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.
Review of The Lusty Men
