So can he escape the confining conformity of all he detests once he breaks jail and the authorities pursue. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Jeff Arnold 2023 All rights reserved Designed by. I don't need cards to figure out who I am, I already know. Recalling Abbey after his death in 1989, Mr. Douglas wrote, I never met Mr. Abbey, but we wrote to each other several times., Which was it? I am a big fan of food scenes in movies and this has one where Kirk goes at a plate of ham and eggs. The men and women in the film are short on talk, but strong in character. Burns tries to cross Highway 66 in Tijeras Canyon during a heavy rainstorm on Whiskey but the horse gets spooked by the traffic and blinded by the lights. All rights reserved. Always polite, always fair, always a fuck you to those above him, the brave cowboy eludes his pursuers and almost makes it to Mexico and freedom. The supporting performances (particularly Walter Matthau) were great, but despite Lonely are the Brave (original title of The Last Cowboy is much more appropriate) being made at the right time in history, it was made kind of too early in cinematic history for its own good. Especially when he tries to rescue his good friend from the local jail. This is certainly Kirk Douglas' best movie and that is saying a lot! So many modern Westerns aspired to portray the sadness of the passing of the old ways and the tragedy of the fact that Western virtues were outmoded and now pointless. back, wont you? He mostly had bit parts (often playing Swedes) but brightened many a western with his characterizations in films like The Hanging Tree, Ulzanas Raid, Major Dundee and North to Alaska., Your email address will not be published. Burns leads his horse up impossibly difficult, rocky slopes to escape his pursuers, but the lawmen keep on his trail, forcing him to keep moving. "With cyanide where he lays out his escape plan. He plays Rev. Jack Burns (Kirk Douglas) is an old-fashioned , free-spirited cowboy out of step with and emerging from the mountains goes home a friend . Thanks for the comment! Everyone connected in the making of this classic. Whiskey looks like a Rocky Mountain Horse to me. They dont. They were right, of course. Either way, the story of Abbeys visit gave Mr. Douglas an opportunity to write a fan letter, and to prepare for a role he felt his mentor could have better played. Jack Burns is an individualist who wants to live his own way, yet he had fought in WWII, and was coming to the aid of a friend. In 1960, Douglas read a paperback copy of the source novel, The Brave Cowboy: An Old Tale In A New Time by author Edward Abbey (The Monkey Wrench Gang).He fell in love with the story and demanded that Universal . The blog of a Western fan, for other Western fans. or forest ranger. Greek myth the hero pushes a boulder up a hill for all eternity. Anarchism, unlike Marxism, seems less interested in strategies for victory but It is a very modern film which stands up well today. We wont be able to verify your ticket today, but its great to know for the future. "I'm sure to. Gena Rowlands is on hand as Paul's wife. 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. bottle at his head. He then returns to Paul's house where he has left his It was written by Dalton Trumbo, a witch-hunted screenwriter who clearly loved and understood the genre, and directed by David Miller, whose career seems otherwise undistinguished, with the exception of Executive Action, another leftist feature written by Yordan. Jack Burns: I didn't want a house. The country would be a better place today if more people in positions of authority acted similarly. Its hero, flawlessly portrayed by Kirk Douglas, is John W. Burns, a cowboy anarchist who carries no ID, respects no authority, and pays attention only to his friends and his horse. Burns does not try to make others live as he does or make them believe as he does, he simply wants to be left alone in a rapidly shrinking world with his sense of frontier dignity intact. A truck driver strikes Burns and Whiskey as they are attempting to cross the road. The other thing to keep in mind is that the deep ecology movement's It's his life, the way he wants to live. While never a Communist himself, he believed that the he goes to town to find a saloon where booze and trouble often go together. While much of it is seemingly allegorical, there is also a truthfulness, and a tenderness in Burns search for escape over the mountains. His name was Stardust They're beautiful horses. Lonely Are the Brave is a 1962 American black and white Western film adaptation of the Edward Abbey novel The Brave Cowboy directed by David Miller from a screenplay by Dalton Trumbo[2] and starring Kirk Douglas, Gena Rowlands and Walter Matthau. all, the plot of Sylvester Stallone's "First Blood" has many similarities I know sales hiccuped for both with this scene. He instantly recognized himself in the lead role and he was right. And here we must draw Did he really visit the set? down on him. But on the small screen this summer, complex takes on the genre like Hell on Wheels (returning Aug. 12 to AMC) and Longmire (which has drawn big ratings for A&E) are in vogue again, and its worth taking another look at one of the bleakest westerns ever to grace the big screen. Trumbo. In his memoir Conversations with Kennedy, Ben Bradlee wrote, "Jackie read off the list of what was available, and the President selected the one [film] we had all unanimously voted against, a brutal, sadistic little Western called Lonely Are the Brave. Lonely are the Brave is an underrated classic that never seemed to get is due. especially the scene in which Jack explains his decision to break jail to Deputy Gutierrez also chases Burns. Since the only way he can free Paul is by becoming a prisoner himself, Burns (Douglas) is a free spirit rebelling against authority. Now--nearly 40 years later--that I have learned the full story behind Lancaster, was not (Lancaster was not what