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One of Robert Mitchum's best films from his days at RKO is The Lusty Men about the rodeo circuit. Mitchum plays Jeff McCloud a burned out rodeo rider who spots some potential star talent in Wes Merritt. He also spots Merritt's wife and the Merritts are played by Arthur Kennedy and Susan Hayward.

Mitchum's been thrown by one too many bulls and horses and he's a burned out man. Still the allure of the circuit holds him in sway. He mentors Kennedy until they come to a parting of the ways and not just over Susan Hayward. The part is a perfect fit for Mitchum, his own footloose past made him understand the character of Jeff McCloud and bring it to life.

This was the first of two films Mitchum did with Susan Hayward. She's clearly in support of him and she knows it. Her big moment on screen is dispatching a rodeo groupie at a party who had designs on Arthur Kennedy. Her footage had to be shot first, according to Lee Server's biography of Mitchum, as Hayward had a commitment in Africa to shoot The Snows of Kilimanjaro.

Among the supporting cast Arthur Hunnicutt, one of the biggest scene stealers around, is very good as another burned out rodeo rider. Mitchum looks at him and sees that is his future. In fact in the end, so does Kennedy.

The Lusty Men is a fine depiction of rodeo life, ranking up there with the later Junior Bonner and 8 Seconds. Good entertainment all around.

where the enemy is time and your own over-confidence and not those nasty Nazis? That MIGHT describe it The magnificently laconic Robert Mitchum turns in one of his most captivating performances in Nicholas Ray's brilliant modern day western.

Set in the down and dusty world of professional rodeo riders, it also stars Susan Hayward and Arthur Kennedy. Mitchum is Jeff McCloud, a former rodeo star, now somewhat adrift and down on his luck. He stumbles into town and quickly latches onto Wes and Louise, a married couple with aspirations of someday having a place of their own. Wes also harbors dreams of becoming a star on the rodeo circuit, a world McCloud is all too familiar with and one that Wes figures could be his ticket to a more rewarding life. It doesn't take a whole lot of encouragement on Wes' part to convince McCloud to become his mentor and before long this trio is on the road in search of those elusive cowboy dreams. Likewise it doesn't take a genius to figure out that an uncomfortable romantic triangle will emerge, sparking an unsettling and inevitable chain of events.

This is one Nicholas Ray film that rarely gets mentioned, yet it is one of the director's most emotionally satisfying works. Masterfully shot in black & white by Lee Garmes ( "NIGHTMARE ALLEY", "PORTRAIT OF JENNIE", "CAUGHT", etc) it has a beautifully lived-in look that enhances the exotic world it portrays. The performances are all sterling and the dialogue provided for them (most likely compliments of Horace McCoy, one of the most remarkably and honestly expressive writers of the period) rings remarkably true even in the midst of some overtly romanticized (it is a Nicholas Ray film, after all) moments.

The rodeo sequences are exceptionally exciting. Of course, the movie is quite atmospheric and nicely captures the lifestyle of the rodeo crowd. There are some exciting moments (like Wes riding Yo-Yo) and some great lines. ("Men... I'd like to fry 'em all in deep fat!") Highly recommended, and you don't necessarily even have to be a western fan, just a student of human nature.

Robert Mitchum plays Jeff McCloud a retired rodeo champion who literally limps on to the screen in this film. Jeff takes a job as a hand on a working ranch where he meets fellow hand, Wes Merritt and his wife Louise Merritt.

"Well, some things you don't do for the cash. There are some things you do for the buzz you get out of them."-Jeff McCloud

Wes is a big fan of Jeff's and is drawn to rodeo initially for the quick cash as he and his wife (played by the gorgeous Susan Hayward) desire to own their own home and farm.

"$400 for two minutes work!"-Wes

Wes talks Jeff into quitting the ranch and being his coach for the rodeo circuit. The three of them-Jeff, Wes and Louise join the rodeo circuit and all of it's highs and lows.

This film has a lot of wonderful rodeo footage which is worth recommending and seeing the film for, but it doesn't pull any punches about the rough and dangerous life of the rodeo.

