The Lusty Men
Director: Nicholas Ray
Year Released: 1952
Rating: 3.0
"Retired" rodeo star Robert Mitchum acts as a mentor to newcomer Arthur Kennedy in this underrated Nicholas Ray film - Kennedy starts to neglect wife Susan Hayward (he's lured away by other gals) and Mitchum steps in between the two of them, vying for her affections. The title may make you think these gents are extravagant in their womanizing, but I've seen much worse - in fact, I think the love triangle is played with a good deal of subtlety (at least, compared some of the more flamboyant pictures ... think of what Ford would have done). The dialogue is pretty banal - not to mention the idea rodeo itself - but the performances (and Ray's direction) manage to keep it really entertaining.
