Don't be fooled by how this film was originally marketed, or by the cowboy-hat wearing Kirk Douglas in the lead role; it's not really a western! You wouldn't know that from the folks involved or the iconic imagery.

Adapted from Edward Abbey's novel The Brave Cowboy, the 1962 film was written by Dalton Trumbo and directed by David Miller. Douglas said that the film was not only his favorite performance, but also that the script was perfect to begin with and needed no alterations at all. Also starring Gena Rowlands and Walter Matthau, this marked the feature film debut of character actor George Kennedy.

Douglas plays Jack Burns, a free-spirited cowboy with his own moral code and a serious aversion to the fences popping up all over the landscape. In trying to help a good friend who's found themselves on the wrong side of the law, he runs head-on into his own struggles with adapting to societal change. Not heavy on plot, but loaded with fantastic opportunities for Douglas to beautifully bring Trumbo's script to life. Beautiful scenery and a handful of great stunts - most involving a horse - round out the reasons for why this should be more widely seen.