"Riding devil dancer out of shoot number three. Now you fans can see how a man can stand up and sit down at the same time while riding a bronc."-rodeo announcer

The overall story is a little weak, but the rodeo isn't. Worth seeing for rodeo fans, western fans and any fans of Susan Hayward or Robert Mitchum!

Fascinating, penetrating glimpse into the world of rodeo competitions and the often foolish lengths that men will go to prove their manhood. Superbly shot, written and acted, it's also a chance to see Robert Mitchum in top form. Criminally confident and cool, he absolutely carries the film despite exhibiting the demeanor of a man dozing in a hammock under a hot summer sun. Fed a steady diet of dead-on dialogue like "Never was a bull that couldn't be rode, Never was a cowboy that couldn't be throwed," and "Hope's a funny thing. A man can have it - even when there ain't no reason," he feasts with a wink and a smile. He and feisty Susan Hayward have great chemistry together and the movie is consistently eventful and exciting, with particularly realistic rodeo footage. (Maltin is right about the very last scene though - it does feel false.) By all means, seek it out - it's one of the most purely entertaining 1950's films I can recall.

This fine western about life on the rodeo circuit is more about drama than action but still packs a wallop, thanks largely to Robert Mitchum and Susan Hayward. Mitchum is a washed up bronc rider who becomes a mentor to Arthur Kennedy who has dreams of becoming a big time rodeo performer. Eager to buy a ranch but lacking money, Kennedy learns the ropes of rodeo performing and the three decide to travel the rodeo circuit although Hayward is cool to the idea. Under Mitchum's tutelage, Kennedy career takes off but he doesn't seem to notice the attraction between Mitchum and Hayward. Mitchum, rough and virile, looks the part of a cowboy and he and Hayward have great chemistry in their scenes but Kennedy is no cowboy and he doesn't seem to be a good match for Hayward. Arthur Hunnicutt does his usual good work in a key supporting role.

After viewing this film, it is truly a great 1950's classic with outstanding acting by the entire cast; and a great story with a realistic view of what the Rodeo life really is and the pain and suffering that is experienced by men and woman. Robert Mitchum(Jeff McCloud),"Farewell',My Lovely",'75, played a real calm cool veteran star of the Cowboy game shows and was very successful, but was beginning to show wear and tear. Arthur Kennedy, (Wes Merritt),"Peyton Place",'57, was originally a ranch hand trying to buy his dream house for his wife Louise Merritt,(Susan Hayward),"With A Song in My Heart",'52, and loved her husband very much. However, when Wes Merritt got together with Jeff McCloud, all hell broke loose and Louise did everything she could to hog tie her husband down from very hot women, wild horses, and bulls with angry tempers. Great film, don't miss it, it will be around for many generations to enjoy.

Don't let the title fool you. Apparently part of the studio's design to tempt a broader audience in to see this film, 'The Lusty Men' is just not a very good title for it. Two other titles were considered - one even worse, "This Man is Mine", and one that was better if not exciting, "Cowpoke". Briefly, this is the story of a young ranch worker (Arthur Kennedy) and his new bride (Susan Hayward) trying to save up money to buy a ranch of their own. Faded rodeo star Mitchum crosses their path and changes their lives, showing the young husband Kennedy a shortcut to big money by riding in the rodeo. There's a lot of friction resulting as time goes on, with Kennedy hooked on the easy money and attention, while Hayward fears for his safety and blames Mitchum for driving a wedge between the couple. I won't give away any of the story beyond that.

I do want to give a broader review of this movie for the type that it is. I don't think I've ever seen a seriously-made movie which depicts rodeos or bull riding that was not at least fairly compelling, as this one is. Whether it's 'The Lusty Men' or 'Eight Seconds' or 'The Ride', those who ride rodeo put their lives and safety on the line for relatively little pay in most cases. They pursue their sport with an intensity that may be hard to understand for those who live a more ordinary existence. Just as a compulsive gambler gets that little rush every time he scratches off a lottery ticket or pulls the handle on a slot machine, every time the bull or bronc rider nods his head and the chute gate swings open, he has a brief chance at success and a win and the thrill that goes with it - but he has hundreds, maybe thousands of people playing the game along with him. If he has a great ride, the crowd goes wild. If he gets bucked off, or gets hurt - maybe even killed - he has done so trying to please all those people in addition to himself.

