This touching, realistic drama stars Robert Mitchum as Jeff McCloud – a former rodeo champ forced to retire through injury – and Arthur Kennedy as Wes Merritt, the young man who McCloud coaches.
Of course, there’s also a woman – Louise Merritt (Susan Hayward), who’s married to Merritt and takes McCloud’s fancy.
Mitchum extended his range considerably with this role, and Lee Garmes’s sombre black-and-white photography mirrors the characters’ drab, nomadic existence.
A critical and box-office failure at the time, it is now regarded as one of director Nicholas Ray’s finest films.
Louise Merritt
Susan Hayward Jeff McCloud
Robert Mitchum Wes Merritt
Arthur Kennedy Booker Davis
Arthur Hunnicutt Al Dawson
Frank Faylen Buster Burgess
Walter Coy Rusty Davis
Carol Nugent Rosemary Maddox
Maria Hart
Director
Nicholas Ray
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