MovieChat Forums > The Naked Spur (1953) Discussion > The Ending is Ridiculous (SPOILERS)

The Ending is Ridiculous (SPOILERS)

posted 15 years ago by mike171979
14 replies | jump to latest

The ending of this film truly, I mean truly makes no sense.

The man(Ryan) admitted he was a murderer, on top of that he killed the old miner for no reason.

So now that he is killed, and fished out of the river, suddenly there is a moral dilemma about taking in his body for a reward????????

What is morally wrong with taking in a deceased murderer for a reward?????

At least if they would have taken him in, he would have got a decent burial in a cemetery instead of just an unmarked grave in the middle of no where.

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[–] mazaldivar 15 years ago

It's possible they would mark it.
Yeah the ending is weak.

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[–] BillyFisher 14 years ago

The way I read it, it wasn't a sudden moral dilemma at all. The dilemma was there all along. Stewart was basically a good man wrestling with his conscience. He was angry about the way he was cheated and humiliated (I wondered whether the "naked" in the title was a reference to this humiliation), and in his anger turned to hate and selfishness. But it wasn't really him. In the end, he just cracked, and love won out.

'Course, the genius of Mann casting Stewart in this role is that from the very start we knew it wasn't really Jimmy. We knew he was basically good, and the anger and hatred couldn't win. I just watched this for the first time tonight, and from the moment I first saw Stewart looking all crafty and mean, I was rebelling against it. I guess in that way the audience shares the character's dilemma.

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[–] jmix66 13 years ago

The ending makes "sense" if you look at it from the improbable and idealized view of the Old West prevalent in the 1950's.
Clearly the amount of money was at least several years worth of pay and only the most foolhardy of people living at that time (the 1800's when the film was set) wouldn't have tried obtain that amount for themselves.

If this film were remade, the characters would almost certainly make the "correct" choice and take the body to town for the reward.

Bad films are a crime against humanity.

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[–] Lord_Snizzleditch 13 years ago

People on this boards seem to be a prime example of shallow, materialistic 21st century idiots.

There are certain things that are worth more than money. A man's soul for example. Ryan's body and the money it would bring are all symbols are the obession destorying Stewart's soul. The end is Stewart accepting he needs to give up that obession to save himself.

In the game of chess you can never let your adversary see your pieces.

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[–] jmix66 13 years ago

Was that directed towards me?

What's "idiotic" would be to try adapt 19th century realities to your 21st century values.This was an era when people were hung for stealing livestock, children were hung for theft in England and people approved of holding others in bondage slavery.To think that people who approved of those views (or at least didn't publicly disapprove of them) in a different era would somehow be so moral that they wouldn't have taken an opportunity to earn at least five (or more) years worth of pay is absurd.

The is a well-crafted film that fits neatly into 1950's Hollywood idealized view of the "Old West." To see it as anything else is a misguided attempt to make art resemble reality.

Bad films are a crime against humanity.

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[–] Satantangoandcash 10 years ago

I agree with Lord Snizzleditch.

The ending makes much more sense than the usual cliched western. (Although they do sort of ride off into the sunset.)

Lina tells Howard that it won't matter if he brings in Ben for the reward because he'll carry his obsessive hatred around forever and that will destroy him - and she means his hatred for the woman who betrayed him by selling his ranch and running off with another man, as well as the hatred for the woman that he has transferred to Ben and thinks he will be rid of once he brings Ben in and buys his ranch back. His decision in the end has nothing to do with the reward. By deciding not to take in Ben, and more imortantly, not to return to Abilene, Howard does what he needs to do to let go of his past and start a new life with Lina. Not getting rid of that baggage would have doomed his relationship with her. It's a hard but very heroic choice he makes. It would have been easier for Howard to go back and collect the reward, but in the end he suggests they go to California for the reason Lina mentions earlier - to make a new start where nobody worries about your past, including you.

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[–] Green-Eyed-Girl31 8 years ago

There are certain things that are worth more than money. A man's soul for example. Ryan's body and the money it would bring are all symbols are the obession destorying Stewart's soul. The end is Stewart accepting he needs to give up that obession to save himself.

A late reply to your post as I just watched this film for the first time having been lucky enough to catch it during Oscar month on TCM.

I understand the comments on both sides of this issue, but for me, I agree that for Stewart's character, this was the only choice to give him peace of mind. There are always ways to earn money, but once you lose your sense of self it's very hard to retain it unless you make a hard choice.

"You met me at a very strange time in my life"

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[–] waltereckland 8 years ago

Before he was betrayed Stewart's character was loving, thoughtful and trusting. When the love of his life betrayed him he became the opposite of those things. The other three men were destroyed by greed, hatred and stupidity. Stewart's character comes to realize that the girl is right and when he buries the bad guy he buries his past along with him.

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[–] bothpartiessuck 13 years ago

My take on it is similar but slightly different.

I think that it had more to do with Lina's view of him. He and Lina were going to start a new life together, and since Ben had been like a father to her and she was clearly pained not only by Ben's death but by Howie's decision to take the body in for the reward, and since Howie didn't want Lina to hate/resent and/or think less of him, Howie changed his mind. That line he uttered about her "ideal of him" as he loads the body onto the horse is what makes me think that.

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[–] gribfritz2 13 years ago

What did greed do for Jesse? What did it do for Roy? What would it have done to Howard if he continued on that path?

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[–] littlefuzzy 10 years ago

When Ben was alive, there was a moral question (at least in Lina's eyes) to taking him in. After all, he said he didn't do it, didn't he? (but then, they always say that.)

After he killed Jesse, confessed to the killing that the reward was about, and hit Lina, I would think that she wouldn't have any reservations left. Besides, once he was dead-and Howard WASN'T the man who killed him-there wouldn't be a question of sending an innocent man to the gallows.

Someone raised a point about Howard hating his ex-girl and maybe the man who married her, but I don't know that buying back his ranch or not buying it back would make much difference on that. In fact, it might fester if he DIDN'T buy it back, and he might come to blame Lina for giving up that chance (even if she said she was okay with him getting the reward.)

I would think that it would have been a better ending if they took the body back, got the reward, and used it to start a new life together in California or something instead of buying his old ranch.

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[–] heyuactor 10 years ago

I would think that it would have been a better ending if they took the body back, got the reward, and used it to start a new life together in California or something instead of buying his old ranch.

Definitely. He can still be letting go of his hurt/hate that way, rather than burying Ben on the spot.

"Did you make coffee...? Make it!"--Cheyenne.

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[–] jmillerdp 9 years ago

Considering that they traveled and traveled, and were still in the Rockies, it's hard to imagine the eternity it would have taken to get them to the plains of Kansas!

I. Drink. Your. Milkshake! [slurp!] I DRINK IT UP! - Daniel Plainview - There Will Be Blood

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[–] waltereckland 8 years ago

That would have been one ripe bad guy by the time they got back to Kansas!

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