The Lusty Men (3 stars)

The Lusty Men, from 1952, is a mild western drama directed by Nicholas Ray, and starring Susan Hayward, Robert Mitchum, and Arthur Kennedy.  By my own admission, I have little tolerance for Westerns...in fact, I recently turned off The Wild Bunch, which stars two of my top three guys---William Holden and Robert Ryan---after watching for only an hour.  I just don't really enjoy Westerns; however, I keep forcing myself to try them since several of my "loves" have alot of that genre in their filmography.  Hopefully, one day I will acquire a taste for Westerns.  At any rate, I would classify The Lusty Men as extremely mild in the Western department; really, it's more of a rodeo cowboy drama.

After an injury sidetracks his career, rodeo cowboy Jeff McCloud (Robert Mitchum) ventures back to his Texas hometown, where he meets Louise and Wes Merritt (Susan Hayward and Arthur Kennedy), who live and work on one of the local ranches.  Wanting a spread of their own, Wes and Louise have been saving their pennies for two years, but they are still a long way from buying the ranch they have their heart set on.  So, hoping to come into some quick and easy money, Wes convinces Jeff to teach him to ride rodeo.

Louise, totally against Wes's desire to take up rodeo, is furious with Jeff for agreeing to help him, and she becomes even more furious when, not long afterwards, Wes quits his ranch job and goes on tour with the rodeo.  Although she tries to get Jeff to see that riding rodeo is not a stable profession, all Wes can see is the big money he could possibly make.  Telling Louise that he will only rodeo until he has made enough money for the ranch they want, and promising Jeff half of his earnings as pay for the instruction he gave, Wes jumps into the wild world of the rodeo circuit.

As Wes becomes more successful, he is blinded by the money he is making.  He no longer wants to buy a ranch, and he no longer wants to keep giving "handouts" to broken down old cowboy Jeff.  As Wes and Louise's marriage begins to crumble, Jeff, in love with Louise and wanting to prove his own worth, signs on for a rodeo ride he is not at all trained to make. 

I actually enjoyed this film.  No, it wasn't spectacular, but it was interesting and entertaining.  Plus, it stars the fabulous Susan Hayward---she is the reason I wanted to watch this film in the first place.  She's my #2 gal, and I have never seen her give a bad performance.  I think Hayward, Mitchum, Kennedy, or rodeo fans will enjoy this movie.  I don't think it's out on DVD, but I know TCM airs it quite often. 

Happy viewing!!

Born to Be Bad (4 stars)

I'm still on my Robert Ryan kick and will be for another few weeks, as there are close to a dozen of his films either already on my DVR or on my radar to record.   I am totally crazy about this man, who I think was one sensational actor.  He is easily at the very top of my favorite actor list...along with William Holden and Gary Cooper. All that to say, I will be reviewing several Robert Ryan films in the coming days.  If you aren't familiar with him, I hope my reviews will inspire you to see some of his works. 

Born to Be Bad, from 1950, is a fabulously entertaining melodrama starring Joan Fontaine, Robert Ryan, and Zachary Scott.  Directed by Nicholas Ray, this film features Joan Leslie and Mel Ferrer in supporting roles.  From the very beginning, the "bad" in this film is Joan Fontaine.  In a dramatic turnabout from her vulnerable roles in Suspicion and Rebecca, in Born to Be Bad, she is a manipulating, riches-seeking, people-using schemer.

The niece of a publisher, orphaned Christabel Caine (Fontaine) arrives in town and worms her way into the party (and the life) of Donna Foster (Joan Leslie).  Donna is engaged to Curtis Carey (Zachary Scott), and Christabel very quickly seeks to undermine their relationship.

Though Christabel has caught the eye of novelist Nick Bradley (Robert Ryan), her eye is on the wealthy Mr. Carey.   Oh, she'll carry on with Nick and even tease him into thinking she loves him in return...

...but her whole goal is to snag Curtis for herself.  Lying, playing innocent, and hurting others matter little to Christabel.  As long as she gets what she wants, she doesn't care who she steps on or pushes out of the way.

Born to Be Bad is a very interesting, entertaining film, and I must admit, I enjoyed seeing Joan Fontaine take on this kind of role.  She was very good...not at all what I'm used to with her...but it was great to see her stretch.  The film is not out on DVD, though it is on VHS, so if you have a working VHS player, you can catch it that way.  Additionally, it is on TCM's January 30, 2012 schedule.

By the way, there is a 1934 film of the same name, which stars Loretta Young and Cary Grant.  I haven't seen that film (it's in my DVR waiting to be watched).  However, this 1950 film is not a remake of that.  They are two completely different films.

Anyhow, happy viewing!!!