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What I imagine makes THE NAKED SPUR stand out among other Westerns is its close, intimate focus on a small band of characters--for once, the motivations of the cynical bounty-hunter, the luckless gold prospector, the brash ne'er-do-well, the slick outlaw are actually all explored and explained as best as psychology can allow. The focus isn't on the action, though there's plenty of that too; one really gets the idea that the action is peripheral to the character development, to the glimpses of history given by snatches of dialogue. James Stewart turns in a riveting performance as Howard Kemp, the embittered rancher turned bounty-hunter, who is seeking outlaw Ben Vandergroat (Robert Ryan) for the $5000 price on the latter's head. What Howard doesn't gamble on is the people added on to his journey along the way--the prospector Jesse Tate (Millard Mitchell), who's been running after gold all his life but has never managed to catch up to it; the reckless ex-soldier Roy Anderson (Ralph Meeker), discharged from the army for being 'morally unstable'; and the young feisty Lina Patch (Janet Leigh), Ben's companion.

Throw this bunch of opposites in a trek back to Abilene, Kansas is a recipe for great drama: for example, the mini Indian massacre Roy brings about that gets Howard shot in the leg; the rock avalanche Ben starts to try to escape after sending Lina to distract Howard... even the even-tempered, apparently rational and loyal Jesse being so blinded by his life's pursuit that he frees Ben in return for gold and certainly winds up regretting it. Throughout the trek, one sees Ben's true duplicitous side, as he charmingly manipulates each and every other member of the group into distrusting one another. He knows Howard as well, from back in Abilene, and he is the one who lets us in on some of Howard's painful past. (Brilliantly illustrated by the fevered dreams Howard suffers from while still in shock from the bullet in his leg.)

The entire small cast is excellent. Ryan is slimily charming, Mitchell plays Jesse straight and honestly, Leigh brings off a rather thankless, almost characterless role well (her character is probably the least well developed in the film). It is James Stewart, however, who really deserves special mention for his portrayal of Howard Kemp... particularly since he'd first thought that he was supposed to be playing the role of Ben Vandergroat, and had to be talked into taking the risk and playing Howard Kemp. One can certainly see why: Stewart's stock-in-trade is as the undeniably good hero, with whatever--if any!--psychological darkness (see George Bailey in It's A Wonderful Life) always lurking just beneath the surface but never enough to damage the character's positive standing in the audience's eyes. So of course, it's not easy to accept Stewart as the cynical, rude Howard at first--this probably is the least sympathetic character he has ever played, since the cracks in his tough, mean veneer come very seldom during the course of the film (and kudos to the writers for not having Stewart's innate goodness shine through more often and therefore use the audience's sympathies for the actor to bring some for the character).

Howard is driven and relentless, as evidenced with the near psychosis he brings to his task of capturing Ben. From his sullenness when Ben reveals how much the capture really is worth, through to the final exciting sequence when Kemp pulls himself up the rock to face his nemesis (thereafter making it clear why the film is given the title of 'The Naked Spur'), Howard Kemp is evidently a man who no longer trusts even *himself* to do the good thing. Quite a twist on the James Stewart persona, and certainly one he pulls off with great aplomb. His final scene with Janet Leigh, as Howard has to decide whether he can stand to lose his future to his past, definitely stands proud as some of Stewart's greatest work.

I watched this film largely because of a great review I'd read of it for Stewart's performance, and there is no denying that that is surely a good enough reason to watch this film. Stewart outdoes himself. Still, I got a lot more than I'd bargained for, because this really is an excellent, psychologically-charged Western as well--the kind that makes you feel and think, and it's only the better films that make one do that.

Acting legend Jimmy Stewart and filmmaker Anthony Mann made a handful of notable collaborations, but none quite as impactful as this. It's hailed as one of the finest Westerns ever made by fans and buffs, and this viewer isn't exactly inclined to disagree with them. It's a rather intimate story (there are only five main characters), but it's gorgeously filmed (by cinematographer William C. Mellor) in Technicolor on Rocky Mountain locations in Colorado, and it certainly would have looked even more grand had it been filmed in "scope". Its five characters are developed well, and we see how plain greed often motivates their actions.

Jimmy is cast as Howard Kemp, an intense bounty hunter determined to collect the reward for wanted man Ben Vandergroat (Robert Ryan). However, he didn't really count on Ben travelling with a companion (the lovely young Janet Leigh), or that he'd have to rely on two other solitary travellers: grizzled gold prospector Jesse Tate (Millard Mitchell) and young Roy Anderson (Ralph Meeker), who was drummed out of the Cavalry for his shaky morals. Tate, at the very least, comes off as more level-headed than the hot-tempered Anderson.

