The Naked Spur (1953) - Anthony Mann

Bounty hunter Howard Kemp (Jimmy Stewart) is on the trail of a murderer, Ben Vandergroat (Robert Ryan), and the $5,000 reward on his head. Kemp wants the money to repurchase land he once owned, but lost to a conniving wife while he was away in the war. Kemp joins forces with an old prospector, whom he offers $20 to help, and a discharged Union soldier of questionable repute. Vandergroat is traveling with a woman, (Janet Leigh). When the three pursuers finally catch up with their prey, he immediately sizes up their greedy natures and begins to sow doubt and distrust, hoping they'll turn against one another and allow his escape.

Jimmy Stewart as bounty hunter Howard Kemp.

This is the third of five exciting Westerns that Stewart made with director Anthony Mann in the 1950's. In each, Stewart portrays a rougher character type than he had built his career on up to that time. Stewart, as much as anyone in the history of Hollywood, grew as an actor, developing an entirely different screen persona over time. His work with Mann seems to mark the change. Whether it was his age--42--or a natural outgrowth of his experience as a bomber pilot in World War II, Stewart undergoes a remarkable transformation, aided by Mann's ability to tap into something previously kept hidden from audiences. Where once he mostly played genial, content characters, he began to take on more complicated, dark roles, cynical men with repressed anger. Starting with Winchester '73 in 1950; and followed by Bend in the River in 1952; The Naked Spur in 1953; The Far Country in 1954; and finally The Man From Laramie in 1955, Stewart and Mann fashioned a not so likable hero. By the time he made Vertigo with Hitchcock in 1958, and Anatomy of a Murder with Preminger in 1959, Stewart's characters can exhibit a disturbing lack of composure or grasp on accepted behavior.

As Mann's Western hero, Stewart is typically flawed, a loner, a man with a hidden past or with something that gnaws at his character. He possesses an obsessive quality to his personality and can be downright mean if he has to. As Howard Kemp, Stewart effectively conveys a wide range of emotions, from raging anger to quiet resignation. Still, deep down, the character retains a moral compass and understands right from wrong.  It's a sold performance, enhanced by an interesting script.

Mann packs the film with plenty of action, including the terrific climactic shootout at some raging rapids which required some niffy stunt work. There is also a quick battle with Indians. But the psychological game that Vandergroat is playing on his captives is as fun to watch as these set pieces. He tries to manipulate the men to his advantage, and cares for the girl only so long as she serves a purpose. The script, by Sam Rolfe and Harold Jack Bloom, received an Oscar nomination, a rarity for a Western.

The Rocky Mountains provide a beautiful Technicolor backdrop, a hallmark of any Mann/Stewart Western. William Mellor served as cinematographer on this one. Two years earlier he had won the Oscar for splendid work on A Place in the Sun. If Mann had no favorite cameraman, he at least knew how to pick good ones. He used four different cameramen for the five films with Stewart. Between them they had 26 Oscar nominations and 4 wins. 

Robert Ryan waits in ambush. 

Robert Ryan has seldom been better. He needs a shave and is dirty and his rugged looks are perfect for the part of the devious outlaw. He's really the star of the film, laughing at his captors to get them off guard. With the exception of Kemp, they are easy touches. Ralph Meeker plays the soldier, a man you are never too sure whose side he is on, and Millard Mitchell the grizzled prospector, almost unrecognizable behind a full beard were it not for his distinctive voice. (Millard, who also appeared as Stewart's sidekick in the Winchester '73, was fresh off his performance as a movie mogul in the musical Singing in the Rain ). Both are fine, though Mitchell needed to work on being a credible copse; he clearly can be seen breathing after Ryan shoots him dead. Janet Leigh is lovely in her short cropped blond hair.

Some viewers may think the ending is too abrupt, but it is within character. Kemp is a man who needs a new beginning. To make one, and to severe himself from the past that drives him, he makes the right decision.

Robert Ryan tries to outwit his captors.

Named to National Film Registry in 1997.

Other Films by Anthony Mann

• The Furies - 1950
• Winchester '73 - 1950
• Bend in the River - 1952
• The Far Country - 1954
• The Man from Laramie - 1955
• The Tin Star - 1957
• Man of the West - 1958
• Spartacus - 1960 (Fired by Kirk Douglas and replaced by Stanley Kubrick. The salt mine scene is the only remaining contribution by Mann).
• El Cid - 1961
• The Fall of the Roman Empire - 1964
  
  

The Wild Bunch (1969) -- Sam Peckinpah

The wild west is dying fast. Automobiles will soon replace horses and there is no place for the Wild Bunch, a group of aging outlaws led by Pike Bishop (William Holden), as tired looking a man as you're likely to see. Pike and the gang target a bank with its supposed railroad payroll, but former gang member Deke Thornton (Robert Ryan) is onto the scheme. Thornton heads an amateur posse of bounty hunters and has arranged an ambush. The threat of a return to Yuma prison hangs over his head unless he can stop the Wild Bunch.

Part of the Opening Credit Sequence.

Director Peckinpah produced a landmark film. His West is brutally violent. When a man is shot here, he doesn't just drop to the ground; instead, multiple wounds send blood and pieces of flesh exploding in the air as the victim does a slow motion balletic pirouette. From the freeze framed introduction of the actors in the opening credits to the two chaotic and bloody shootouts that bookend the film, it is a spectacular Western.

