Intro.
I've loved Westerns for a long, long time. There's something about the wildness found in the West and the wildness found in man's heart. I'm more of a fan of the simpler times, films where you knew good from evil, and violence was acknowledged but not glorified. So it's hard for me to pass up an old black and white Western from the fifties, which is why last week found me curled up eating popcorn and enjoying The Lusty Men. Overview
The film introduces itself with a rodeo announcer, commenting on and explaining events like bull-dogging and bronc riding. Next up in the chute is a cowboy well known in the rodeo circuit - Jeff McCloud (Robert Mitchum), but his luck is about to run out as he gets thrown and stomped. He limps away, not just from the arena, but away from the entire life. Jeff hitches his way back to his boyhood home, a place he hasn't seen in some 18+ years. The small homestead is owned by a bachelor who keeps getting offers to buy the place from a young married couple. They can't afford the down payment, but he lets them come by and daydream. They stop by and meet Jeff, and the husband, Wes Merritt (Arthur Kennedy) recognizes him from his glory days in the rodeo. Wes and his wife, Louise (Susan Hayward) take Jeff back to the ranch where Wes works and help Jeff get a job. It doesn't last long though, as all of Jeff's stories about winning quick fortunes in the rodeo give Wes the idea to enter in the local rodeo, despite Louise's worries for his safety. With Jeff training him, Wes does astonishingly well his first time out, and wins a handsome amount of money. He and Louise decide to start rodeo-ing so that they can earn enough money for their homestead, with Jeff's help. Each rodeo becomes a strain on their marriage as Louise wonders just how long Wes's luck will last. On their way they meet fellow rodeo competitors and their wives and soon learn about the other side of the life - that the thrill often keeps them coming back again and again, but the fear is ever present in the wives. Sure enough, Louise is ready to call it quits once they have enough money, but Wes can't walk away from the rodeo life. What it comes down to is a kind of showdown between Jeff (who has some unrequited feelings for Louise) and Wes, which ends in both tragedy and triumph. Highlights
Susan Hayward and Robert Mitchum give some standout performances, perhaps not their career best, but well worth watching. I only wished I could have seen them develop their relationship more. The story itself is very good and a has a good showcase of rodeo life (even with all of the stunt doubles and obvious faked close-ups of the actors bull riding). Robert Mitchum feels at home in a Western (like in The Red Pony), and adds a certain strong-but-silent ruggedness to the film. What I meant in the tagline is that the film was great, but to be a real rodeo film, I could have used a bit more authenticity. Don't get me wrong, the rodeo scenes were great, but part of me wished that Ben Johnson, who won both an Oscar and a World Rodeo Championship in Roping, could have been there. I could write a whole post about why I love Ben Johnson, but that's for another day. In the meantime, check out this article.
Despite the camerawork to make it look like the actors were riding broncs, there are some beautifully crafted scenes. The one that struck me the most was after Jeff limps away from the arena in the beginning. His saddle slung over his shoulder, he makes his way across the open, deserted arena, trash blowing past him like modern tumbleweeds. It's solemn, isolating and sad. It also makes me wonder if this was what inspired one of the scenes from the later Steve McQueen rodeo film, Junior Bonner (which does have Ben Johnson, though he's older and not doing any trick riding). In any case, that same sense of loss is conveyed. It's almost every kid's dream to be a cowboy or a cowgirl, and to lose that dream in the blink of an 8-second ride is crushing. Meanwhile, to add to that same sense of loss, we hear in the background of the film a familiar Western song - a variation of "Oh Bury Me Not on the Lone Prairie." I've not only watched a number of Westerns (many of which feature this song), but I also listen to Western music (which is much different from Country music) - groups like Sons of the Pioneers and Riders in the Sky and artists like Tex Ritter, Gene Autry and Rex Allen. But in this film, the song is a commentary almost on Jeff's life and his ultimate decision of what to do in the end. I promise not to spoil it. But I knew the ending was coming, yet I still hoped that it wouldn't happen. In Jeff's words, "there never was a horse that couldn't be rode; there never was a cowboy that couldn't be throw'd. Guys like me last forever." How very true.
Before I sign off, I want to just think about what was going on in this period of Hollywood history. In 1952, America was in the middle of the Cold War and fighting in the Korean war. Extreme conservatism ran the country, from McCarthy right through to the Breen office. Western movies and television shows thrived. Like I said before, these were films where good and evil were easy to distinguish. Jeff becomes the ultimate classic Western hero - the lone individual sacrificing his own happiness for the sake of traditional society (in this case, the marriage of Louise and Wes). He's among the last of his kind, because the mid- to late fifties would introduce the anti-hero in the Western and bring an end to such romantic idealism. It's always interesting to me to think about how a film was defined by its time period, and The Lusty Men is no exception.
Review and Recommendation
While not my all time favorite Western, The Lusty Men is nevertheless one of the most memorable and enjoyable. A good story, solid performances and the novelty of rodeo events will keep you entertained. I recommend it to any Western fan or any Robert Mitchum fan - you won't be disappointed!
P.S. Wagon Master (1950) is my favorite Western, followed by a very close second of She Wore a Yellow Ribbon. You may also want to check out the film where Ben Johnson his Oscar for Best Supporting Actor: The Last Picture Show (1971).
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