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.

"The Brave One" is about a peasant boy who runs away to Mexico City to save his brave bull, Gitano... Irving Rapper directed the beautiful simple story of Leonardo and his attachment to his pet bull with understanding...

"The Brave One" has an authentic look in the bullring, on ranches and in Mexican streets...

"The Brave One" has humor: When Gitano, becoming a remarkable bull with a fine physical construction, proves his spirit to Carlos Navarro's red car...

"The Brave One" has strange attachment: The charge of the noble bull against a ferocious jaguar to protect Leonardo's life...

"The Brave One" has determination: In front of the Monument of Mexican President Benito Juarez, the persisting and exhausted boy got a great idea to go and meet the President, the only authority that could save his bull...

"The Brave One" has bravery: Gitano offered to the public a magnificent spectacle of skill, grace and courage...

"The Brave One" has suspense: When the 'moment of truth' is at hand, the little Leonardo, all anguished, couldn't see Gitano in front of his 'Hour of Truth.'

"The Brave One" has a terrific climax: Clamorous screams from the public are heard stronger and stronger... Handkerchiefs are moving in the air with a petition to the president of the bullring...

The film covers many highlights as the weaning and branding of the bulls and how they are tested in the open fields; la Fiesta Brava filling resplendently in the gold and pink brocades of Mexico, mixing with the elegance of swirling capes; the father of Leonardo (Rodolfo Hoyos) trying to make Leonardo understand that the pet bull is born to die in the ring—the reason of his life...

With a tremendous score and an outstanding color photography of exceptional beauty, Jack Cardiff realized the most beautiful and expressive scenery of the Mexican landscapes... His movie had the flavor of the bullfight game and its devotees and hangers-on...

As a little boy, I loved everything about this passionate film superbly directed and acted... Such emotion as I remember seeing it for the first time with my dear parents and brothers a long time ago in Beirut, Lebanon...

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..