As the outlaws arrive, the camera pans to a group of dirty Mexican children torturing a scorpion, trapping it with a horde of hungry ants. A few minutes later the bandits ride by in desperate flight, and the scorpion is being burned alive. The symbolism is obvious; you can expect a similar ugly end for the Wild Bunch. The assault goes horribly wrong but the Wild Bunch escapes empty-handed, a few of their members killed, and the posse hot on its trail. Later, they high-jack an arms shipment in a well-executed train robbery with plans to sell the rifles to Mexican regulars under General Mapache. They escape Thornton again when Pike dynamites the bridge over the Rio Grande. In a great achievement of stunt work, Thornton's men drop into the river.

Mapache is not to be trusted. He pays for the guns, but aware that gang member Angel diverted one crate of rifles for the peasant villagers that his troops routinely terrorize, Mapache holds him for torture. For a man like Pike, who values a man's word and comradeship more than anything, the way is clear. He could get away scot-free, rich, but he knows Thornton is out there; he is tired of being hunted. He and the gang come to Aqua Verde to rescue Angel.     

Peckinpah helped write the terrific scrip. He clearly defines the characters without slowing down the action. He's drawn Pike as an anti-hero who holds the group together, at one point saying, "When you side with a man you stay with him. If you can't do that you're like some animal. You're finished! We're finished! All of us!" As he attempts to mount his horse, the stirrup breaks and he falls. It's a poignant moment, one that shows a man past his prime, yet trying desperately to hold onto the only thing he knows. At another point he tries to kid himself, telling Dutch (Ernest Borgnine) he'd like to make one more good score and back off, Dutch scoffs, "Back off to what?" Against Pike is Thornton, who hates pursuing his old friend. At one point, disgusted with his undisciplined posse, he exclaims that he wishes he were still riding with men. 

Deke Thorton's rag-tag outfit.

All aspects of the film work together. The film editing of the two shootouts is superbly quick, jarring,  and effective. At the time, nothing like it had ever been done. Peckinpah uses multiple cuts, often focusing on an actor's face to capture reactions, and he juxtaposes a temperance parade in the midst of the opening battle.

The full orchestral score by Jerry Fielding works wonderfully with a generous use of drums and trumpets to give it a military flare in the action sequences  and quiet strings in periods of lament. The set design, particularly Mapache's headquarters, the ruins of the old Spanish church yard, seems perfect, and renowned cinematographer, Lucien Ballard, produced one of his most magnificent visual films. Ballard knew how to make Westerns look gorgeous. Some of his other films include Ride the High Country, True Grit, and Will Penny.   

What Makes The Wild Bunch Special:

William Holden gives one of the best performances of his career. His is the perfect weathered face for the role. You feel his tiredness, and ultimately his sad acceptance that life as he knows it is over. Holden can convey more emotion with a simple look than most actors. He conveys deep loneliness in a look at a prostitute near the end. You know his life is empty. 

The long walk to save Angel (Johnson, Oats, Holden, and Borgnine.)

Another great moment takes place between Holden and his band just before the final four-minute massacre. The crisis appears to be averted; they can safely walk away. They all glance at one another and smile. One of them laughs. The scene erupts in gunfire.

The rest of the cast is one of the finest ensemble of supporting actors ever assembled. Warren Oates and Ben Johnson are members of the Bunch, along with a grizzled Edmund O'Brien, and Strother Martin and L.Q. Jones are psychotic bounty hunters. Albert Decker is the railroad boss. Peckinpah gives each his moment to shine in this wistful but violent film.  

It is also one of the last fine performances by Ryan, an actor who never got his due. He died just five years after the film was released. Starting with Crossfire in 1947, for which he received an Oscar nomination, Ryan always brought a certain weight to a film, often as a character of barely controlled menace, but vulnerable and stoic. Here he is a man trapped. He'd rather be riding with the Wild Bunch than chasing them, and you sense that he holds affection for Pike, or at least deep admiration. He understands that the way of the outlaw is past, and that his old friend, Pike, is not going to accept it. Ryan captures his character's dilemma in a gritty performance.
     

The script has plenty of memorable lines, always delivered perfectly in character. Here are just a few, which if heard or thought of later, will immediately bring to mind the respective scenes:

                 Pike: "If they move, kill 'em."

                 Sikes: "Ain't like it used to be, but it'll do."

                 Coffer: "It's covered, you two-bit redneck peckerwood."

Inside Story:

The film has a high body count. Critic Pauline Kael noted, "Pouring new wine into the bottle of the Western, Peckinpah explodes the bottle." He would forever after be known as "Bloody Sam." Peckinpah lived his life to the fullest, prompting actor James Coburn to eulogize him as a man "who pushed me over the abyss and then jumped in after me. He took me on some great adventures." Peckinpah first explored the theme of the mythologized West in another great film: Ride the High Country, seven years earlier. It features Western star Randolph Scott in his final screen performance.

Major Awards:

• Nominated for Best Original Score (Jerry Fielding)
• Nominated for Best Writing (Peckinpah and Walon Green). 

Other Films by Peckinpah:

• Ride the High Country 1962
• Major Dundee 1965
• The Ballad of Cable Hogue 1970
• Straw Dogs 1971
• The Getaway 1972
• Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid 1973
• Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia 1974