The Naked Spur
In his third Western with Anthony Mann, James Stewart plays Howard Kemp, a bounty hunter tracking down killer Ben Vandergroat (Robert Ryan) with some dubious help from a couple of strangers. As a hard-bitten Civil War vet whose world was turned upside down—he’s probably suffering from what we’d call PTSD today—Stewart delivers a deeply emotional, career-changing performance. Plus, there’s masterful location shooting of the Rockies, presented in gorgeous Technicolor.
