Yawn. Poorly Filmed Snooze Fest.

Great movie! If you want to be entertained and have a few good laughs, see this movie. The music is also very good,

The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

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.

Nicholas Ray directed this excellent melodrama about ordinary folks trying to make their American Dream happen by utilizing the rodeo circuit. Arthur Kennedy and Susan Hayward star as Wes and Louise Merritt, an ordinary couple living an ordinary life as a ranch hand and a ranch hand's wife respectively. In walks Robert Mitchum as Jeff McCloud, a virile stranger who may be an opportunist and a lothario as well as an ex rodeo champion. Director Ray, known for his strong characterizations, excels at meshing the three lives of the principals in this film. Kennedy tires of ranch life just as Mitchum enters the picture, worrying his wife Hayward.Mitchum is outstanding as usual in the role of Jeff McCloud and fits right in with the rough and tumble rodeo world. Kennedy is perhaps too old to play a new rodeo star, and he certainly does not have the athleticism and physicality of Mitchum to be as believable as a rodeo star. However, Kennedy's character changes as the film progresses from an ordinary ranch hand to an egotistical star, becoming more distant from his wife's perspective. Hayward's character character changes too from a dutiful spouse to a woman willing to fight to keep her husband and in one piece. Mitchum's character change near the end is not quite believable, and as a result, the ending is not entirely satisfying.Director Nicholas Ray was always ahead of his time, focusing on characters' conflicts with themselves as well as each other; in that, the conflicts served as catalysts for action and/or change. Ray filmed the rodeo scenes with a 16 millimeter hand-held camera, a device that modern filmmakers have returned to with digital cameras in recent years in filming within close quarters, to intensify emotion/horror, or to portray an environment with more realism. Ray made an interesting choice to film in black and white in between two films in color he did: Flying Leathernecks and Johnny Guitar, mirroring the very real black and white results of his characters' decisions in The Lusty Men. Arthur Hunnicutt has a supporting role as an aging ranch hand. Horace McCoy contributed to the screenplay. *** of 4 stars.

*******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.

It seems that after the shooting of "Macao", director Nicholas Ray (who replaced Josef von Sternberg) and actor Robert Mitchum were prepared for a second match. This was "The Lusty Men", a poetic and sensitive film about a man at the moment of his decadence as a rodeo figure. Beautifully shot in black and white, this picture is ready to stay as one of the most impressive achievements in film history on the subjects of maturity and enthusiasm, destiny, despair and true naivety.