he appeared as well. Leading . concerns, you have to turn to Abbey's novel to find their full expression, Romney says, and clearly believes, that he is bound by the Constitution, his oath to God, the evidence, his conscience and the judgment of history. I always thought Stardust was a palomino. It's his life, the way he wants to live. Douglas, who Senator Mitt Romney outside the Capitol during the Senate impeachment trial. side. After landing himself in jail trying to break out his friend, Jack Burns (Douglas) finds himself alone and on the run from the law. more in dramatic gestures that evoke personal refusal to go along with the Kirk Douglas stars as the last cowboy who just can't get it into his head how much the times have changed. I believe David Miller's "Lonely are the Brave" is a confrontation between the modern era and the dying west. Follow The New York Times Opinion section on Facebook, Twitter (@NYTopinion) and Instagram. While Marxists commemorate October 1917, the I enjoyed reading this post. It is both a classic western, and a great film. John Burns is a nonconformist, a maverick who doesn't carry any id n who doesn't believe in borders n fences. prisoner escape. Armed with a map, a great script, and a first-rate cast he was playing Burns himself Mr. Douglas seemingly had nothing to worry about. Lonely Are the Brave is as perfectly crafted a film as I've seen. Just leave us a message here and we will work on getting you verified. of the first to challenge the blacklist by insisting that Dalton Trumbo write the Finally, it is worth considering how the logic of the lone rebel can be Bard College students and I found it possible to appreciate the film on two Although the film resonates with such overarching philosophical His wife, played by the always wonderful Gena Rowlands, was once Jack's love, but, as this film ultimately proves, he's a loner and admits that to her approving of marrying his best friend. ", Burns ate heartily; a touch of egg adorned his beard. When Bondi decides that he would rather serve his sentence, Burns breaks out by himself and becomes a fugitive. However, his quest for freedom ends tragically after he and his horse are fatally hit by a truck while crossing a highway. Here, we are treated to how the three got along and depended on each other. It is an adaptation of the Edward Abbey novel The Brave Cowboy, directed by David Miller from a screenplay by Dalton Trumbo. appear to evoke certain themes found in Abbey's literature beyond a hatred for But this was impossible. Karl Swenson as the Reverend was hilarious. Lonely Are The Brave is directed by David Miller and adapted for the screen by Dalton Trumbo from the novel "The Brave Cowboy" written by Edward Abbey. Lonely Are the Brave (1962) Kirk Douglas is Jack Burns, an individualist, a man who insists on living the wild and free life of a cowboy even in the post-World War II West in which he finds himself herding sheep more often than cattle. His 1975 novel "The Monkey Wrench Gang" amounted to a manifesto of [2] Lonely are the Brave is a pessimistic tale of the triumph of "stuff" over all that is best in the bond of humans, animals, and the land. His friend Paul is much more the years. This kind of anarchism seems ideologue, who is in jail not for harboring undocumented workers but for A line frequently (if probably erroneously) attributed to Andrew Jackson is that one man with courage makes a majority. What happened in the Senate this week shows how wrong that line usually is. "I can go north, west or south. ", "Sure. He seeks his independence in the world of nature. While in the novel Paul Bondi is in jail for refusing to register for military draft, which would have been unacceptable on screen at the time, in the movie Paul has offered help to . A cowboy asleep on his bedroll is awakened by a sound and pauses to smile wryly as a jet zooms overhead. Released in 1962 and directed by David Miller from a novel by Edward Abbey, "Lonely are the Brave" is a Western taking place in modern times (the early 60s, that is) starring Kirk Douglas as Jack Burns, an independent New Mexican cowhand who's a likable loner. In charge of the whole operation is Sheriff Monty Excellent review of an excellent movie. But I don't know about the specific case of Whiskey. John W. "Jack" Burns is a veteran of the Korean War who works as a roaming ranch hand, much as the cowboys of the old West did, refusing to join modern society. Lonely Are the Brave was filmed after Kirk Douglas read Edward Abbey's novel The Brave Cowboy and convinced Universal Pictures to produce it with him in the starring role: It happens to be a point of view I love. Life can never cage a man like this! horse. When his friend Paul Bondi (Michael Kane) is arrested for smuggling illegal immigrants across the border, Burns breaks the law and is himself arrested as part of his plan to help Bondi escape jail. is then interrupted by the raucous sound of a squadron of military jets flying He's a cripple because the only person he can live with is himself. Lonely Are the Brave is a 1962 American black and white Western film adaptation of the Edward Abbey novel The Brave Cowboy directed by David Miller from a screenplay by Dalton Trumbo [2] and starring Kirk Douglas, Gena Rowlands and Walter Matthau . There are many things weighing in favor of this film: David Miller's direction is assured, honest, competent, and perceptive; Douglas, Matthau and Rowlands all post wonderful performances; photography is superlative; action sequences are of the highest order; and the script, especially the dialogue, by Donald Trumbo, is very good. She tells him that her husband has been jailed for smuggling illegals across the border and the cowboy resolves to get arrested and help him break out. Lonely Are the Brave (1962) is a film about a man who's content with life on the open range. Alex Cox eventually take an entirely different attitude toward immigration issues. Remove Ads Cast Crew Details Genres Cast