The Lusty Men

1952

Action / Drama / Sport / Western

5
Rotten Tomatoes Critics - Certified Fresh 100% · 17 reviews
Rotten Tomatoes Audience - Upright 83% · 250 ratings
IMDb Rating 7.3/10 10 3935 3.9K

husband wife relationship rodeo injury rodeo cowboy

Plot summary

Retired rodeo champion Jeff McCloud agrees to mentor novice rodeo contestant Wes Merritt against the wishes of Merritt's wife who fears the dangers of this rough sport.

Director

Nicholas Ray Photo
Nicholas Ray

Top cast

Frank Faylen Photo
Frank Faylen as Al Dawson
Glenn Strange Photo
Glenn Strange as Rig Ferris - Foreman
Susan Hayward Photo
Susan Hayward as Louise Merritt
John Mitchum Photo
John Mitchum as Jack Nemo
720p.WEB 1080p.WEB
1.01 GB
956*720
English 2.0
NR
Subtitles us  
23.976 fps
1 hr 52 min
Seeds 1
1.88 GB
1424*1072
English 2.0
NR
Subtitles us  
23.976 fps
1 hr 52 min
Seeds 8

Movie Reviews

Reviewed by marcslope 8 / 10

"Men -- I'd like to fry 'em all in deep fat!"

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.
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Reviewed by funkyfry 7 / 10

Good rodeo melodrama with punch

*******SPOILERS *******

A very macho story that fits its handle -- this is the story of an ex-champion bull rider (Mitchum) who tries to help an ambitious rancher (Kennedy) who wants to become a rodeo star. Mitchum tries to latch on to his fiery wife (Hayward) too when Kennedy's fame and fortune begin to turn him into a cheating drunkard.

Some very nice footage of rodeo riding, probably of considerable documentary/historical value for fans of the sport.

Hayward and Mitchum have good chemistry, and Kennedy plays his role very well, giving conviction to a role that might have been thankless. The inevitable flare-up between the two determined men takes place, of course, with fists and in the rodeo ring.

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