Directed by Anthony Mann
Written by Sam Rolfe & Harold Jack Bloom
Director Of Photography: William Mellor
Film Editor: George White
Music by Bronisław Kaper
Cast: James Stewart (Howard Kemp, Janet Leigh (Lina Patch), Robert Ryan (Ben Vandergroat), Ralph Meeker (Roy Anderson), Millard Mitchell (Jesse Tate)
As great as The Naked Spur (1953) is, and even with Warner Archive’s incredible track record, I didn’t have high hopes for this Blu-Ray. Boy, was I wrong.
Anthony Mann’s The Naked Spur is certainly one of the finest Westerns ever made, but it’s been one of the most consistently terrible-looking great movies on home video. From VHS to laserdisc to DVD, the Technicolor palette was muted and the picture itself way too soft. What was supposed to be sharp and vibrant looked like a pastel — in other words, it never stopped looking like VHS. Pair all that with the sad economics of home video these days — that the demand for older films hardly justifies the expense of a major restoration, and you can see why I wasn’t expecting the gorgeous presentation we can thank Warner Archive for today.
But enough on that (for now).
The Naked Spur was the third of the Anthony Mann-James Stewart Westerns, coming after Winchester ’73 (1950) and Bend Of The River (1952). The Far Country (1954) and Man From Laramie (1955) would follow. This was a cinematic hot streak that will probably never be equaled.
The entire cast of The Naked Spur: (L-R) Millard Mitchell, Robert Ryan, Janet Leigh, Ralph Meeker, James Stewart.
Howard Kemp (Stewart) is bringing in Ben Vandergroat (Robert Ryan) to stand trial for murder. Vandergroat is accompanied by his girl, Lina Patch (Janet Leigh). Along for the ride are a prospector (Millard Mitchell) and a dishonorably discharged Cavalryman (Ralph Meeker). At first, folks think Stewart’s a lawman — with the knowledge that he’s a bounty hunter and there’s $5,000 at the end of the trail, things change. Mitchell and Meeker want a share of the reward — and they know how to make that piece of the pie a bit bigger. Vandergroat sees all this, and he starts working at everyone to create a chance to get away.
I’m not going any further than that. Don’t want to spoil anything.
Anthony Mann and Janet Leigh on location.
Stewart’s his usual torn, tormented, edgy Mann-picture cowboy in this one — he needs the reward to buy back his ranch. Ryan is at his best as the manipulative, slimy-but-somehow-charming Vandergroat. Ralph Meeker has maybe the best scumbag role of his career — he plays almost the entire picture with a sneer. Millard Mitchell would only make one more movie; he died of lung cancer not too long after this. And Janet Leigh is just perfect. She’s totally believable as an easy target for Ryan who slowly sees him for the murderous sociopath he really is. Much of the picture’s considerable tension comes from these characters.
The Naked Spur seems like a prototype for the Scott-Boetticher Westerns that would come a few years later: the small cast, the tightness, the tone, the incredible use of the landscape, the male lead who’s trying to right a wrong or live something down, the charismatic or even likable villain, etc. I’m not suggesting, not for a second, that Burt Kennedy and Budd Boetticher were ripping Mann off. It’s just a particular type of Western that really worked well in the 50s. Some of my all-time favorite movies fit this pattern.
Now back to the Blu-Ray. Many of y’all out there had an understandable wait-and-see approach to this one. I’m happy to report you can proceed with complete confidence — this is one of the most significant upgrades I’ve seen from DVD to Blu-Ray. The care that went into this is obvious in every frame.
It’s a near perfect transfer of three-strip Technicolor — the color and sharpness are impeccable. It’s clean without signs of noise reduction. The sound has a nice range to it and the extras from the old DVD — a Pete Smith Specialty, Tex Avery’s Little Johnny Jet (1953) and the trailer — have been brought over.
The Naked Spur is certainly one of the best classic films to hit Blu-Ray this year. It’s so nice to see it get the attention it so richly deserves — especially William Mellor’s incredible outdoor Technicolor work. Absolutely essential.