Without over-explaining things, we learn what motivates Kemp, and we see why he's so driven. A complicated, somewhat compromised character was not exactly known to be Jimmy's forte (he usually played symbols of human decency), but he handles it with style. His co-stars are just as good, though, with Ryan a standout as a smart cookie (this is one of his cheeriest performances, for sure) who knows how to drive a wedge in between the "partners", and otherwise manipulate them.

The good, straightforward story is by Sam Rolfe and Harold Jack Bloom, who were later nominated for the Screenplay Oscar. In addition to giving us an engaging set of personalities to clash with one another, they also make sure to include some riveting action sequences, well realized by the filmmakers. The final few minutes involve some river rapids, and they're as exciting as anything one will see in this genre.

Well worth seeing for Western devotees, it's also a good time for fans of any of the cast members present.

Eight out of 10.

Set in the post Civil War American West, The Naked Spur is more than a western. The director, Anthony Mann, took a script by two relatively unknown screenwriters (later nominated for an Oscar) and made a great picture about losers trying to survive in a tough postwar world. James Stewart, the star, plays a rancher who lost everything because before going off to the Civil War, he signed his ranch over to his girlfriend. In 1952, when this picture was filmed, World War II was no distant memory, the Korean War was going on and the idea that a soldier thought he wasn't going to return from a war was real enough. The writers and Anthony Mann placed the story almost a hundred years earlier, but the movie is about regular people on the skids. The cashiered Army officer, always looking out for number one, whatever the cost to others, had to ring true with war veterans in the audience in 1953. There is a villain, and Robert Ryan plays a great one, but James Stewart's character, Howard Kemp, is no hero. Ryan's character, Ben Vandergroat, complains that he knew Howard and he never did Howie any wrong, so there was no reason for Kemp to track him down, regardless of the reward money. Ryan has a point, a western hero doesn't hunt down someone just for money, knowing that if caught the person will be executed. But the scenic views of the Rocky Mountains, the great production values (including Technicolor) by MGM and the stars all are a façade for what could have been a film noir picture, Anthony Mann's earlier specialty. Stewart's character in The Naked Spur is trying to get back the ranch he lost after his world was turned upside down by war. The screaming nightmares he has, showing the psychological trauma the war was responsible for, would now go under the name post traumatic stress syndrome. War veterans trying to return to a normal life has always been a subject for movies, but rarely has the message been hidden as well as here. The Naked Spur is the type of class picture studios don't (or can't) make anymore, and that is the moviegoers' loss.

James Stewart and Anthony Mann worked together on several films during the 1950's, and this film, "The Naked Spur", represents a very satisfying effort, pooling the collective talents of a great star with a renowned director and letting a story tell itself on film.

There is very little action in the sense of a normal western, no shootouts in the streets, no bar-room brawls, no breakouts from the jail, or even a bank robbery. There is no town, period; the film was made outdoors in Colorado, and the scenery simply enhances and enriches the plot of the film.

Basically, James Stewart plays a bounty hunter, Howard Kemp, who has a chance to catch a major outlaw, Ben Vandergroat portrayed by Robert Ryan. To Kemp, capturing the outlaw represents a chance to make something of himself, start over, with no ties to the former failures he has met. Along the way, he bumps into a weather-beaten prospector, Jesse, played by veteran Milliard Mitchell, and a deserter from the army, played by Ralph Meeker. Ryan has a traveling companion, Lina, (Janet Leigh), and when Ben is captured, she does make efforts to free him, thus causing Stewart's character all sorts of grief and anguish. Ryan, in a starkly brilliant performance, also attempts to create chances to escape.

In watching the film develop, one has to wonder if Kemp will ultimately, due to his hardened nature, surrender Ben to the authorities, or will he simply let the outlaw go, and try to make a fresh start elsewhere. The answer comes at the side of a roaring river set between a rocky gorge. A very unique film, and one that deserves a watch by western fans.

I saw this for the first time recently.

The plot in short n without any spoilers - A man with a tragic past becomes a bounty hunter to catch a cunning murderer so that he can buy back his land via the bounty reward. Unwillingly he partners with two fellas, one an ex soldier who is discharged dishonorably n the other an old fella looking for gold mine. The trio manages to catch the murderer but on the trail the cunning wanted murderer wages a continous psychological game to turn his captors against each other by various means.

This is no doubt a very different western which started off very engrossing, specially the psychological duel n the journey but somehow towards the end it felt a bit odd.

The girl suddenly changes her mind, the soldiers' fate in the end was uncalled for n what was the need for digging a grave for a murderer n where will the couple live if the man is broke n without a house.

Still i am generous with a 7 cos of the performances n cinematography.