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.
Direction
Ray finds poetry in mud, sweat, and cheap motel rooms
Acting
Mitchum's sleepy eyes hide volcanic self-loathing
Cinematography
Rodeo scenes that feel dangerously, beautifully real
Director
Nicholas Ray
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
Lorna Thayer
Grace Burgess
Burt Mustin
Jeremiah Watrus
Karen Randle
Ginny Logan
Jimmie Dodd
Red Logan
Robert Bray
Fritz (uncredited)
Lane Chandler
4th Rodeo Announcer (voice) (uncredited)
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Mitchum did many of his own stunts, including being dragged by a horse. The studio had a heart attack.
Ray made this between In a Lonely Place and Johnny Guitar—it's his hidden masterpiece about American masculinity in crisis.
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