Looking at the IMDb "Awards" link will reveal this outstanding Anthony Mann western was nominated for a single "Academy Award", for the "Story and Screenplay" by Sam Rolfe and Harold Jack Bloom. The story (and much about the film) is excellent. Certainly, the writers deserved recognition for the intriguing story, and complex characters. But, to see "The Naked Spur" was not nominated for "Best Color Cinematography" is shocking. William Mellor's photography is truly superior. Perhaps, they felt one nomination was enough for a movie about greed...
James Stewart (as Howard Kemp), Janet Leigh (as Lina Patch), Robert Ryan (as Ben Vandergroat), Ralph Meeker (as Roy Anderson), and Millard Mitchell (as Jesse Tate) are an outstanding Colorado quintet. With Mann and Mellor directing, the small cast appears sprawling. Of the five, Mr. Ryan's intensely malevolent "Ben" reigns supreme; it's difficult to envision "The Naked Spur" without Ryan's psychological thorn throwing. Recipient Stewart is also at his best. The other three are great; though, more should have been to done develop and/or explain the relationship. Leigh had/has with Ryan and Stewart; she is underused. That, and a couple of continuity and/or editing problems may distract, slightly. We shouldn't be to be too greedy about great movies, after all.
********* The Naked Spur (2/6/53) Anthony Mann ~ James Stewart, Robert Ryan, Janet Leigh, Ralph Meeker
James Stewart (as Howard Kemp), Janet Leigh (as Lina Patch), Robert Ryan (as Ben Vandergroat), Ralph Meeker (as Roy Anderson), and Millard Mitchell (as Jesse Tate) are an outstanding Colorado quintet. With Mann and Mellor directing, the small cast appears sprawling. Of the five, Mr. Ryan's intensely malevolent "Ben" reigns supreme; it's difficult to envision "The Naked Spur" without Ryan's psychological thorn throwing. Recipient Stewart is also at his best. The other three are great; though, more should have been to done develop and/or explain the relationship. Leigh had/has with Ryan and Stewart; she is underused. That, and a couple of continuity and/or editing problems may distract, slightly. We shouldn't be to be too greedy about great movies, after all.
********* The Naked Spur (2/6/53) Anthony Mann ~ James Stewart, Robert Ryan, Janet Leigh, Ralph Meeker