The Lusty Men

"A Fast Buck... A Fast Bronc... A Fast Thrill!"

1952 1h 53m EN

👍

6.7

SOLID

🔥

100%

CERTIFIED FRESH

⭐

7.4

IMDB

★6.7TMDB · 99🍅100%Rotten Tomatoes★7.4IMDB · 3,490

DramaWestern

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Retired rodeo champion Jeff McCloud agrees to mentor novice rodeo contestant Wes Merritt against the wishes of Merritt's wife who fears the dangers of this rough sport.

“A Fast Buck... A Fast Bronc... A Fast Thrill!”

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Where to watch · US

Cast

Susan Hayward
Louise Merritt
Robert Mitchum
Jeff McCloud
Arthur Kennedy
Wes Merritt
Arthur Hunnicutt
Booker Davis
Frank Faylen
Al Dawson
Walter Coy
Buster Burgess
Carol Nugent
Rusty Davis
Maria Hart
Rosemary Maddox

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Nicholas Ray
Writers: Claude Stanush, Horace McCoy, David Dortort
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

ERA

Did you know

74 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Nicholas Ray, shot by Lee Garmes. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Roy Webb. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Ralph Dawson shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Susan Hayward and Robert Mitchum and Arthur Kennedy carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "A Fast Buck... A Fast Bronc... A Fast Thrill!".

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0044860 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

Only 99 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Nicholas Ray directs. Lee Garmes behind the camera. Roy Webb scores. Ralph Dawson cuts. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

174 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
2Directed by Nicholas Ray, shot by Lee Garmes. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
3Original score by Roy Webb. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
4Editor Ralph Dawson shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
5Susan Hayward and Robert Mitchum and Arthur Kennedy carry the top of the cast.
6Marketing tagline: "A Fast Buck... A Fast Bronc... A Fast Thrill!".
7IMDB entry: tt0044860 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
8Only 99 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.
9Classified under 10 themes, including "husband wife relationship", "rodeo", "injury", "bull riding".

The technical file

Cinematography: Lee Garmes
Original score: Roy Webb
Editing: Ralph Dawson
Makeup / hair: Larry Germain
Runtime: 113 min · 1h 53m
Status: Released
Original language: EN
Certification (US): NR
IMDB: The Lusty Men (1952)
Rotten Tomatoes: 100% 🍅 Fresh
IMDB rating: 7.4/10 · 3,490 votes
MPAA: Passed

Also by

Nicholas Ray

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

Community reviews

What people are saying

John Chard2020-07-11
★ 8/10
There never was a bronc that couldn't be rode, there never a cowboy that couldn't be throwed. Guys like me last forever. The Lusty Men is directed by Nicholas Ray and co-written by Horace McCoy and David Dortort from a suggested story by Claude Stanush. It stars Robert Mitchum, Susan Hayward, Arthur Kennedy, Arthur Hunnicutt, Frank Faylen and Carol Nugent. Music is by Roy Webb and cinematography by Lee Garmes. Retired rodeo champion Jeff McCloud (Mitchum) agrees to mentor novice rodeo contestant Wes Merritt (Kennedy) against the wishes of Merritt's wife, Louise (Hayward), who fears the dangers of this rough sport. All that and affairs of the heart start to become just as rough. Nicholas Ray picks up a love triangle core and sets it to the backdrop of the ferocious world of Rodeo. Pic is in turn touching and realistic, bringing strong human drama and splicing it with real life rodeo action - with the bull sequences quite something to behold. Ace cinematographer Garmes ("Shanghai Express/Nightmare Alley") photographs the rodeo sequences with a beauty that still manages to exude the harsh hum-drum life of the main protagonists out on the circuit. In reality we are following three characters on the road to destiny, actually lyrically so, this is no soap opera tale infused with action sequences. In fact location filming went out on the road to film real Rodeos (with genuine Rodeo stars strutting their stuff). This is three characters in search of an exit, a meaning in life, but naturally harsh lessons are to be learned before the day of reckoning can come. Super perfs, direction and photography, if it wasn't for the irritatingly repetitious use of the same music each time a "contestant" leapt out the stalls, then it would be a point higher. 8/10

Production companies