Howard Kemp is a bounty hunter who’s been after killer Ben Vandergroat for a long time. Along the way, Kemp is forced to take on a couple of partners, an old prospector named Jesse Tate and a dishonorably discharged Union soldier, Roy Anderson. When they learn that Vandergroat has a $5000 reward on his head, greed starts to take the better of them. Vandergroat takes every advantage of the situation sowing doubt between the two men at every opportunity finally convincing one of them to help him escape. —IMDb
Anthony Mann (June 30, 1906 – April 29, 1967) was an American actor and film director.
Born Emil Anton Bundsmann in the Point Loma area of San Diego, Mann was the son of an Austrian immigrant, Emile Theodore Bundsmann, and Bertha Waxelbaum of Macon, Georgia.
Mann started out as an actor, appearing in plays off-Broadway in New York City. In 1938, he moved to Hollywood, where he joined the Selznick International Pictures.
Mann became an assistant director in 1942, directing low-budget assignments for RKO and Republic Pictures.
Mann was respected for his acute visual sensitivity toward the American Western landscape, effortlessly blending natural vistas with human drama. Mann’s dramas verged on classical tragedy, often showing anguished heroes attempting to resolve personal pain and confusion.
In 1967, Mann died from a heart attack in Berlin, Germany while filming the spy thriller A Dandy in Aspic. The film was completed by the film’s star, Laurence Harvey… read more
A Brilliant psychologically violent, and endearing turn by Mann, Stewart and Company.
It could be better only if the girl were going to push the hero into the water, cause he wouldn't give up on his plan. And then the girl alone would ride away to the sunset. But it's still pretty good.
So he finally succumbs to his conscience and commits an irrational act in spite of his own self-interest for the sake of some moral principle that serves no utilitarian purpose? I find the deontological morality of this film distasteful. This is only my first Mann but if his other films are as Kantian as this then I don't think we're going to get along.
A very tense and focused western without big gunfights and elaborate saloons, but rather, The Naked Spur is a wild west road movie in the vain of Tarantino with a headhunter and a whole bunch of misfits… read review
Whenever I discuss my favorite directors, I usually bring up the themes they explore, their technical innovations and abilities, the way they revolutionized cinema, etc. When it comes to discussing… read review
