Modern Western Watch: The Lusty Men (1952)

Watched:  07/21/2026

Format:  TCM on DVR

Viewing:  First

Director:  Nicholas Ray

The term "lusty" has not always meant "horned up".  The dictionary definition just means "healthy" and "vigorous".  Or, "Hearty", or, even "enthusiastic, rousing".  

So, while Susan Hayward paired with Robert Mitchum may lead one to believe we're heading for "lust-ful" men, and we are, I think they just meant "these cowboys are hale and hearty".

After all, this is a movie about a young, married man (Arthur Kennedy) deciding to join the rodeo circuit in order to make money enough to buy a ranch and settle down.  As it turns out, he wants to buy the boyhood home of veteran rodeo rider Jeff McCloud (Robert Mitchum).  The new rodeo-man's wife, Susan Hayward, is reasonably concerned about this decision.  After all, rodeo riders tend to get mauled by bulls, thrown from horses to grave injury, and more...  It's not what she signed up for.  

She was going to get married and live a quiet, domestic life.  But she feels she has to support her husband if he's hell-bent on this plan, and so travels with her husband and Mitchum.  And immediately finds out "this lifestyle is even worse than you figured".

One thing I started noticing maybe a decade ago is that no one in new movies is ever *poor*.  If they are, it's a punchline or a period piece about scraping by on the frontier or something.  Maybe sometimes it's something where people have to pull off a big heist or whatever and they're living a little fringey, but it's rare we get a movie where the accepted circumstances are "we're living paycheck-to-paycheck and so is everyone we know".  Instead, everyone has a multi-room apartment at minimum, and without roommates.  

I find this turn odd.  Maybe the constant stream of Ivy Leaguers and third generation rich LA kids running movies don't really have a concept of the kinds of stuff that reflect folks in fly-over country.  Maybe our belief we're all one day away from becoming among the folks getting bottle service at der klerb.

But this movie is about grabbing for a dream - actually finding that success - and forgetting what the goal was to begin with.  That the best thing you can actually win is that shitty ranch in Bandera, where you and Susan Hayward can have a few kids and run some cattle.  It's amazing how the idea of "making it" used to be - many films - "we're basically covering the bills".

I don't know that there's a lot new to The Lusty Men.  Mitchum playing a stoic ex-rodeo man who is mostly hanging around hoping Susan Hayward will decide to run off with him (and since it's Susan Hayward, we know she won't) is not the most novel concept/ a bit predictable.  The script is written as a series of plants and pay-offs, and what will happen with Jeff feels pre-ordained.  And you can see where things are headed. 

But that doesn't mean the dialog isn't sharp.  The story is a good one, and it's well told, thanks to director Nicholas Ray and his cast.  There's real rodeo footage cut in and it's a reminder that this story is fiction based in hard reality.  In fact - we have both the Cedar Park rodeo coming up, and there's organized rodeo teams now.  Locally, we've got "The Austin Gamblers".  

There's no doubt Susan Hayward is lovely and a talented actor.  She won at least one Academy Award, was nominated for more, and was an important star in her day.  She brings a lot of presence to the few movies I've seen her in.  No shade.  She's just not my favorite.  Who knows why?  But I *buy* her choices.  And in this film she's not overly concerned with being likable so much as relatable.  She's the POV for everyone who thinks "wow, rodeo riding seems perilous - maybe someone should talk someone out of doing that".    

And Mitchum is in a role where being cool isn't a bonus - and it works.  There's a lot of subtext to what he's doing - not saying what he wants in any scene, but you always know.

Now, the film kind of starts in what is supposed to be Bandera, a town west and north of San Antonio, and our Young Rodeo guy is from Big Spring, which is one of those dots on the map out around Midland.  But the story does move across the US between Ft. Worth and Southern California.  But it made me pay attention that they named towns I'm aware are out this general direction.

The movie is a drama, at the end of the day - and lands on trying for kind of a higher-brow sort of story about choices we make, and the appeal of the spotlight - and at what cost.  Not a bad film - this is Nicholas Ray after all, and he doesn't put out anything I'd think was "not good".  Apparently well received, I don't know if it was a prestige picture, but it's certainly an A picture, and I think worth a spin.