IT CAME FROM THE BOTTOM SHELF!

The new Blu-ray release of The Naked Spur from the Warner Archive Collection is an argument against the attitude that if you own a classic film on DVD, there’s no reason to upgrade to Blu-ray. Many classic film fans tend to be hesitant to commit to new technology; and even though Blu-ray has been around since 2006, many have still not seen the need to invest in an extremely affordable Blu-ray player. Other collectors limit their Blu-ray purchases to titles that they don’t already own on DVD. Well, if that’s your attitude, I recommend you make an exception for The Naked Spur.

The excellent, Anthony Mann-directed Western was filmed in Technicolor by top-notch cinematographer William C. Mellor (A Place in the Sun), so The Naked Spur should look terrific on home video. However, previous DVD releases were muddy, with a blurry, faded image. Even broadcasts on TCM and streams on The Criterion Channel shared this same ugly, standard-definition image. Happily, the Warner Archive Collection has done a new 4K scan of the camera negatives for their Blu-ray release, restoring The Naked Spur to its sharp, vibrant Technicolor glory. Finally, the quality of the video presentation matches the quality of the film. It’s one of the best looking Blu-ray transfers of a classic Western that I’ve seen.

For fans of classic Westerns, the actor/director team of James Stewart & Anthony Mann is as revered as the pairings of John Wayne & John Ford and Randolph Scott & Budd Boetticher. The team made five Westerns together — Winchester ’73 (1950), Bend of the River (1952), The Naked Spur (1953), The Far Country (1954), and The Man from Laramie (1955) — and three non-Westerns — Thunder Bay (1953), The Glenn Miller Story (1954), and Strategic Air Command (1955). Film noir-alum Anthony Mann was more important than Alfred Hitchcock in framing the post-WWII career of Stewart. Through Mann’s dark lens, skinny, likable Jimmy Stewart truly grew up into James Stewart, a believable, gritty, conflicted Western hero.

The third Stewart/Mann Western, The Naked Spur is one of the best. Stewart stars as Howard Kemp, a rancher turned bounty hunter who is in pursuit of Ben Vandergroat (Robert Ryan), a bandit wanted for the murder of a lawman in Abilene, Kansas. Having followed Vandergroat to the Colorado Rockies, Kemp enlists the help of a lone prospector (Millard Mitchell) for $20 to help him track and corner the outlaw. However, things get complex when they cross the path of Roy Anderson (Ralph Meeker), a dishonorably discharged Cavalry officer. Anderson insists on joining the duo, because he suspects there is a potentially high payday for bringing in the wanted man. In fact, Ben Vandergroat is worth $5000, dead or alive. Things are further complicated when it turns out that Vandergroat is traveling with Lina Patch (Janet Leigh), the daughter of one of his criminal associates, who believes Ben to be innocent of murder.

The Naked Spur is an adult, psychological Western of the best sort. The story is tight and suspenseful, and there isn’t a second of screen time wasted on comic side characters or whimsical subplots. The story is simple and dirty, but the motivations of the characters are complex. Unlike standard Western fare of the 1950s, there are no “white hat” heroes. All of the characters are tarnished in one way or another, which makes for a much more satisfying story. In fact, the script is so outstanding that it was nominated for the “Best Original Screenplay Oscar,” which was a rare honor for an oater.

The acting is top notch, led by one of Stewart’s most raw, emotional performances. Janet Leigh and Millard Mitchell also get showcase moments to shine. However, the real standouts in the film are Robert Ryan, as the smirking, charismatic wanted man, and Ralph Meeker as the loose cannon ex-Calvary officer who was discharged for being “morally unstable.” As in the later Westerns of Budd Boetticher (The Tall T, Ride Lonesome), The Naked Spur derives much of its energy and tension from its magnetic, untrustworthy villains. Meeker’s character is especially interesting, as he is ostensibly on the side of “the good guys,” but his motivations and demeanor are anything but honorable.

The Naked Spur features a taut narrative, complex characters, strong performances, and gorgeous location photography. Fans of classic Westerns should not hesitate to add the new Warner Archive Blu-ray to their collections. It is very highly recommended for both the quality of its content and its presentation.

US/C-91m./Dir: Anthony Mann/Wr: Sam Rolfe & Harold Jack Bloom/Cast: James Stewart, Janet Leigh, Robert Ryan, Ralph Meeker, Millard Mitchell

For Fans of: Anthony Mann’s The Naked Spur should appeal to anyone that loves adult Westerns with psychological heft.  It would pair nicely with the Westerns that Randolph Scott made with Budd Boetticher.

Video: As I mentioned in my introductory paragraphs above, DVD releases of The Naked Spur had been extremely disappointing, with a muddy, blurry image that distracted from the excellence of the story. Happily, the Warner Archive Collection has produced a new 1080p master from a 4K scan of the Technicolor camera negatives for their Blu-ray release of The Naked Spur. The resulting image looks as good or better than when the film was originally released to theaters. It is sharp, with accurate color, and appropriate film grain. I didn’t notice any age-related scratches or debris.  In short, the image is near pristine.

The audio is also solid, without age-related hiss.  Finally, optional English subtitles are provided for the feature.  Fans of the film should be overjoyed with the video presentation, as it is an enormous leap in quality over prior home video releases.

The new scan is the real selling point of this disc, but the Warner Archive has provided a couple of vintage shorts from 1953 to accompany the main feature. If you play these shorts before The Naked Spur, you can get a bit of a taste for how the film might have originally been presented in a theater in 1953.

The full special features are:

• Things We Can Do Without (1953)— This is a typical “Pete Smith Specialty” short. In other words, it isn’t very funny, and it’s a bit irritating. Smith narrates as writer/actor Dave O’Brien encounters difficulties with various home conveniences. It’s a bit like the Tex Avery cartoon The House of Tomorrow (1949), but it’s nowhere near as humorous.
• Little Johnny Jet (1953) — Speaking of Tex Avery, we also get a Tex Avery cartoon in the package. This is a variation on the previous One Cab’s Family (1952), with anthropomorphized vehicles and a “father and son” relationship story.
• Original theatrical trailer
• Optional English subtitles for the feature

You can purchase the Blu-ray directly from the Warner Archive Collection page on Amazon or from other online retailers (Amazon link below).

Streaming: At the time of this review, The Naked Spur was not streaming through any of the major subscription services. While the film can be purchased through digital retailers, it is only available in standard definition, from the previous, muddy transfer.

More to Explore: All of the Western collaborations between James Stewart and Anthony Mann are worth seeking out, but Winchester ’73 is only available on DVD, and The Man From Laramie was released as a limited edition Blu-ray from Twilight Time, which has gone out-of-print. Bend in the River and The Far Country are available on Blu-ray. You may also want to check out Kino Lorber’s Blu-ray of Anthony Mann’s Man of the West, which stars Gary Cooper.

Trivia: Millard Mitchell died shortly after the film’s release, at the age of 50, from lung cancer.

For More Info: If you are interested in more information about director Anthony Mann, his career, and his working methods, I suggest the book Anthony Mann: The Film Career by William Darby. The Naked Spur is also one of the 131 offbeat Westerns featured in Renegade Westerns: Movies That Shot Down Frontier Myths by Kevin Grant.