''The Brave One'' is a 1956

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super- ...

directed by

Irving Rapper Irving Rapper (16 January 1898 – 20 December 1999) was a British-born American film director. Biography Born to a Jewish family

and starring

Michel Ray Michel Ray de Carvalho (born in Gerrards Cross, Buckinghamshire, on 21 July 1944) is a British financier, former Olympic skier and luger, and former child actor in films such as '' The Brave One'', ''The Tin Star'', and ''Lawrence of Arabia'' (u ...

, Rodolfo Hoyos Jr., and

Elsa Cárdenas Elsa Cárdenas Rentería (born 3 August 1932) is a Mexican actress. Since 1954 she has appeared in more than 100 films and television shows. She starred in the film ''Happiness'', which was entered into the 7th Berlin International Film Festival. ...

. It tells the story of a Mexican boy who tries to save his beloved bull Gitano from a deadly duel against a champion matador. ''The Brave One'' was the last film to win the

Academy Award for Best Story The Academy Award for Best Story was an Academy Award given from the beginning of the Academy Awards until 1956. This award can be a source of confusion for modern audiences, given its co-existence with the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenpl ...

before the award was discontinued, and was nominated for two other

Academy Awards The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

: Best Film Editing and Best Sound Recording, but was not a box office or critical success.

Plot

The story is set in Mexico in the 1950s. During a storm, a cow that has just calved is killed in the pasture. Leonardo, the young son of the cattle herder, takes the animal home, gives him the name "Gitano" and raises him lovingly. Gitano's mother had been presented to Leonardo's father (Rafael Rosillo) as a gift from his employer (landowner Don Alejandro), in thanks to Rosillo for a great favor he had done for Don Alejandro. But, no written confirmation exists of this gift or of Rosillo's ownership. Leonardo writes to Don Alejandro to ask him for an assurance in writing that Gitano belongs to Leonardo's family. Don Alejandro, at the time Leonardo writes, is in Europe, taking part in various car races and the letter is slow to reach him. Meanwhile, Don Alejandro's manager has all the young animals branded with Alejandro's brand, including Gitano. Weeks pass and then to his great joy, Leonardo receives a letter from Don Alejandro with a deed of gift attached. Years later, when Gitano turns four, Don Alejandro has a fatal accident in a race. Because he is heavily in debt, his entire estate goes under the hammer. This includes Gitano because Leonardo can no longer find the deed of gift and the fact that Gitano is branded with Alejandro's brand speaks against Leonardo's ownership. Gitano is sold and quickly sent to the bullring in Mexico City. Desperate, Leonardo makes his way to the capital to ask the new owner to release Gitano. His efforts to meet with the manager are unsuccessful. Not knowing what else to do, Leonardo goes to the Mexican president in his palace and describes his suffering. The president is so touched by the confidence the boy has that he gives him a letter endorsing the release of Gitano. When Leonardo arrives back at the arena, it is already too late: Gitano is in the arena, fighting with the famous

bullfighter A bullfighter (or matador) is a performer in the activity of bullfighting. ''Torero'' () or ''toureiro'' (), both from Latin ''taurarius'', are the Spanish and Portuguese words for bullfighter and describe all the performers in the activity ...

Fermin Rivera. His face streaked with tears, Leonardo watches the bloody spectacle. The banderilleros have just planted their spears in Gitano's back when the matador enters the arena. The bull knows how to evade every attack of the torero. The fight is of unusual length and Gitano's condition is exceptional. The torero has been thrown on the ground twice, when suddenly the cry arises from the crowd: “Indulto!” (Pardon). More and more spectators take up the call and it swells into a hurricane. The entire stadium is transformed into a sea of spectators with white handkerchiefs who want to give life to the brave bull. Shortly before the matador is set to give the fatal blow to Gitano, the ''Indulto'' request is granted by the arena management. The matador bows to the bull and steps down. The audience is then horrified when Leonardo jumps into the ring and runs towards the wild bull. In the closing scene, Gitano recognizes in Leonardo his master and companion. Both leave the arena peacefully.

