The Naked Spur 1953

     Jesse Tate is a prospector and he has set up camp in a wooded area.  Howard Kemp is a bounty hunger and he’s after Ben Vandergroat for a reward.  Ben is wanted for the murder of the marshal in Abilene, Kansas.  Howard talks to Jesse about seeing anything during his recent travels.  Jesse tells Howard that he saw the remains of a campfire and he’ll take him to that location.  Howard and Jesse think Ben is holed up at the top of a rocky hill called the Naked Spur and he’s sending down boulders to create landslides.  Lieutenant Roy Anderson is a recently discharged Union soldier and he offers to climb up the hill.  Ben is there on top of the mountain with his girlfriend Lina Patch.  Jesse and Roy become very interested when they learn there is a $5000 reward for bringing in Ben dead or alive.

     There is danger every minute after the men take Ben into custody.  He could escape at every turn and now there is rivalry between the men for the reward money.  Howard saw Roy’s discharge papers and it says Roy is morally unstable and it is a dishonorable discharge.  Ben is Lina’s father’s friend and she is convinced that Ben is innocent.  It’s possible she will try to set Ben free.  Jesse has been prospecting for a long time, he’s never found much gold and $5000 sounds like a lot of money.  3 ½* (I liked this movie)     

91 min, Western directed by Anthony Mann with James Stewart, Janet Leigh, Robert Ryan, Ralph Meeker, Millard Mitchell.

Note:  Imdb 7.4 out of 10, 100% critic 75% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, Amazon 4.4* out of 5* with 154 reviews, TCM Leonard Maltin 3.5 out of 4* user reviews average 4.4* out of 5*

Special Note:  Filmed in Lone Pine, California; San Juan Mountains, Durango, Rocky Mountains, Rocky Outcrop The Naked Spur near Durango, Colorado.  Included among the 1001 Movies You Must See edited by Steven Schneider.  The setting of this film is March of 1868.  The revolver is a mistake because it's the Colt Model 1873 Single Action Army.  The rifle is not a Winchester Model 1866 Yellow Boy but a later model.  The $5000 reward would be $92,000 today.  The DVD cover shows Janet Leigh in a low cut blue dress.  She didn’t wear anything like this in the film?  Leigh started acting with her first film The Romance of Rosy Ridge in 1947 at the age of 20.