Movie Review: Half Moon Bay Coastside Film Society October Feature
Lonely are the Brave
Presented on Friday, Oct. 22, 2010 8 p.m.
Oct. 1, 2010 — Jack Burns (Kirk Douglas) is an old-time cowboy still rolling his own smokes in 1962. He gets himself tossed into jail on a drunk charge to spring a friend (Michael Kane). The friend is quite happy where he is. So Jack escapes by himself, in the process branding himself as a serious criminal. If they catch him again they are going to throw away the key. Jack bolts for the Mexican border on his trusty horse Whiskey. Sheriff Johnson (Walter Matthau) admires Jack’s pluck, but feels duty-bound to use all his newfangled jeeps and helicopters to chase Jack down. All the while Carroll O’Connor is barreling down the highway with a truckload of toilets.
“The performances are strong. Matthau and Gena Rowlands are particularly memorable. But it is Douglas’ film. He … exerts his presence and believability in the role of the man who wants to keep his soul free. The director David Miller never did anything better, and although it was not particularly successful at the box office, it has come to be regarded as one of the American classics of the 1960s.” — George Perry, BBC
107 minutes.