Cast

as Leonardo * Rodolfo Hoyos Jr. as Rafael Rosillo *

as Maria * Carlos Navarro as Don Alejandro Videgaray

Story

The story credit was originally given to Robert Rich, a pseudonym used by Dalton Trumbo, one of the

Hollywood Ten The Hollywood blacklist was an entertainment industry blacklist, broader than just Hollywood, put in effect in the mid-20th century in the United States during the early years of the Cold War. The blacklist involved the practice of denying empl ...

, who had been jailed for eleven months starting in 1950, then

blacklist Blacklisting is the action of a group or authority compiling a blacklist (or black list) of people, countries or other entities to be avoided or distrusted as being deemed unacceptable to those making the list. If someone is on a blacklist, ...

ed for refusing to testify before the

House Un-American Activities Committee The House Committee on Un-American Activities (HCUA), popularly dubbed the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), was an investigative United States Congressional committee, committee of the United States House of Representatives, create ...

. It was actually the name of the nephew of the film's producer Frank King. Initially Rich claimed authorship of the screenplay, though his uncles denied the claim. The Academy Award was reissued in Trumbo's name in 1975. The Nassour brothers sued King Brothers for $750,000 claiming that the story was lifted from ''Emilio and Bull'' written by Paul Rader, which the Nassour Brothers had shown the Kings in 1951. The claim was settled out of court. According to Ted Newsom's 1991 documentary, ''Hollywood Dinosaurs'', the film is based on ''El Toro Estrella'', "about a boy, a bull, and a dinosaur", upon which the films ''

The Beast of Hollow Mountain ''The Beast of Hollow Mountain'' is a 1956 Weird West horror film about an American rancher living in Mexico who discovers that his missing cattle are being preyed upon by a dinosaur. Plot In southern Mexico at the turn of the 20th century, ta ...

'' and ''

The Valley of Gwangi ''The Valley of Gwangi'' is a 1969 American fantasy Western film produced by Charles H. Schneer and Ray Harryhausen, directed by Jim O'Connolly, written by William Bast, and starring James Franciscus, Richard Carlson, and Gila Golan. Creat ...

'' are based. It details the screenwriting controversy but notes that ''The Brave One'' does not include the dinosaur.

Awards

: **Best Writing, Motion Picture Story ( Dalton Trumbo writing under the pseudonym "Robert Rich") **Best Film Editing – Nominated (Merrill G. White) **Best Sound – Recording – Nominated (

Buddy Myers Buddy Myers (May 14, 1906 – July 25, 1967) was an American audio engineering, sound engineer. He was nominated for an Academy Awards, Academy Award in the category Academy Award for Best Sound Mixing, Sound Recording for the film ''The B ...

) *

Golden Globe Awards The Golden Globe Awards are accolades bestowed by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association beginning in January 1944, recognizing excellence in both American and international film and television. Beginning in 2022, there are 105 members of t ...

: **Best Film Promoting International Understanding

Release

The King Brothers later sued RKO for mismanaging the distribution and sale of the film, claiming $6 million in damages.

Home video

A restored version was released in 2016 on Blu-ray.

Comic book adaptation

Dell Dell is an American based technology company. It develops, sells, repairs, and supports computers and related products and services. Dell is owned by its parent company, Dell Technologies. Dell sells personal computers (PCs), servers, data ...

Four Color ''Four Color'', also known as ''Four Color Comics'' and ''Dell Four Color'', was an American comic book anthology series published by Dell Comics between 1939 and 1962. The title is a reference to the four basic colors used when printing comic ...

#773 (February 1957)

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Brave One, The 1956 drama films 1956 films 1950s English-language films Films scored by Victor Young Films set in Mexico Films directed by Irving Rapper Films that won the Academy Award for Best Story Films with screenplays by Dalton Trumbo Hispanic and Latino American drama films Bullfighting films RKO Pictures films CinemaScope films Films adapted into comics 1950s American films