MovieChat Forums > Lonely Are the Brave (1962) Discussion > The Worst Ending Ever! (SPOILER!!!)

The Worst Ending Ever! (SPOILER!!!)

posted 16 years ago by gtak77
12 replies | jump to latest

Alright... before you all go nuts on me.

I don't mean "worst" in the sense of filmmaking technique, acting or even story telling.

I really liked this film. BIg fan of Kirk Douglas. And Westerns. And I try to make it a point never to second guess a writer's or director's choice...

But man... what a depressing end to the film. I know it makes a statement about the cowboy's place in modern times... but it was SUCH a bummer!

I actually like cynical films... and dark endings. Particularly in sci-fi. But after thoroughly enjoying this film from the beginning... they cut to Caroll O'Conner falling asleep at the wheel... And I KNEW what was about to happen.

And the Poor horse!!!

What's interesting is that this is almost the sort of film you would expect a little later in the sixties when all of Hollywood was turning cynical.

Alright... I just had to get that out of my system.

Go ahead... Lay it on me!

-----------

"You Smell Like a Rhinocerous"
Peter Ustinov in Spartacus

[–] ericrecchia 16 years ago

I dunno if you know this, but the movie is based on an excellent book, The Brave Cowboy, by Edward Abbey. In the book, Burns actually dies at the end, but that was too depressing for the movie I guess. And Abbey is quite the cynic when it comes to the modern industrial complex, though he did call himself an optimist, in the fact that he unfortunately wrongly believed that the industrial complex would collapse.

[–] struemper 16 years ago

I've always thought that Jack Burns comes back as the one-eyed cowboy in The Monkey Wrench Gang, and some of his other fiction books.

[–] 16 years ago

[deleted]

[–] thesnowleopard 16 years ago

Great movie. Horrible ending. Not "horrible" in the sense of "poorly done", but "horrible" in the sense of knowing it's coming and wishing there were some way to avoid it. I think I bawled harder over poor Whiskey than I did over Old Yeller. Well, I *was* all of six years old when I saw this movie. I didn't even remember the name of the movie until I saw the ad on TCM for it, but I was just trying to look it up a week ago. Yes, that's how much it's stuck with me over the past three and a half decades.

Even at that age, I "got" Douglas' character. I think it's an unpleasant (but true) comment on our society that we can't coexist with men like that. I think they *do* have a place, and a very important one, but that they are too big a threat to those running our society to be allowed to exist. That's something that should make us sit up and take notice.

I think I will give this one a miss when it comes back on TCM this weekend. It's a one-shot movie, not something you want to watch more than once, but you should watch it that once. I highly recommend it to those who haven't ever seen it.

http://www.geocities.com/rpcv.geo/other.html

[–] jdown-1 16 years ago

Yes, it was a downer but I felt you almost had to have this kind of ending, which of course symbolized the destruction of an old, romantic way of life by the new, crass way.

[–] generalrko 16 years ago

If you read Sam Sheppard's great play, "True West", you will get a better understanding of the scene. The speech made by Lee, the loner brother to Austin and Saul, is a testament to what the movie symbolizes. The ending is most appropriate.

[–] Druxy 15 years ago

I hate the ending, too. But, it's the right ending.

[–] ScarletPimpernel64 14 years ago

But Jack Burns won. He wasn't taken back. He did everything on his own terms, and if he couldn't live his own way, the he'd just as soon not live at all. That's why he won out in the final battle.

"So what else is on your mind besides 100 proof women, 90 proof whiskey, and 14 karat gold?"

[–] ecarle 13 years ago

But we don't know if Jack Burns("John W. Burns") lives OR dies. He's last seen being put into an ambulance and the attendant won't commit to Burns' future.

Seems to be hit hard enough TO die...but if he doesn't, more sadness ahead for Burns. In a cell.

--

One of the sad "realities" of "Lonely are the Brave" is that Burns' own rebellious nature seals his doom. It is not SIMPLY that he is "the last of the independent men" (so to speak) but that, when told by the cops he will be released for his bar fight...gets into a fight IN THE POLICE STATION that, he is told, will get him one year in jail instead of 30 days. He later tells his friend, "I can't (do that kind of time.")

Since Burns got into that fight to guarantee that he could get into jail to see his friend, his code of honor ends up matched by a certain fatalistic lack of vision: once he buys himself a whole year in jail(by starting the police station fight)...he buys himself life as a fugitive.

Or put another way, "Its his fault that ends up as he does."

A complex character.

[–] wtl471629 7 years ago

While there is still time why doesn't someone who can ask Douglas if the cowboy survives.

[–] Howlin Wolf 8 years ago

The last shot is great, though - Cowboy hat on the highway; last symbol of freedom, about to be tossed aside...



"Your mother puts license plates in your underwear? How do you sit?!"

[–] Cinemaskype 7 years ago

I thought it was a great ending. My interpretation was this:

Though it's uncertain as to whether he lives or dies, a loner with need to put wide open spaces between him and others, his constant and most loyal companion an animal, learns to trust people given the forgiving action of the sheriff and the legitimate concern of total strangers for his welfare.