MovieChat Forums > The Naked Spur (1953) Discussion > Dumbfounded at the high rating.

Dumbfounded at the high rating.


Slap Jimmy Stewart into some stirrups for a morality tale and viewers are satisfied apparently. Nevermind the movie playing like a sub B picture version of many like it that came before. The Colorado scenery is nice, but that is about the only good there is to say. Ryan, who I normally love to watch, came off ridiculous with that hammed up "psycho" chuckle after finishing every line of dialogue. Stewart was more skiddish than ever - his hysterical nightmare was cringeworthy. Meeker was ok but his character was kind of a joke. Point is, some damn fine actors but they weren't given much to work with. And the ending was just... a joke. It felt like typical revisionist history that plagues Hollywood. Thankfully Mann has much better work to hang his hat on.

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I agree, very ordinary. So many better Westerns.

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Slap Jimmy Stewart into some stirrups for a morality tale and viewers are satisfied apparently.
I certainly was. Stewart plays vey much a flawed anti-hero in an era when they rarely occurred in westerns, with Mitchell and Meeker along for the ride after sensing a small fortune might be had on the back of bringing in Ryan's outlaw. What works is the finely tuned tensions between the characters accentuated by the bounty on Ryan's head. The Colorado locations are terrific. Less successful IMO, is Janet Leigh's initial outlaw bad girl, who necessarily (it's the 50's and she doesn't die)becomes a catalyst for change for the good, by the film's conclusion. 🐭

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