An under-the-radar Western starring Kirk Douglas was declared the actor’s “unrecognized masterpiece” by well-respected critic Roger Ebert. Released in 1962, Lonely Are the Brave is a modern-day Western sH๏τ in black and white.

Lonely Are the Brave is one of several Westerns born from Kirk Douglas’ long career in Hollywood. When Douglas began to emerge as a leading actor in the early 1950s, the Western genre was among the mediums he dabbled in frequently, making movies such as Man Without a Star, The Big Sky, and The Last Train to Gun Hill.

In 1957, the actor enjoyed one of his memorable Western roles when he appeared in one of the many Wyatt Earp-Doc Holliday Westerns, The Gunfight at the OK Corral. A decade later, he teamed with John Wayne in the critically acclaimed 1967 film, The War Wagon. In between, he headlined in Lonely are the Brave, a film that doesn’t often doesn’t receive the attention it deserves.

Roger Ebert Considered Lonely Are The Brave To Be A Masterpiece

Although he never wrote a review for Lonely Are the Brave, Roger Ebert evidently admired Kirk Douglas’ work in the 1962 Western that he made with director David Miller. In his review of Charlton Heston’s Will Penny Western, Douglas considered the film’s “devotion to real life” as being on par with Lonely Are the Brave, which he called Kirk Douglas’ “unrecognized masterpiece.“

“Masterpiece” is a strong word, and one that conveys a high regard for the film. The Western, which has a 93% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, sees Kirk Douglas play a cowboy longing for adventure, so much that he helps a man escape from prison, unaware that he doesn’t actually want help. Naturally, his actions result in an intense manhunt of his own making.

Lonely Are The Brave Was Kirk Douglas’ Favorite Of His Own Films

Kirk Douglas Was Extremely Proud Of Lonely Are The Brave, For Similar Reasons

Apparently, Kirk Douglas shared Roger Ebert’s appreciation for the 1962 Western. In fact, Douglas cited the film as one of the films he was the proudest of in an article where he offered his thoughts on several of his own movies.

Douglas recalled having a bad experience making Lonely Are the Brave, especially in terms of safety measures on the set (or lack thereof) and his difficulties getting along with the director, David Miller. To put into perspective just how much he disliked the process, he even went as far as to say that his “best relationship” on the set was with the horse.

From the looks of things, the finished product was satisfying enough that Douglas was able to look past all that, given that he was able to call it his “favorite movie.”

Douglas praised the arc his character was given in the story, which he said had a “perfect screenplay, – one draft, no revisions.” As he wrote in the article, “I love the theme that if you try to be an individual, society will crush you.”

Douglas said in another interview, with Roger Ebert, that Lonely are the Brave was “a movie that communicated on all levels,” contrasting it with “some foreign horses*** about an actor chewing for twenty minutes,” [via RogerEbert.com]

What Went Wrong With Lonely Are The Brave

Lonely Are The Brave Is A Hidden Gem, But It Shouldn’t Be

Unfortunately, its reputation with critics like Roger Ebert isn’t matched by its financial profits. Lonely Are the Brave underperformed at the box office, thus limiting its potential to become a beloved, mainstream Western classic in the same vein as The Magnificent Seven or The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.

Kirk Douglas himself has acknowledged the film’s failures in that regard, linking its issues with the marketing. As Douglas pointed out, he intended the movie to be тιтled The Last Cowboy. Such a тιтle would have fit with the overarching theme of a man holding on to values of a bygone Western era.

That “simplicity” was something Douglas liked, but the studio (Universal) disagreed, instead opting for what Douglas called a “nothing тιтle.” Using Douglas’ preferred тιтle most likely would have been more effective in selling the movie’s underlying concept.

Marketing, as well as its distribution, seemingly made matters worse. According to Turner Classic Movies, Universal “dumped it in theaters as if it was another run-of-the-mill Western,” rather than release it in art houses first and develop its reputation with critics that way before a widescale release, which is what Kirk Douglas had wanted.

Instead, Lonely Are the Brave emerged as a box office disappointment. Even so, it was a solid effort from Kirk Douglas, and easily one of the actor’s best movies.

Sources: Turner Classic Movies, Roger Ebert, Huffington Post