The Brave One

Mostly really good things here. It gets a little slow and repetitive in places.

The authenticity of the settings and the beautiful photography make it stand out from other pet stories. It does not feel like a Hollywood product

The story is not fresh, but to have the pet be a bull is. The era in which the story is told is different from today giving the film a lot of flavor (the priest blessing the animals).

The movie starts with a funeral procession for the main character's mother. It is understandable how Gitano became so important to me.

Lovely experience.

In Mexico, peasant boy Leonardo saves a calf in a storm which killed the mother cow. He raises it lovingly as his own Gitano. The cow was a gift to his father from Don Alejandro and eventually Gitano as well. After the Don's death, Gitano is nevertheless auctioned off as part of the estate. Leonardo sets off to save his beloved bull before it is killed in a bullfighting ring.

It's an American film of a Mexico story with confusing writing credit. It did win the writing Oscar which has since been reissued to blacklisted writer Dalton Trumbo. I'm not sure if this deserved it, but awards are not exact science. I would have simplified the ownership back and forth in the first half of the movie. I would let the peasant family assume until the authorities take away the bull due to an unfair law interpretation. That would be a cleaner and more compelling story. I do really like the Mexican flavors despite this being an American film. The bullfighting may be cruel to some, but is nevertheless very compelling.

When I read the summary for "The Brave One", I wasn't eager to watch the film. After all, it sounded like a sappy movie targeted towards kids. Boy, was I wrong!

The story surprised me in many ways. Instead of making it in Hollywood, filming it in black & white, and having all sorts of negative or paternalistic Mexican stereotypes, the story managed to have none of these. Instead, it's obvious someone at RKO really cared about the project and a lot of love and attention was given in order to make this more than just another Hollywood film.

Soon after the story begins, a cow is injured and is dying. But fortunately, her baby survives and is raised by Leonardo (Michel Ray). The boy loves that little calf and over time they become inseparable. Unfortunately, the bull is also destined for the bull ring one day and much of the story shows the boy's efforts to save his beloved Gitano.

While the story might sound sappy, it was very well executed. I also appreciate that the Mexican people are shown in a very good light...like real people, not stereotypes. The story also ended wonderfully...and you'll need to have some Kleenex nearby just in case. Well worth seeing, but also NOT a film for young kids...or, better yet, see the movie with them. This is because the bullfighting scenes, while sanitized, are still pretty gory and disturbing.

The Brave One was beautifully crafted in 1957 by blacklisted author Robert Rich and immediately established itself as a superb classic. The tale is of a small Mexican boy and his enduring love for his courageous pet bull. Set in Mexico, a boy discovers a cow has been killed after delivering and orphaning a male offspring. Naming the calf Gitano, The boy become it's friend and caretaker. Realizing the boy's loneliness, the parents encourage the bond, but fail to emphasis the eventual fate of the animal. Throughout the Calf's life the boy's love inexorably growing unaware of his parent's financial responsibility to the bull's true owner. By the time the animal has grown to market size and becomes a cash commodity, the boy's parents are torn between their son's love and their duty to the Patrone. Using subterfuge, the parents separate the two. Returning from a fool's errand, the boy discovers his best friend and lifetime companion has been sold for the purpose of bull fighting and its eventual destruction. Despite the frantic warnings of his parents that it's too late to save the animal, the small boy adroitly played by Michel Rey, sets off to save his courageous friend from certain death. The boy visits everyone from the Patrone to the Governnor of Mexico in a vain attempt to alter the fate of his pet. The film culminates with the boy's magnificent bravery before an arena filled with spectators. True love for any animal has never had a more poignant test of love and courage. For any viewer with a human heart, this tear-wrenching film will leave you joyfully weeping. ****

The King Brothers commissioned this screenplay from blacklisted Dalton Trumbo and, in 1957, it earned an Oscar for Best Story. A claim that the story, "Emilio and Bull" by Paul Rader, submitted to the Kings in 1951, was the basis for the script was settled out of court. Perhaps, inspiration was provided by Albert Lamorisse's magnificent French short "White Mane" (1953), another story of a small boy, who develops a rapport with a big animal, that adults also claim for commercial purposes. But this Technicolor, Cinemascope feature film, set in Mexico, with a score by Victor Young, received much more attention and praise. It is a pleasure to visit Mexico City in 1956, to see the handsome old cars and enter the ring with the bullfighters. Director Irving Rapper gets good performances from all, including the bull and Trumbo handles the rising suspense masterfully.