Lonely are the Brave
| Lonely Are the Brave | |
|---|---|
Theatrical poster
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| Directed by | David Miller |
| Produced by | Edward Lewis |
| Written by | Edward Abbey (novel) |
| Screenplay by | Dalton Trumbo |
| Starring | |
| Music by |
Jerry Goldsmith Joseph Gershenson |
| Cinematography | Philip H. Lathrop |
| Edited by | Leon Barsha |
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Production
company |
Joel Productions
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| Distributed by | Universal Pictures |
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Release date
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Running time
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107 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $2 million |
Lonely Are the Brave is a 1962 Western drama film adaptation of the Edward Abbey novel The Brave Cowboy. The film was directed by David Miller from a screenplay by Dalton Trumbo.
It stars Kirk Douglas as cowboy Jack Burns, Gena Rowlands as his best friend's wife and Walter Matthau as a sheriff who sympathises with Burns but must do his job and chase him down. It also featured an early score by composer Jerry Goldsmith. Douglas felt that this was his favorite film.
John W. "Jack" Burns (Kirk Douglas) 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 identification such as a driver's license or draft card. He can't provide an address because he just sleeps wherever he finds a place.
As Burns crosses a highway into a town in New Mexico, his horse Whiskey has a difficult time crossing the road, confused and scared by the traffic. They enter town to visit Jerry (Gena Rowlands). She is the wife of an old friend, Paul Bondi (Michael Kane), 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.
To break Bondi out of jail, Burns decides he himself needs to get arrested. After a violent barroom fight against a one-armed man (Bill Raisch) in which he is forced to use only one arm himself, Burns is arrested. When the police decide to let him go, he deliberately punches a cop to get himself re-arrested. He is now facing a probable sentence of a year in jail, which allows him to see Bondi, with a purpose of helping him escape. The town is a sleepy border town and the cops are mostly bored, occasionally dealing with minor offenses. The Sheriff, Morey Johnson (Walter Matthau), has to compel them to pay attention to their duties at times. During the course of the story, the seemingly unrelated progress of a tractor-trailer truck carrying toilets, driven by Carroll O'Connor, is inter-cut with the principal events.
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Wikipedia