Ralph Meeker.
Posted on 06/15/2024 3:21:27 PM PDT by Twotone
The American west has always seemed to be, at least as portrayed in western movies, a terrible place. This might be purely subjective – I also consider every science fiction film a kind of dystopia, and the world of the modern rom com an extension of high school (which is to say a circle of hell). But I was reminded of this once again while watching Anthony Mann's 1953 film The Naked Spur, one of five westerns Mann made with James Stewart, all of which are considered crucial revisionist or "psychological" westerns.
There are only five characters in Mann's film, and they all point guns at each other upon meeting – an apparently prudent thing to do in the Colorado Territory and its adjacent pre-statehood expanses of unsettled frontier. A stranger is as likely to be an enemy as a friend – more so, considering the circumstances in Mann's film. And given how wild and unpeopled the territories straddling the Rockies were at the time, a body left in the open might never be found.
And then there's the landscape. Mann made a point of filming many of his westerns far away from the southwestern deserts favoured by John Ford and the arid coastal plains a convenient few hours' drive from Hollywood. The scenery is beautiful – they justifiably call this part of the United States "God's country" – but it's pitiless if you're in the open and on foot; rocky and steep, and full of river canyons that rage after rains and winter melts.
I'll let you decide if you'd prefer to fall off a horse into sand or down a vertical cliff face into white water rapids. A desert is dry, but water can be as deadly as it is essential.
(Excerpt) Read more at steynonline.com ...
Coal — it means warmth and life, but too much means death.
— Marlene Dietrich, in “Pittsburgh.”
Good, but I liked “Man from Laramie” better. Fantastic New Mexico locations on the high prairie, salt lake beds, mesas, and towns.
And the character “Waggamon” had a lot of similarities to Lucien Maxwell.
Among my all time favorite western movies since I was a kid in the 1960s.
It is supposed to be psychological. I just call it “great”.
There was an old movie in my past when I was a child. All I remembered was a man trying to cross a raging stream holding onto a rope when a tree comes by and takes him away.
Back in 1966 friends in the military at Walker AFB, Roswell NM decided to go to a movie. Re-release of The Naked Spur.
Good movie, then suddenly I saw the scene that had been in my dreams since 1953! It came back to me when the soldier tried to cross the raging stream.
Got it on DVD! One of my favorites along with Winchester 73.
Favorite with James Stewart is how the West was won.
I asked why Stewart didn't just kill the bad man, cut off his head and pack it in salt for the trip back to Kansas.
I got a long explanation that pretty much boiled down to, "because the script isn't written that way."
Ralph Meeker.
“Bend in the River” and “Cheyanne Autumn “ are two of my favorites. Although, if Jimmie Stewart is in it. I watch. Non-westerns include “No Highway in the Sky” and “The Rope” “Rear Window”. Did I mention I like James Stewart movies?
I did not know James Stewart was in that film....
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Her other western...
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Harvey is my favorite with Jimmy Stewart.
Me, too. He’s one of my favorites.
‘The Cheyenne Social Club’ was on the other night. Fun movie with Fonda.
Henry Fonda cracked those nuts and was just amazed. I know God loves me. That makes me smile and will forever. I’ve had one friend like Harley. I miss him and I know God loves me. Otherwise, it wouldn’t be as important to me.
Regards
Clever, sunny comedies, musicals, and heart-tugging melodramas fell out of favor. In their place came stories with existential themes and plots. Leading characters were defined by inner conflicts and bitter experiences at odds with their better nature and purposes.
Detective stories and westerns dominated, with audiences having to assess actions and motivation closely as even the good guys tended to be tough, calculating, and looking for a score of some sort.
The Naked Spur has enduring appeal due to its intrinsic quality and because war, hard times, and turmoil of all sorts continue. The Naked Spur still draws our attention and surprises us that a movie made seventy years ago seems so current.
👍
They sure don’t make ‘em like they used to....either the actors or the movies.
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