50 Westerns From The 50s. 
My eyes are beginning to sting at the thought of seeing The Naked Spur in such splendor.
Wait till you see it — it’ll knock your eyes out. I knew we could count on WA to make things better, but never to go from ugly to gorgeous.
Very enticing. This is currently in the way to me, but when it will actually arrive given the unbelievable delays in international mail these days is anyone’s guess.
One of my favourites. Unfortunately it isnt available on Amazon or Amazon U.K. or Wow, the three companies I order from. Considering it is not long out, wonder why .
@Vienna here it is at amazon: https://www.amazon.com/The-Naked-Spur-Blu-ray/dp/B09CV8MBDG?tag=bluray-021-20&linkCode=ogi&th=1&psc=1&m=ATVPDKIKX0DER
Thanks, but Amazon states ‘currently unavailable.’
My copy, shipped by WOWHD, showed up today and I took the opportunity to give it a quick spin to see how it looks.
My jaw hit the floor, it is that good. I fully concur with Toby’s assessment of the quality of the upgrade. A stunning restoration of my favorite of the Mann/Stewart westerns that I’m just delighted to own.
Toby, this is great news. In my opinion THE NAKED SPUR(filmed 1952, released 1953) is one of the best Western Movies ever made. Reads like Warner Archive did a masterful job with this Blue-ray presentation. I hope this continues with future releases. Also, I hope they continue to release a short film and cartoon from the same year the movie was first released, as well as a trailer, because this adds to the movie going experience, just like in the days of yore.
I can’t say enough about how really good I think THE NAKED SPUR is. What an outstanding story of greed and redemption written by Sam Rolfe and Harold Jack Bloom. Their screenplay was nominated for an Academy Award. Anthony Mann’s direction was masterful and the photography of William Mellor of the Rocky and San Juan Mountains of near Durango, Colorado is breathtaking. What an amazing cast of James Stewart, Janet Leigh, Robert Ryan, Ralph Meeker, and Millard Mitchell. They were all at their best.
I recall first viewing THE NAKED SPUR on the NBC SATURDAY NIGHT AT THE MOVIES in 1964. NBC aired it twice that year, but unlike many other movies after their initial prime time network tv premieres, which would begin their local tv airings the following tv season, THE NAKED SPUR wasn’t licensed out for local tv airings until the 1968-69 tv season. So, it continued to be shown in walk-in and drive-in theaters throughout the USA and internationally. I viewed it once again on the WREC Channel 3 Memphis LATE MOVIE in 1972. I appreciated it even more so, and by this time I was paying attention to who wrote, directed, produced, photographed, and so forth.
I always enjoy your comments Walter and generally learn something interesting. Your last sentence about learning to pay attention to the writer, producer, cinematographer, etc. is an example.
Thanks to this site, others like Laura’s, Ride the high Country, etc. (too many to mention really) & knowledgable commenters I have gained a much deeper appreciation of the talented artists that contributed so much to films. I now watch the opening credits with a much keener eye for spotting previously obscure but now favorite actors below the title – right through even seeing if one of the Westmores or Ben Nye were credited with Makeup Supervision!
Lyson, thank you for your kind words. I also appreciate these wonderful sites that we visit to learn more about the movies and tv shows that we have liked over the years. Thank you Toby, Laura, Colin, Paddy Lee, Vienna, Jeff, and others. I’ve really enjoyed conversing with the good people that have like interests in movies and tv shows and comment on them. I’ve learned a lot.
I think about all the hard working people of the entertainment industry that made possible what we view. I think their names should be known and remembered by us, the fans.
Like everyone else here, I’m very excited about this new Blu-ray! I was away from home for much of the last few weeks but hope to sit down and watch/review it very soon.
It was also such a nice surprise to find the very nice comments here from Lyson and Walter. Thank you so much! What a wonderful classic film community we have.