The complexities of the motivation of the rodeo rider belie what some may feel to be a very simple or even 'dumb' pursuit. It is these motivations which create the opportunity for fascinating characters living lives that follow different rules. They live outside the box, even now as they have for decades, in pursuit of their dreams. That's why 'The Lusty Men' and the other rodeo / bull riding films I've seen have been so good. When you start with characters filled with the 'heart and try' to compete at rodeo, people who are not so bound to logic and common-sense, the storyline possibilities are nearly endless.

Things in the world of rodeo have changed since this movie was made. As one other reviewer pointed out, a rodeo rider of the past having to retrieve his winnings at a saloon after having gotten banged up riding that day would be the perfect formula for the start of a drinking problem. Fortunately, they don't get their winnings at a saloon anymore. On the other hand, the 'buckle bunnies' who pursue rodeo riders are still drawn to the lean, lanky, quietly courageous cowboy no matter whether he rode for eight seconds or got bucked off in two. He doesn't need to be a big money winner, because the cowboy's appeal has never been about money. To the contrary - his lack of wealth may be part of his appeal by making him seem more down-to-Earth and approachable, maybe even vulnerable because he is nearly broke. In this movie however, the young cowboy / rising rodeo star does attract the wrong kind of women because he has amassed some money winnings.

You don't have to be a fan of rodeo or bull riding to enjoy this movie. While it does revolve around those sports, the real story is what happens to the young couple and the old rodeo star who enters their lives.

I wasn't expecting much from what appeared to be a garden-variety drama set in the world of rodeo performance, but was drawn to it by the presence of Robert Mitchum and Arthur Kennedy. I was pleasantly surprised by director Nicholas Ray's ability to put together a pretty engrossing story of life on the rodeo circuit and the personality types one encounters. Mitchum does his usual fine job; Arthur Kennedy was an excellent B-list actor who here shows his talent well. Susan Hayward, unfortunately, is a bit miscast; she is too much the East coast debutante to fit into the Western locale. Another quibble would be the many travelogue-style bits meant to educate the viewer as to the various rodeo events; they should at least have had a trained actor narrate these bits rather than using the obviously local "talent." Also, the production values are not the highest, seeming at times more on the level of television. On the whole, though, the movie keeps us involved.

Yes, as one commenter noted, Susan Hayward seems a bit Eastern-glamorous to be kicking up dust on the rodeo circuit. But she glowers and snarls with the best of them, and, top-billed in this man's-man movie, she's great fun. But even she's dominated by a supremely confident and virile Robert Mitchum, as a has-been rodeo champ trying to turn her husband (a rather miscast, but hard-working, Arthur Kennedy) into a king of the saddle. It's location-filmed and has no traces of studio hackery, and Nicholas Ray keeps it wonderfully outdoorsy, with some fabulous stunt-riding footage and an authentic atmosphere of the hardscrabble rodeo life. The initial Hayward-Mitchum shower scene has to be one of the sexiest in all 1950s cinema, and there's a great sexual undercurrent to all their encounters. Kennedy seems a little pallid by comparison, and is playing a character that's hard to root for, but he does try hard. I didn't know this movie and am grateful to TCM for running it -- it's a real discovery. However, their print has awfully uneven sound, and you'll have to keep adjusting your volume up, down, up, down.

Impressive performances from the top four actors--Susan Hayward, Robert Mitchum (one of his best roles), Arthur Kennedy and Arthur Hannicut. The film is very well made except for one too many rodeo sequences. Nicholas Ray does indicate where his heart lies--for the poor who aspire to be financially secure and lead a good family life despite temptations.

