The Brave One [DVD] [1956]

The Brave One is a bull named Gitano (or Gypsy). Mexican lad Michael Ray "adopts" Gitano after saving the animal's life during a storm. The friendship between bull and boy is threatened when Gitano's legal owners claim the animal and ship it off to the bullring. Moved by the boy's plight, the President of Mexico signs a "pardon" for Gitano-but not soon enough to prevent the bull's appearance at the Plaze de Mexico at Mexico City, where he faces top matador Fermin Rivera. Though The Brave One would seem to be ideal material for director Budd Boetticher, the film was in fact helmed by Irving Rapper, a man best known for his Bette Davis vehicles at Warner Bros. Based on a true incident, The Brave One earned a "best story" Academy Award for one Robert Rich-who, much to the embarrassment of the Academy (and the delight of civil libertarians) turned out to be blacklisted screenwriter Dalton Trumbo. Long available only in its "flat", black and white TV version, The Brave One was recently restored to its Technicolor and CinemaScope glory by the American Movie Classics cable service.