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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. ****

This stands out from most child and animal pet movies. So realistic. Great acting from all. Feels genuinely Mexican. Well written story. The colour is vibrant and the version uploaded on YouTube is sharp and good quality. An enjoyable film for the whole family as it can be appreciated by any age group. I understand there was a lot of controversy behind the scenes but what underhanded things happened did not stop it being a worthwhile movie. Just a shame that reviewers have to write 800 characters to make the review acceptable. I think shorter reviews are equally as valid. Don't you think? I do.

An excellent picture The Brave One has come down in history as an example of the incredible stupidity and hypocrisy of the blacklist. With Dalton Trumbo's struggle now a subject of a major motion picture a new and hopefully more enlightened audience can appreciate this wonderful film.

I'll leave it to the professional communist hunters to sniff out any left wing Marxist propaganda in The Brave One. All I saw is a touching film from RKO set in Mexico with no major or even minor American stars in it about a young boy who wants to save his beloved pet, a bull named Gitano who is raised as a fighting bull which means he gets one appearance only in the arena to die at the hands of a matador. Young Michel Ray is the boy Miguel and his father is Mexican film star Rodolfo Hoyos who did a few film appearances north of the Mexican border.

Young Ray is so determined to save his bull from slaughter he goes to none other than the President of Mexico to gain pardon for his bull. After that it's a tense race against time played against the background of Gitano giving his best against one of Mexico's best matadors. The bullfight scenes are outstanding and outstandingly photographed.

But a lot of this film is carried on the performance of Michel Ray who comes over so much like a real kid not just another kid actor. One of the best performances by a juvenile ever in the history of motion pictures and sad he did not receive any recognition for same.

I found it ironical that it was RKO on its last legs as a studio that produced this film. Just a couple of years earlier it was owned by Howard Hughes who got tired of it and gave it up to die a lingering death. Had Hughes still been in charge no way would The Brave One been done at his studio even with a pseudonym for a blacklisted writer.

That's how most people know The Brave One today when a later embarrassed Academy gave an Oscar to "Robert Rich" for Best Original Screenplay. It was Dalton Trumbo one of the infamous Hollywood 10 who wrote it, but it was after the award was given that that fact was discovered. That kind of hypocrisy exposed could have also had a large part in giving the blacklist an ignominious death. Maybe as much as Trumbo being hired openly to write the screenplay for Spartacus.

Shame on the studio bosses who while they supported getting these subversives out of Hollywood they also did not want to lose their talents either.

With Trumbo's own life now a motion picture maybe his work will get more critical review and The Brave One should be a standout there.

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.

This has been one of my ten favorite films of all time. I showed a copy of it to the children of friends in Guadalajara. None of the children had ever seen or heard of it. They all loved it, and cheered with joy.

The children asked if they could invite all their friends in for another showing of "The Brave One," so, soon, the entire room was full. Standing room only.

Adults and kids alike saw the faith, hope and inspiration in this outstanding movie.

Some teachers show the film in classes studying other cultures, and it always goes over very big, as it should.

No remake can ever come close to this version..