This is perhaps the most suspenseful and psychologically intense of the Anthony Mann-Jimmy Stewart collaborations. Like Bend of the River and Far Country, Mann prefers the lush greens of the Colorado mountains for his setting. What makes the Mann-Stewart westerns so thrilling is the focus on characters in torment, burdened by their own failings and beset by external threats that amplify their inner pain. And Jimmy Stewart is always the perfect actor for such characters. Featuring a tight ensemble cast, this is a stage play with five characters out in the wilderness. The dramatic interplay between them is the core strength of the film.

Stewart is a bounty hunter trailing outlaw Robert Ryan. While his real motives for pursuit aren't revealed until later, he's nominally after Ryan for killing the marshal. Not for justice. He simply needs the reward money similar to Van Heflin's motives in 3:10 to Yuma made a few years later. In the opening sequence Stewart meets an old prospector (Millard Mitchell) and pretends he's a lawman to enlist Mitchell's aid. Together they corner Ryan on a cliff top and suddenly more help arrives in the form of a discharged Union soldier (Ralph Meeker). The soldier is sly and suspicious, but takes it upon himself to climb the cliff and lend assistance. After a tussle, Ryan is subdued along with his female companion (Janet Leigh). Stewart intends to take them back to Abilene, which is a long way to travel with a prisoner. Once again, the film presages 3:10 to Yuma, building tension between a confident and charming villain and the vulnerable hero.

What's interesting is that all three of Ryan's captors aren't who they claim to be, and Stewart plants seeds of mistrust between them over a fib regarding the reward money. Ryan intends to exploit the suspicions and paranoia among the group and employs Leigh to seduce Stewart and the ex-Union soldier. There's a few action scenes to convey the dangers of the Colorado mountains via rockslides and an assault by Blackfoot Indians. The skirmish with these Indians is surprisingly brutal compared to other films of the 50s. Stewart is wounded and nursed initially with reluctance and soon a growing tenderness by Leigh. While Ryan is under the impression she's manipulating Stewart, she actually really is falling for him. Stewart, who portrays his Mann characters as troubled anti-heroes plays his darkest character yet. He reveals to Leigh that he lost his ranch to his woman by signing the property to her when he went away to fight the Civil War. She then sold the land and ran off with another man. Now he wants to buy it back and so he needs the money. Already we're seeing a pre-spaghetti western evolution of the protagonist into something less noble and more self-interested and pragmatic.

Robert Ryan gives his best performance and proves how much range he had. This is not the straight man playing a one-dimensional Ike Clanton from Hour of the Gun or an ordinary marshal pursuing outlaws in The Wild Bunch. He's conniving and genial, using intelligence and cunning to create a rift between the others. He has a calm demeanor while Stewart is the one battling his own inner demons and anxieties. Ryan plans a daring escape when they take shelter in a cave, again using Leigh as a distraction. She has an intimate conversation with Stewart and it's clear she's falling for him. Ryan is foiled, though, and in a bout of manic rage, Stewart challenges Ryan to a quick draw which he refuses. Ryan tempts Mitchell, the old coot of the film, to help him escape with promises of showing him a gold mine. He dumbly falls for it and when Ryan pretends to spot a snake at the feet of his horse, he kills Mitchell. Leigh is horrified.

In the final setpiece, Stewart and the ex-soldier catch up with them and a shootout ensues by a turbulent river. While the soldier exchanges fire, Stewart flanks Ryan's position and uses one of his spurs like a spike to help him climb the rockface. Ryan hears the clinking sound and when Stewart mantles up the cliff he slashes Ryan's face with the spur, after which the ex-soldier has a clear shot and takes him down. Ryan's body falls into the river and is entangled on tree roots. The ex-soldier lassoes the body and pulls himself to it in the water, but is then struck dead by a large tree floating down the roaring river. This is a typical dark twist of fate in Mann's westerns. Stewart insists on retrieving Ryan's body despite the odds. When Leigh tells him she'll marry him, he is touched but so mentally tortured and driven to fulfill his mission. After an inner battle in his mind, he recognizes that he's won Leigh's heart and asks her to try for California. He lets it go, abandons the mission, and digs a grave for Ryan's body instead. This is how the film ends. Leonard Maltin calls it one of the best westerns ever made. How I wish the Warner Archives blu-ray featured an audio commentary. Is this Mann's best western? For me, Winchester 73 and Bend of the River rank higher, but The Naked Spur is quite great and arguably superior.