Review of The Lusty Men

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.