanding, especially Douglas and Rowlands.