So many people think is an exceptional film. I just saw it on TCM and the only thing that stood out was a very good performance from Susan Hayward as the reluctant wife of a new rodeo star. She's afraid he'll get hurt and wants him to quit as soon as he's won enough money for a ranch. That's literally the whole plot. Robert Mitchum is on the sidelines as a veteran rodeo cowboy who has "ridden too many bulls" but seems young and fit. Arthur Kennedy is an odd choice for the new star. He doesn't seem very athletic and was older than Mitchum. The ending is Hollywood hokum. Nicholas Ray directed it but it hardly compares to the previous year's "In a Lonely Place". Better things were to come for all concerned.

This is my all-time favorite Robert Mitchum movie. In fact, it's the movie that made Mitchum one of my favorite actors. I saw this movie as a child on television and could not understand why Susan Hayworth would prefer Arthur Kennedy to Robert Mitchum.

It's a dusty, exhausting rodeo film, so realistic that one can almost smell the horses. Seeing how the participants usually had to pick up their winnings ("day money") in a bar after what could have been a physically crippling time in the arena shows how easy it would have been to start drinking to kill the pain and the fear. Also the rodeo "groupies", so ready to soothe the pains and massage the ego, have probably changed very little since the early '50s. The character of Jeff McCloud has obviously been there and done that, and Mitchum plays the weariness with authenticity and sympathy. He also reveals his ability to play comedy in the scene in Rosemary's trailer with Frank Faylen.

I heartily recommend this film to anyone wanting to see a realistic slice of Americana, and good performances by all the leads.

Over the hill former rodeo champ Jeff McCloud (Robert Mitchum) returns to the home of his youth where he meets rodeo aspirant Wes Merrit (Arthur Kennedy). Merrit convinces McCloud to train him for the big time much to the consternation of wife Louise (Susan Hayward) who views McCloud with a jaundice eye. Merrit becomes very successful on the circuit and the marriage teeters as well as the relationship between teacher and student.

Using significant amounts of documentary footage, the Lusty Men vividly depicts the crippling sport of bronc and bull riding as backdrop to this modern day western melodrama. Top billed Hayward holds her own as she goes toe to toe with Mitchum and Kennedy to keep their chauvinism in line. Kennedy transitions well into prima donna while Mitchum, in laidback fashion offers up a wonderfully understated shaman of the west performance.

A bit of an unusual vehicle for the noir, urban setting styling of Nicholas Ray and it shows in spots such with verbose rodeo announcers and dependence on aforementioned doc footage.

A film that could have been made by Sam Peckinpah, or JUNIOR BONNER before its time, no problem, and no one could deny this. A loser story, but not any loser, a flaming, sensitive, poignant loser, an enti hero, a man who fight in something lost in advance for him. Bob Mitchum has rarely been better than this role; I speak of this kind of characters of course, so don't pretend to compare with NIGHT OF THE HUNTER please. Susan Hayward, Arthur Kennedy also are awesome, Kennedy in always the same kind of supporting character, the brother in law or lead's best friend, nearly a cliché role for him. This movie is also for me Nick Ray's best film, my favourite too. Sad but flamboyant, a feature that makes you tearful at the end. A terrific film that should be forgotten to miss.

I don't watch a lot of Westerns but something about this caught my eye. The title for one thing. Plus I'd just seen Robert Mitchum in the original Cape Fear and thought he was great. So I figured I'd check this out.

Mitchum plays Jeff McCloud, a retired rodeo champion who begins to mentor Arthur Kennedy's Wes Merritt. Susan Hayward (who is very easy on the eyes btw) plays Merritt's wife Louise, who is torn between fearing for her husband's safety and supporting her man.

There's some down home wisdom in the dialogue ("Hope's a funny thing. You can have it even when there ain't no reason for it" and "There never was a bronc that couldn't be rode, there never a cowboy that couldn't be throwed." and "that's a wife profession, forgiving her husband" and my favorite, "I made a thousand bartenders rich in my lifetime") and the sexual tension between Mitchum and Hayward is palpable.

All this added up to an enjoyable movie with an ending I didn't see coming.

