Nicholas Ray's The Lusty Men

If the cinema no longer existed, Nicholas Ray alone gives the impression of being capable of reinventing it, and what is more, of wanting to.
Jean-Luc Godard, Godard on Godard (translated by Tom Milne, The Viking Press, 1972)

The Lusty Men (1952) is another of Ray's portraits of a loner and an outsider (others include Rebel Without a Cause, 1955 and Johnny Guitar, 1954), beautifully filmed by cinematographer Lee Garmes (who did several Von Sternberg films) and written by Horace McCoy (most remembered for his novel They Shoot Horses, Don't They? ).  Ray was one of the great film poets of the fifties, capturing much of the frustration of those who were outside the American Dream of success but could be content with what they could get.   For women success could mean something as simple as the man who could take them away from the tamale joint, as Arthur Kennedy takes Susan Hayward in the Lusty Men, while for a man it could mean making money in the rodeo -- as it did for Robert Mitchum -- even if the money slips through his hands.

Being a cowboy did not pay well in the fifties, but being in the rodeo did for a few, even if it meant risking injury and even death. After Mitchum is injured he walks across an empty rodeo lot carrying his saddle, on his way home.  When he takes a job as a cowhand his friend Arthur Kenney is seduced by the quick money of the rodeo and hires Mitchum to teach him the basics, over Hayward's objections.  Michum falls in love with Hayward and goes back to the rodeo to show her what he can do.  He dies in a fall and Kennedy and Hayward quit the rodeo and go back to their modest home.

The Lusty Men is rich in dialogue, about drinking and responsibility and trust.  Mitchum realizes he wants to settle down but for him it is too late, while Kennedy and Hayward are willing to settle down to an unexciting -- but safe -- life.