Lonely Are the Brave

• Kirk Douglas: John W. "Jack" Burns
• Gena Rowlands: Jerry Bondi
• Walter Matthau: Sheriff Morey Johnson
• Michael Kane: Paul Bondi
• George Kennedy: Deputy Gutierrez
• William Schallert: Harry
• Carroll O'Connor: truck driver Hinton
• Bill Raisch: One-Armed Man

Lonely are the Brave (English title: Lonely Are the Brave ) is an American film drama from 1962, the screenplay based on the novel The brave cowboy of the American writer Edward Abbey..

Action

The prairie in the American southwest. A typical Western landscape. A cowboy and his horse take a rest. As the cowboy is woken up by an approaching noise. He looks at the sky and sees three jet fighters chase away about him, drawing the white contrails in the sky.

It is the " Wild West " anno 1953: Cowboy Jack Burns lives his life on their own terms, as a cowboy of the 19th century. He has no fixed abode, no ID and no steady job. He earns his money as a seasonal worker on various ranches of the American Southwest. When he gets on his horse Whiskey in a city to New Mexico to visit his friend Paul Bondi, he learns that his friend is serving a two -year prison sentence because he has helped illegal immigrants.

The truck driver Hinton is at the same time on his way from Joplin ( Missouri) to New Mexico. He is under time pressure to deliver a truckload of toilet bowls.

Burns concludes his friend Paul to free and therefore instigates in a brawl at a bar to get into the lock, and to free his friend. But refuses to come along. So Burns must break out alone. Henceforth he is being chased by sheriff Johnson. He flees with his horse in the mountains to escape across the border to Mexico in the hope there would not follow him to the sheriff and his men.

But Sheriff Johnson is persistent and even calls for a helicopter of the army. As Burns manages to get the helicopter from the sky, he seems to have done it. However, in the pouring rain while crossing the border road to Mexico afraid his horse and they are hit by the truck driver from Joplin, who is now nearing his goal. Seriously injured are Jack and his horse by the roadside. Sheriff Johnson comes in and does not seem to have delighted gets hunted. He lets Jack's horse by one of his people to redeem and Jack is taken away in an ambulance.

Music

The music by Jerry Goldsmith reinforces the sad melancholy tone of the film. In the first half, first by introspective and subtle companion pieces that are adapted to the quiet moments and emphasize Jack's character and a little more human and warm let him act as if he might actually be. Later in prison Jacks imminent eruption, the music creates an atmosphere of despair. In the second half, with Jack escape through the mountains, highlights the dramatic music by temperamental outbursts the superhuman effort that Jack takes it upon himself to get over that propel himself and his hesitant horse of the mountains.

Goldsmith managed with his soundtrack for " Lonely are the Brave " at the time his breakthrough as a film composer, and a little reminiscent of some of the motifs from the title track from his later "Rambo " soundtrack. His famous composer colleague Bernard Herrmann once said: " His music is too good for this movie ."

Reviews

• Malte Krüger: "... It is not surprising that Kirk Douglas " Lonely are the Brave repeated " as has called his favorite movie because he is with his animalistic energy for the role of Jack Burns and provides the ideal person is one of his best performances. from .... but especially in the final scene accomplishes Kirk Douglas a theatrical masterpiece, in the discipline, which is one of the most difficult exercises for actors, namely to show the face in close-up, without trading physically ... "

• Kino.de ".... Director David Miller delivered with " Lonely are the Brave " arguably the best performance of his career - even if the film at the box office, leaving less impression, he is considered one of the classics of American cinema of the 60s ... "

Background

On the bonus features of the DVD release tells Kirk Douglas, that this film is his favorite movie. His son Michael Douglas and director Steven Spielberg called him one of the best films of Kirk Douglas. Kirk Douglas leads in the interview on the DVD with a wink that the film, unfortunately, have a serious drawback, his horse Whiskey stole him the show, because most of the audience would have liked the horse more than him.

Dalton Trumbo, a screenwriter from Hollywood classics such as A Roman Holiday (1953), Spartacus (1960 ) and Papillon (1973 ), was because of his membership in the Communist Party and its refusal to testify before the Committee on Un-American Activities eleven months in prison and was on Hollywood blacklisted. He worked for many years under a pseudonym. Only with Spartacus appeared his real name back into the film titles after produced and starred Kirk Douglas had lobbied for it.

The one-armed actor Bill Raisch, with the Douglas plays the fight scene in the bar, is the performer of the one-armed man in the television series The Fugitive. He was also a frequent stunt double for his friend Burt Lancaster