This film begins with an ex-rodeo champion (Robert Mitchum) wandering around the property where he grew up--and hasn't seen in two decades. He meets up with the current owner (Burt Mustin--everybody's favorite old man) and they chat a bit--until a cowhand and his wife (Arthur Kennedy and Susan Hayward) come to Mustin's home. It seems they'd love to buy it but have little, if any, money.

When Kennedy recognizes Mitchum as a rodeo star, he gets a bright idea--he can get Mitchum to train him so he can take up rodeo. That way, he reasons, he and his wife can buy the property much sooner. The problem is, Kennedy's wife hates the idea of Kennedy breaking his neck this way! Yet, despite her misgivings, he pushes ahead. Surprisingly, he is a success--and every step of the way, she is miserable as she knows it's only a matter of time until he's hurt. Throughout the film, he promises to quit...but the longer it takes, the less likely it is that he'll ever stop...until it's too late.

As for the stars, they are all very good. Hayward is emotional but good (and plays a great dame), Mitchum is his easy-going self and Kennedy surprisingly macho--something you don't see very often. The script is dandy and entertaining as well--especially as you see Kennedy becoming more and more of a butt-head. I also appreciated how the rodeo footage wasn't the usual grainy footage--and they did a pretty good job of making you think it was the actors actually doing these crazy stunts. I also liked the ending--it was downbeat but worked very well.

By the way, there are two bit parts to look for in the movie (aside from Mustin's). The foreman of the ranch near the beginning is Glenn Strange. While you probably won't recognize his craggy face, he's the last guy to play Universal's Frankenstein monster---having last appeared in this capacity in 1948's "Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein". Also, a few times throughout the film, it's Jimmy Dodd (of "The Mickey Mouse Club") playing one of the rodeo contestants. At a party later in the film he's playing a guitar. If you'd just given him some mouse ears, he would have looked more familiar.

Rodeo champ Jeff McCloud (Robert Mitchum) retires after another hit. He goes back to his childhood home to find the rundown shack occupied by an old farmer. Wes (Arthur Kennedy) and Louise Merritt (Susan Hayward) drive by to see the homestead. He's a ranch hand and they often come looking to buy the place which they can't afford. Wes recognizes Jeff and gets him a job at the ranch. Wes admires Jeff and hopes that he would mentor him in rodeo riding despite his wife's misgivings.

This modern western is a slice of the American pie. It's a stale broken apple pie that has accumulated some dust and dirt. Modern audience would see the genesis of the modern indie. The big stars inhabit these roles. Hayward's acting does border on melodrama sometimes. Mitchum is beyond reproach. The old style is still on display. It's like speaking in the old tongue but trying to write in a new way. The only big drawback is the fake rodeo closeup action scenes of Wes. That limitation is understandable but I'd rather have a stunt rider from further away or use a stuntman in the role. There is plenty of rodeo work otherwise and his character is rather bland anyways. A real rodeo stuntman may actually inject more reality which would be really something.

Spare tough little drama of the rodeo circuit with fine performances all around. Reminiscent in ways of The Misfits but without that film's crushing sense of disillusionment. However you can see many of the peripheral characters and perhaps Mitchum's too as following the same path as those men.

Ray's direction keeps the film on a steady forward course to tell it's at times simple at others complex story. He is mightily aided by his three superior leads, all fine performers, all stars in their day but none truly appreciated for their subtle skill and all contributing some of their best work in this film.

Mitchum pitches his performance perfectly, a rambler who knows no other way but is starting to wonder if what he's pursuing is worthless. Arthur Kennedy, a tremendously under rated actor, is excellent in a part that could have been eclipsed, since the real conflict is between Bob and Susan, but for his subtle shading of the role. As the main female protagonist of the piece Susan Hayward is all tough, flinty grit. Always a memorable screen presence whether playing it big, i.e. Demetrius and the Gladiators, or subdued as she is here she always carried a grounding gravitas that made her characters memorable. Her Louise is a sensible, down to earth woman who is clear in what she wants, has no problem laying it on the line and taking on anybody that gets in her way.

Strangely obscure film considering Ray's reputation and the superstar standing of its two main stars probably owing to its unavailability on DVD although there are rumors of a remastering and upcoming release. Very much worth seeking out.