The Naked Spur (1952)
Country: US
Technical: col 91m
Director: Anthony Mann
Cast: James Stewart, Robert Ryan, Janet Leigh, Ralph Meeker, Millard Mitchell
Synopsis:
In the aftermath of the Civil War, an embittered former rancher hunts down an outlaw in the Colorado Rockies in order to re-purchase his land from the bounty. He must reckon with a gold prospector and a Union soldier but is redeemed by the desperado's moll.
Review:
Typically dark in its central characterisation, this rather schematic western features hammy acting from Ryan and Meeker, but also presents Mann's reversal of hero-villain roles at its starkest: right up until the last reel the Ryan character is so docile and inoffensive, the Stewart one so malicious, that if it weren't for the former's constant leering and the latter's star persona, you'd be forgiven for wondering who was which. Even after death has resolved their differences, does he take the body back and collect? Luckily he has Janet Leigh to remind him of what 'civilised' means. Glorious cinematography on location in the Rockies, but 'Beautiful Dreamer' drives us as frenzied as the characters by the time it's all over.
Country: US
Technical: col 91m
Director: Anthony Mann
Cast: James Stewart, Robert Ryan, Janet Leigh, Ralph Meeker, Millard Mitchell
Synopsis:
In the aftermath of the Civil War, an embittered former rancher hunts down an outlaw in the Colorado Rockies in order to re-purchase his land from the bounty. He must reckon with a gold prospector and a Union soldier but is redeemed by the desperado's moll.
Review:
Typically dark in its central characterisation, this rather schematic western features hammy acting from Ryan and Meeker, but also presents Mann's reversal of hero-villain roles at its starkest: right up until the last reel the Ryan character is so docile and inoffensive, the Stewart one so malicious, that if it weren't for the former's constant leering and the latter's star persona, you'd be forgiven for wondering who was which. Even after death has resolved their differences, does he take the body back and collect? Luckily he has Janet Leigh to remind him of what 'civilised' means. Glorious cinematography on location in the Rockies, but 'Beautiful Dreamer' drives us as frenzied as the characters by the time it's all over.
Country: US
Technical: col 91m
Director: Anthony Mann
Cast: James Stewart, Robert Ryan, Janet Leigh, Ralph Meeker, Millard Mitchell
Synopsis:
In the aftermath of the Civil War, an embittered former rancher hunts down an outlaw in the Colorado Rockies in order to re-purchase his land from the bounty. He must reckon with a gold prospector and a Union soldier but is redeemed by the desperado's moll.
Review:
Typically dark in its central characterisation, this rather schematic western features hammy acting from Ryan and Meeker, but also presents Mann's reversal of hero-villain roles at its starkest: right up until the last reel the Ryan character is so docile and inoffensive, the Stewart one so malicious, that if it weren't for the former's constant leering and the latter's star persona, you'd be forgiven for wondering who was which. Even after death has resolved their differences, does he take the body back and collect? Luckily he has Janet Leigh to remind him of what 'civilised' means. Glorious cinematography on location in the Rockies, but 'Beautiful Dreamer' drives us as frenzied as the characters by the time it's all over.