Lonely Are The Brave (1962)

Dir. David Miller – 1962 – 107m – Valid for Punch Cards

From David Miller, the outstanding director of Flying Tigers, Sudden Fear, Midnight Lace, Captain Newman, M.D. and Executive Action, comes this contemporary western based on a novel by Edward Abbey (Fire on the Mountain) and adapted for the screen by the great Dalton Trumbo (Papillon). Hollywood legend Kirk Douglas (The Vikings) ignites the screen in his personal favorite role as a cowboy on a collision course with the modern world in Lonely Are the Brave. After landing himself in jail trying to break out his friend, Jack Burns (Douglas) finds himself alone and on the run from the law. Leading the manhunt is Sheriff Morey Johnson (Walter Matthau, Charley Varrick), who must bring Burns to justice despite his own sympathy for the fugitive. Co-starring Gena Rowlands (Gloria), George Kennedy (Thunderbolt and Lightfoot) and Carroll O’Connor (Point Blank) and featuring top-notch cinematography by Philip H. Lathrop (Experiment in Terror) with a rousing score by Jerry Goldsmith (100 Rifles) – an unforgettable portrait of a lawless man defying life in an orderly world.

“Such a shocking beginning is the first of many attributes that place this film as the best – and most atypical – western in which Jerry Goldsmith was involved throughout his professional career.” – Sergio Benítez, Espinof