Lonely are the Brave

Lonely Are the Brave (1962)

  • 90% of critics liked it
    (10 reviews)

  • 80% of users liked it
    (963 ratings)

Although it never quite escapes the pitfalls of pretension, this film was Kirk Douglas's bid for the affections of the art house crowd, and it remains one of his best efforts. The star plays unreconstructed "rugged individual" Jack Burns, who rides throughout the modern west knocking… More

Unrated,
Directed By
Genres
Western, Drama
In Theaters
May 24, 1962 Wide
Universal Studios

Critic Reviews

  • Fernando F. Croce, CinePassion

    David Miller builds sturdily on Philip Lathrop's widescreen cinematography, but Douglas and Dalton Trumbo's screenplay are the auteurs here

  • Emanuel Levy, EmanuelLevy.Com

    Kirk Douglas produced and starred in this elegiac Western, scripted by Dalton Trumbo, which laments the vanishing Old West, its heroes and their mores, replaced by a modern world dominated by progress and technology.

  • Christian Toto, What Would Toto Watch?

    Kirk Douglas remains the epitome of the rugged individual in the classic neo-western Lonely Are the Brave

  • Pablo Villaca, Cinema em Cena

    Douglas oferece uma atuação curiosamente divertida, mas o roteiro de Dalton Trumbo (normalmente um mestre) fracassa ao se concentrar na longa perseguição em vez de fornecer elementos para que possamos comprender melhor as motivações do protagonista.

  • Dennis Schwartz, Ozus' World Movie Reviews

    One of only a few Kirk Douglas films where the hammy actor didn't want to make me gag.

Read all 6 critic reviews

See more critic ratings and reviews on Rotten Tomatoes

Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)

Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)

Featured Audience Ratings

  • jay n


    Observant drama of a maverick cowboy whose way of life has almost entirely disappeared. What he perceives as a good deed for a friend turns out to ultimately be a life and death struggle for him. Excellent work by a cast of familiar faces with Walter Matthau very good as a world weary… More

  • Randy T


    I'm beginning to wonder if Kirk Douglas ever gave a bad performance. If you only know him from <i>Spartacus</i> then you don't know what you're missing. His lesser known films, like <i>Ace in the Hole</i>, <i>Champion</i>,… More

  • Michael G


    Lonely are the Brave is an underrated classic that never seemed to get is due. A mostly great story (I did nod off a couple times but to the film's credit, it was past 4AM), some great acting (this movie--along with Ace in the Hole--is a monument to my underappreciation of Kirk… More

  • Stella D


    ok i got sucked into this one. cowboy vs. modern world; not a huge fan of westerns or douglas but this was a heartbreaker. great script by dalton trumbo tho i'm not sure who came up with that title lol. with walter matthau, lovely young gena rowlands, oh, and george kennedy… More

  • cody f


    Great Kirk Douglas performance,one of his best. He is a old school cowboy dealing with modern times. The Frontier has been taken over by fences, cars, and laws and Kirk was born in the wrong century. He is a good man with outdated ideals that are crushing him. Walter Matthau is… More

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Cast

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