Best wishes,
Laura
The Warner Archive Collection is the gold standard these days for Blu-ray releases. I wish they’d venture into 4K. 🙂 The person to thank is George Feltenstein, in charge at WAC, for insisting on new masters and transfers, with additional digital clean-up, from the best available elements — which often means, as with The Naked Spur, from the negative (or the three Technicolor negatives). WAC’s Technicolor releases are really jaw-dropping. Y’all should see their Blu-rays of The Pirate and The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex. Eyeball-popping! As for The Naked Spur, with this transfer, it’s an entirely new and different movie than I’ve ever seen before. It’s really amazing how a high-quality transfer can affect one’s reaction to a film.
You’re very right, Paula — an improved picture can really change your take on a movie. The Naked Spur is so great it rises above that, but there have been many pictures over the life of this blog (and the researching and writing of the book) that have risen a notch or two thanks to new transfers, restorations, etc.
It’s happening a lot with old 50s monsters and sci-fi movies — they don’t seem near as cheap and clunky when you see them looking like they were shot yesterday.
How true Paula! In the 60s we would welcome brand new print of reruns of highly popular 40s and 50s movies. Some of them would be Gone With The Wind, Scaramouche, The Adventures Of Robin Hood, etc.
Chrisk, back in the 1960’s and ’70’s I wouldn’t have dreamed of what is available for our viewing today. We are living in a “Golden Age” of viewing. Personally I can only view a smidgen of what is out there.
Paula, I agree that we should thank George Feltenstein at Warner Archive’s for quality Blu-ray releases. Thank you Mr. Feltenstein.
Walter, YES we are living in a “Golden Age” of viewing.
Paula triggered my thinking concerning a Western Movie that I would like to see remastered, transferred, and digitally cleaned up. DRAGOON WELLS MASSACRE(filmed 1956, released 1957) is an Allied Artists release directed by Harold D. Schuster, scripted by Warren Douglas from an original story by Oliver Drake, produced by Lindsley Parsons, and photographed by William H. Clothier. The movie was filmed in CinemaScope with an aspect ratio of 2.35:1 and color by Deluxe. The filming took place at some beautiful locations in Utah and Arizona and is 88 minutes long. Also, it has a really good cast of actors and actresses. Barry Sullivan, Dennis O’Keefe, Mona Freeman, Katy Jurado, Sebastian Cabot, Max Showalter, Jack Elam, Trevor Bardette, Hank Worden, and John War Eagle.
I think this is a movie gem that would really look great restored and released on Blu-ray. I can only hope.
Walter, you are so right about this one! It’s a sadly overlooked picture, one of my major discoveries during this whole book and blog thing.
As things have gotten a little more settled here, I’ve been working on the book fairly consistently, and just last night, I was monkeying with the chapter on Dragoon Wells Massacre. Funny you’d bring it up!
Toby, DRAGOON WELLS is sadly overlooked, which is a shame, but let’s hope that your book will bring some attention to it and many more overlooked Western Movie gems.
Let’s just hope the book gets done!
I also really love DRAGOON WELLS MASSACRE, to the point I wrote about it as a “Hidden Gem” at Classic Movie Hub a year ago. I so agree that it needs a Blu-ray release! I’m thrilled you’re including it in your book, Toby!
Best wishes,
Laura
” Hidden gem ” DRAGOON WELLS MASSACRE (la poursuite fantastique) ? Yes ! and JACK SLADE too; Same director.
Chip, you’re correct that JACK SLADE(1953) was also directed by Harold D. Schuster. Fact is, so was THE RETURN OF JACK SLADE(1955). Same producer and screenwriter for all three movies.
I’m not sure who owns the rights to these particular Allied Artists Pictures releases. Warner Archive has the rights to some Allied Artists Pictures, but ViacomCBS/Paramount also holds the rights to some. I wish they would at least license someone to release them in good transfers. I’m always hopeful.
Finally got around to watching the blu. Amazing, astounding, wondrous quality. The movie? These were actors! This was a director! Accolades all deserved and the blu does it justice. What a disc and movie. The Naked Spur lives up to it all.