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."
“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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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.
