Review of The Naked Spur (1953) by Nicolas M — 08 Jul 2008

The Naked Spur is probably my new favorite western. As a character study it's fascinating and complex, and the story is highly thrilling. It reminds me a little of The Treasure of the Sierra Madre in the ability of greed to create mistrust and internal frictions, but it's a completely different situation (three men taking an outlaw into custody, rather than searching for gold), nobody here is driven truly insane, and instead of a bleak and barren Mexican wasteland in stark black and white, this takes place in the breathtaking scenery of the Rocky Mountains in Colorado, filmed in glorious Technicolor, which really never should have gone out of style.