The Naked Spur
1953
****½
Director: Anthony Mann
Cast: James Stewart, Janet Leigh, Robert Ryan, Ralph Meeker, Millard Mitchell
James Stewart gives a hypnotic performance as Howard Kemp, a destitute Civil War veteran who will stop at nothing to bring a wanted murderer to justice in order to claim the \$5,000 reward. Like Ethan Edwards in The Searchers, Kemp is a morally intriguing protagonist. Anthony Mann's gripping Western is one of the forgotten gems in the genre.
