"The Naked Spur" has been in my queue awhile. Goes with my whole string of Jimmy Stewart westerns I've been watching. ("Bend of the River" is next in that list.) I just sorta happened to bump this one up to the top this week because it also has *cough*Ralph Meeker*cough* in it. Yeah, I got it bad. And he keeps getting cuter in each successive film I've been watching.
I really liked this film a lot. I thought I'd seen it before, but it didn't match at all what I was remembering, so now I wonder. I think I was confusing it with one with Randolph Scott. Plot was tight and a lot of fun. Jimmy Stewart is after outlaw Robert Ryan because he wants the $5000 dollars reward for turning Ryan in so he can buy his ranch back. He gets two unwanted partners, an older broke gold miner and a dishonorably discharged cavalry lieutenant (RM!). Naturally, no one quite trusts the other to split the reward at the end of the road.
The unexpected part? Robert Ryan. Now he's always a solid and dependable actor, but I don't particularly like him. He's usually such a stick in the mud. But here? Wow! He finally gets to relax, and he just goes to town in this role. He plays his captors against each other, sits around smirking when the infighting starts, schemes some more, talks a great line.... he was great! This role is marvelous for him. Just a lot of fun. I don't think I've ever seen him smile or laugh so much in all the other movies I've seen with him combined. And, of course, the fact that he's a nasty, cold-blooded killer beneath the exterior just makes it even better. Color me impressed!
And Ralph Meeker... mmmm, Cavalry uniform suits him well. So does the moustache. He's a crack up in this, unrepentant of his past, and almost as smirky as Robert Ryan at some points. He's got the Arthur Kennedy role here. The guy who's not entirely bad, not quite good, has his moments of bravery, but is mostly just a selfish bastard. Dig it! He goes nicely toe-to-toe with both Jimmy Stewart and Robert Ryan and more than holds his own.
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And just what do the two blonds think about this new infatuation, hmmm? Hee.
The long-suffering and ever-patient one is rolling his eyes. The big one is laughing his butt off because he knows I've already exhausted the few old movies in this category available on Netflix and will now be forced primly to move on until some generous company releases more of RM's older films on DVD.
Besides, they'll all probably just all go out, share some beers, and plot and scheme to find some way to make this work in a new story for me...
And you guys say I'M fickle....ha! ;o)
So, if the long-suffering and ever-patient one is involved in said story idea, wouldn't that be considered C! fanfic? hehehe
Hah! Nice try! Don'tcha know the patient one brought me a whole really cool novel? And not the Dusty one, either, but a sci fi one. He's far better with the non-C! stuff, actually!
And I never said you were fickle! But I think your jealous one may have other ideas. :-D
Speaking of all things Dusty, any news on that front? ;-)
And the jealous one knows that my heart belongs to him and him alone. As well as all the other parts of me.....
As soon as I've gotten that pesky MM story out of the way, then yes! There will indeed me more dustiness on the horizon! Absolutely. I'd really like to finish that one....
Ah, MM. What a wonderful story. So far. And as for your threat to let it die a slow, painful death, well, that would be just plain wrong. Wrong, I tell ya!!
AHA! So I'm not the only one with a Spring Fling going on, huh?
And you have just solved the great "Why Does Rachel Never Trust Robert Ryan?" question -- this movie is why! I remember it now, him being all sneaky and smirky. Bet you a dollar that's why I can never like him. I should see this again, cuz I barely remember it either, except the end has something to do with big rocks and Jimmy Stewart being shot in the hand, I think.
Ah yes, definitely a Spring Fling, LOL! Think there's something in the air?
Yes, if this was the first Robert Ryan movie I'd seen, I definitely wouldn't trust him either. Kind of like me and my opinion of Stewart Granger based on "The Wild Geese." I was watching some odd film with him in it just last night at the hotel and I kept expecting him to do something underhanded at any moment. And you should definitely rent this one, cuz it's a good movie. I'd love to watch it again tonight myself, spring fling or no! The rocks are in the end, yes, but the hand-shooting is from "Man From Laramie."
Twitterpated, that's us! Me doubly so -- I just fell for Peter Lawford too! But Joseph Cotten is still giving me flutters as well. Mmmm.
I have "Naked Spur" taped off TV, I'll have to toss it in sometime soon.
And I'm not surprised I got it mixed up with "Man from Laramie." Those two, plus "Winchester '73" and "Bend in the River," are what we call the "Crabby Jimmy Stewart Westerns," and I saw them all practically in a row more than ten years ago.
hahahhahahhahah! I have to tell my sister what you called those! She was asking me about this one and I had to tell her she would hate it because Jimmy Stewart was grouchy in it. She does not like him AT ALL when he's crabby/grouchy/gruff/bitter/angry throughout the movie. It's why she doesn't like Flight of the Phoenix, etc. So I have to tell her that others recognize the crabby factor too! She'll crack up.
And I kinda have a double-thing going on right now myself because I recently fell hard for opera tenor Mario del Monaco. A little different because I'm mostly in love with his voice, but nonetheless, I'm listening to opera right this second just to hear him sing.... Ahem. What was that word you used? Twitterpated? ROFL!
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