Still image from the 1952 film The Lusty Men.

The Lusty Men

Directed by Nicholas Ray

A faded rodeo star mentors a younger rider but falls for his wife.

1952 1h 53m Drama TV-PG

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CAST
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Nicholas Ray, Director
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Nicholas Ray
Director

1

Susan Hayward, Louise Merritt
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Susan Hayward
Louise Merritt

2

Robert Mitchum, Jeff McCloud
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Robert Mitchum
Jeff McCloud

3

Arthur Kennedy, Wes Merritt
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Arthur Kennedy
Wes Merritt

4

Arthur Hunnicutt, Booker Davis
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Arthur Hunnicutt
Booker Davis

5

Frank Faylen, Al Dawson
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Frank Faylen
Al Dawson

FULL SYNOPSIS

After being roughed up by a Brahma bull, veteran rodeo champion Jeff McCloud retires from the circuit and returns to his childhood home in Texas. Jeff is surprised to discover that his parents' rundown ranch is now owned by the aging Jeremiah Watrus, who indulges Jeff as he reminisces about his youth. Before Jeff leaves Jeremiah's, a young couple, Louise and Wes Merritt, who are interested in buying the place, drive up. When Wes, a ranchhand for a neighboring outfit, hears Jeff's name, he excitedly introduces himself and later helps the penniless cowboy secure a job with his boss. That evening, while dining at the Merritts', Jeff talks about his successful career in rodeo and his reckless way with women and money. Louise, a former waitress, criticizes Jeff's limited ambitions and proudly states that she and Wes have saved $1,100 toward the $5,000 purchase price on Jeremiah's ranch. Later, Wes reveals to Jeff his plan to earn easy money on the rodeo circuit and persuades Jeff to help him train. When Louise discovers that Wes has used $125 of their savings to enter the San Angelo, Texas, rodeo, she explodes in anger, denouncing the sport as too dangerous. Despite Louise's protests, Wes competes at San Angelo and, with Jeff's backing, wins an impressive $410. Flush with victory, Wes then informs Louise that he has quit his ranch job and is joining the rodeo circuit, with Jeff as his coach. Sure that Jeff, who is to get half of Wes's winnings, is behind the scheme, Louise...


VIDEOS
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Dave Karger Intro
Hosted Intro
Wildest Show On Earth...
Movie Clip
Different Kind Of Buzz...
Movie Clip
Found You In A Tamale Joint...
Movie Clip
Strong Back And A Weak Mind...
Movie Clip
Original Trailer
Trailer

ARTICLES
"I have two acting styles -- with or without a horse," once claimed the self-deprecating Robert Mitchum. One of the actor's best Westerns was The Lusty Men (1952), a look at contemporary rodeo riders co-starring Arthur Kennedy as a fellow broncobuster and Susan Hayward as the latter's wife and third member of an explosive romantic triangle. At that point in his career, Mitchum considered the film one of three favorites among his own work. Co-adapted by former cowboy David Dortort (a creator of television's Bonanza and High Chaparral) from a Life magazine story by Claude Stanush about rodeo champions Bob Crosby and Casey Tibbs, The Lusty Men uses footage from actual rodeos to create perhaps the most convincing and atmospheric portrait of rodeo life ever contained in a commercial movie. Nicholas Ray directs with the eye for the offbeat that distinguished such personal films as Johnny Guitar (1954) and In a Lonely Place (1950). Mitchum plays a banged-up former rodeo star forced into retirement after being gored by a bull. He's hired by Kennedy to train him so he, too, can become a champion. Once the sparks fly between Mitchum and the headstrong Hayward, Kennedy challenges his mentor to a showdown in the rodeo ring. To give the film its gritty, semi-documentary feeling, Ray spent months shooting on the rodeo circuit. He reportedly had only the bare outline of a script when filming began, so that scenes were written one night and shot the following day. Despite t...

ARCHIVES
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 Movie Poster from the movie 'The Lusty Men'
The Lusty Men
Movie Poster

NOTES
The working titles of this film were Cowpoke and This Man Is Mine. The film's opening credits are superimposed over footage of a rodeo parade. Claude Stanush's screen story was inspired by his "King of the Cowboys," an article about a cowboy named Bob Crosby, which was published in the May 13, 1946 issue of Life magazine. To research his script, screenwriter Horace McCoy spent five months on the rodeo circuit, according to a Los Angeles Daily News item. Modern sources note that co-screenwriter and novelist David Dortort was a former cowboy.
       In late 1950, Hollywood Reporter announced that Robert Parrish was to be the picture's director, and George Montgomery one of the male stars. According to modern sources, Parrish worked with Stanush on the story for about six weeks, and helped Dortort complete a first-draft treatment. Dissatisfied with the treatment, Parrish went on to another project, and writer Ri...

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