The Naked Spur | Rotten Tomatoes

The Naked Spur

Released Aug 3, 1953

1 hr. 31 min.

Western

List

100%

20 Reviews

Tomatometer

76%

1,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

Howard Kemp (James Stewart) has been tracking killer Ben Vandergroat (Robert Ryan) for a long time. In the Colorado Rockies, he teams up with prospector Jesse Tate (Millard Mitchell) and former Union soldier Roy Anderson (Ralph Meeker). Thinking Kemp is a sheriff, they agree to help for a small fee. When they catch Vandergroat, he tells them Kemp is pursuing a $5,000 bounty. After demanding equal shares, the uneasy alliance heads for Kansas as Vandergroat tries to turn them against each other.

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Matthew B

The Naked Spur is the third of five morality westerns that director Anthony Mann made with actor James Stewart in the lead role. As with all other entries, the story revolves around a morally flawed hero who faces an ethical dilemma from which he must make the right choice. With The Naked Spur, Howard Kemp (Stewart) is still in the middle of making that choice, and it is far from certain that he will decide to take the high ground in the end. On this occasion, our hero is a bounty hunter, and he is seeking to bring in a man with whom he was once friendly, and with whom he played cards. He does not even care whether the man is guilty or not. He wants only the reward money. The Naked Spur is a chamber piece. There are only five speaking parts in the film. In spite of this, five seems too many to safely attain the purpose for which Howard has set out. The dynamics between the characters will create a tense atmosphere throughout the story, in which nobody can be trusted. Mann makes good use of the beautiful landscape of the Rocky Mountains, with its tall green trees and high hills. He benefits from a strong cast with no weak performances that let the film down. While Mann is often seen a man who was good at directing action scenes, he is comfortable filming the quieter moments too, and he manages to move all scenes along with a deft sense of pace and rhythm. There is no time for hidden depths. The motives and actions of his characters are all visible on the surface. This allows audiences to easily engage with the moral issues that underline all of Mann's stories. Mann may not be often named among the world's great directors, but he is certainly one of the most satisfying. I wrote a longer appreciation of The Naked Spur on my blog page if you would like to read more: https://themoviescreenscene.wordpress.com/2019/08/27/the-naked-spur-1953/

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

09/02/23

Full Review

Jared Z

It's admittedly a bit of a slow burn, but The Naked Spur is an absolute masterclass in suspense and character study, with James Stewart delivering yet another stellar performance in his third collaboration with director Anthony Mann.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

07/30/23

Full Review

Steve D

High end western with a wonderful lead.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

06/26/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Fantastic performances and a movie that has a little more to it than you think it would.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/26/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Anthony Mann continues to show me that he is my favorite director of American westerns. His more morally complex heroes, that especially of Mann's frequent collaborator James Stewart. The Naked Spur is my favorite of their western collaborations by far (haven't seen Winchester 73 yet). With its stunning locations that pop from the beautiful Techicolor helps it stand out. The story is simple story of a man after another man for money, but the cast of characters make it work. Lead by a great villain in Robert Ryan and of course the beautiful lady in between Ryan and Stewart, the beautiful Janet Leigh. This comes recommended.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

02/14/23

Full Review

david f

This Western is packed with gorgeous scenery but it's the psychological desperation and constriction of the Jimmy Stewart character - a rancher who has set out to capture a criminal with a bounty large enough to help him buy his ranch back - and the way his desperation interacts with a loopy miner character and a dishonourably discharged soldier who agree to help him take the captured criminal back to Abilene in return for part of the bounty that make this Western such an edge-of-your-seat thriller. On one level this is an entertainment, and as far as that goes it is great entertainment. The conflicts between the man with the bounty and the bounty hunter, the tensions between the three potential bounty collectors - these things keep the film very interesting. But it's also philosophical about things like justice and just what something like the American Dream is all about if it means you've got to capture someone and drag them back to face justice. It asks what that does to a man. This is really an all around great movie.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

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Anthony Mann

Director

James Stewart

Howard Kemp

Janet Leigh

Lina Patch

Robert Ryan

Ben Vandergroat

Ralph Meeker

Roy Anderson

Millard Mitchell

Jesse Tate

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Nell Minow

Movie Mom

Rated: 4/5

Jul 25, 2002

Full Review

Jonathan Rosenbaum

Chicago Reader

This 1953 film has Janet Leigh in jeans, beautiful location shooting (and Technicolor cinematography) in the Rockies, and some of the most intense psychological warfare to be found in [director Anthony] Mann's angular and anguished oeuvre.

Jan 1, 2000

Full Review

Sean Axmaker

Stream on Demand

Stewart delivers the most ruthless performance of his career as a man haunted by betrayal unwilling to trust and unable to love and Ryan’s jovial banter and charm masks a cold-blooded savagery.

Jul 1, 2023

Full Review

David Nusair

Reel Film Reviews

...a sporadically striking yet disappointingly erratic endeavor...

Rated: 2.5/4

Jun 4, 2023

Full Review

Danielle Solzman

Solzy at the Movies

The Naked Spur is a beautifully cinematographed Western that would help in redefining the genre and features a top-notch performance from James Stewart.

Rated: 5/5

Mar 19, 2023

Full Review

Brian Eggert

Deep Focus Review

The film's minimalist structure gives way to a complex psychological cat-and-mouse game set against grand, symbolic scenery.

Rated: 4/4

Mar 2, 2022

Full Review

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Synopsis

Howard Kemp (James Stewart) has been tracking killer Ben Vandergroat (Robert Ryan) for a long time. In the Colorado Rockies, he teams up with prospector Jesse Tate (Millard Mitchell) and former Union soldier Roy Anderson (Ralph Meeker). Thinking Kemp is a sheriff, they agree to help for a small fee. When they catch Vandergroat, he tells them Kemp is pursuing a $5,000 bounty. After demanding equal shares, the uneasy alliance heads for Kansas as Vandergroat tries to turn them against each other.

Director: Anthony Mann
Screenwriter: Sam Rolfe, Harold Jack Bloom
Distributor: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Production Co: Metro Goldwyn Mayer, Loew's Inc.
Genre: Western
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Aug 3, 1953, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Oct 18, 2010
Sound Mix: Mono

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